André Parizeau
Encyclopedia
André Parizeau is a politician in the Canadian
province of Quebec
, who is currently the leader of the Parti communiste du Québec.
A split followed a lengthy dispute between Parizeau and the Central Executive Committee of the CPC. In November 2004, Parizeau introduced a series of amendments to the CPC program "Canada's Future is Socialism". According to a letter from Ontario leader Elizabeth Rowley
, these amendments called on the party to expand its support for Quebec nationalism.
The Communist Party of Canada, according to a 2005 release, supports the right of "national self-determination, up to and including separation". It does not support the fragmentation of Canada, however, and has called for "a new, democratic constitutional arrangement based on the equal and voluntary union of Aboriginal peoples, Québec, and English-speaking Canada". Many in the national party executive considered Parizeau's amendments as reflecting a narrower view of Quebec nationalism.
Parizeau's amendments were rejected by the Central Executive Committee by a vote of 7-1; Parizeau himself was the only member to vote in favour. The National Executive Committee (NEC) of the Quebec Party also rejected Parizeau's amendments by a vote of 4-2.
In January 2005, Parizeau wrote a letter to PCQ members declaring that the party was in crisis. Describing the four NEC members who opposed his amendments as a "Gang of Four" and a pro-federalist faction, he summarily dismissed them from office. In turn, Parizeau's opponents called for the CPC to suspend him from office pending an investigation into his activities.
This controversy came to a head at the PCQ convention of April 2005. After delegates voted 16-14 to expel one of the four suspended NEC members, Parizeau's opponents staged a mass walkout from the convention hall. The seventeen delegates who stayed voted to establish a new National Committee and Executive, consisting entirely of Parizeau's supporters.
On April 27, 2005, the Central Executive of the CPC voted to expel Parizeau for "factional activity and the pursuit of a right opportunist line", declared that the expulsions from the PCQ were illegal, and affirmed the authority of the previous National Executive Committee. This decision was confirmed by the party's Central Committee at a meeting held on June 18–19, 2005.
Parizeau's group published a letter of withdrawal from the CPC on June 15, 2005. In this letter, the CPC was accused of holding "des idées chauvines vis-à-vis du Québec". The CPC has rejected similar accusations from Parizeau in the past, and now holds the position that Parizeau's group has no legal authority to use the CPQ name. Parizeau's opponents in the CPQ have remained active Quebec, participating in the province's May Day parades and starting a new periodical, entitled Clarté.
The CPC's account of this situation is available online (http://www.communist-party.ca/news/Statements/2005/cpc_pcq_en.html), as is the June 2005 letter from Parizeau's PCQ group (http://www.jeunes-communistes.com/pcq/New050615.html).
Parizeau has been a candidate for Québec solidaire
in several provincial elections.
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
province of Quebec
Quebec
Quebec or is a province in east-central Canada. It is the only Canadian province with a predominantly French-speaking population and the only one whose sole official language is French at the provincial level....
, who is currently the leader of the Parti communiste du Québec.
A split followed a lengthy dispute between Parizeau and the Central Executive Committee of the CPC. In November 2004, Parizeau introduced a series of amendments to the CPC program "Canada's Future is Socialism". According to a letter from Ontario leader Elizabeth Rowley
Elizabeth Rowley
Elizabeth Rowley is a politician, writer, and political activist in Ontario, Canada. Current leader of the Communist Party of Ontario, and a leading member of the Communist Party of Canada, Rowley has campaigned for office many times at both the municipal, federal and provincial levels.-Political...
, these amendments called on the party to expand its support for Quebec nationalism.
The Communist Party of Canada, according to a 2005 release, supports the right of "national self-determination, up to and including separation". It does not support the fragmentation of Canada, however, and has called for "a new, democratic constitutional arrangement based on the equal and voluntary union of Aboriginal peoples, Québec, and English-speaking Canada". Many in the national party executive considered Parizeau's amendments as reflecting a narrower view of Quebec nationalism.
Parizeau's amendments were rejected by the Central Executive Committee by a vote of 7-1; Parizeau himself was the only member to vote in favour. The National Executive Committee (NEC) of the Quebec Party also rejected Parizeau's amendments by a vote of 4-2.
In January 2005, Parizeau wrote a letter to PCQ members declaring that the party was in crisis. Describing the four NEC members who opposed his amendments as a "Gang of Four" and a pro-federalist faction, he summarily dismissed them from office. In turn, Parizeau's opponents called for the CPC to suspend him from office pending an investigation into his activities.
This controversy came to a head at the PCQ convention of April 2005. After delegates voted 16-14 to expel one of the four suspended NEC members, Parizeau's opponents staged a mass walkout from the convention hall. The seventeen delegates who stayed voted to establish a new National Committee and Executive, consisting entirely of Parizeau's supporters.
On April 27, 2005, the Central Executive of the CPC voted to expel Parizeau for "factional activity and the pursuit of a right opportunist line", declared that the expulsions from the PCQ were illegal, and affirmed the authority of the previous National Executive Committee. This decision was confirmed by the party's Central Committee at a meeting held on June 18–19, 2005.
Parizeau's group published a letter of withdrawal from the CPC on June 15, 2005. In this letter, the CPC was accused of holding "des idées chauvines vis-à-vis du Québec". The CPC has rejected similar accusations from Parizeau in the past, and now holds the position that Parizeau's group has no legal authority to use the CPQ name. Parizeau's opponents in the CPQ have remained active Quebec, participating in the province's May Day parades and starting a new periodical, entitled Clarté.
The CPC's account of this situation is available online (http://www.communist-party.ca/news/Statements/2005/cpc_pcq_en.html), as is the June 2005 letter from Parizeau's PCQ group (http://www.jeunes-communistes.com/pcq/New050615.html).
Parizeau has been a candidate for Québec solidaire
Québec Solidaire
Québec solidaire is a democratic socialist and sovereigntist political party in Quebec, Canada, that was created on 4 February 2006 in Montreal. It was formed by the merger of the left-wing party Union des forces progressistes and the alter-globalization political movement Option Citoyenne, led...
in several provincial elections.
Provincial electoral record
- 2008 Quebec election: pending
- 2007 Quebec electionQuebec general election, 2007The Quebec general election of 2007 was held in the Canadian province of Quebec on March 26, 2007 to elect members of the 38th National Assembly of Quebec. The Quebec Liberal Party led by Jean Charest managed to win a plurality of seats, but were reduced to a minority government, Quebec's first in...
: received 1137 votes (3.78%) in Acadie for the QS (winner: Christine St-PierreChristine St-PierreChristine St-Pierre, B.Sc.Soc. is a journalist and a Quebec politician. She is the current MNA for the Montreal provincial riding of Acadie as a member of the Quebec Liberal Party....
, Parti libéral du QuébecParti libéral du QuébecThe Quebec Liberal Party is a centre-right political party in Quebec. It has been independent of the federal Liberal Party of Canada since 1955....
) - 2003 Quebec electionQuebec general election, 2003The Quebec general election of 2003 was held on April 14, 2003, to elect members of the National Assembly of Quebec . The Parti libéral du Québec , led by Jean Charest, defeated the incumbent Parti Québécois, led by Bernard Landry.-Unfolding:...
: received 161 votes (0.49%) in Acadie as an independent (winner: Yvan BordeleauYvan BordeleauYvan Bordeleau was the Member of the National Assembly Quebec, Canada, for Acadie from 1989 to 2007....
, Parti libéral du QuébecParti libéral du QuébecThe Quebec Liberal Party is a centre-right political party in Quebec. It has been independent of the federal Liberal Party of Canada since 1955....
)
Federal electoral record
- 2004 federal electionCanadian federal election, 2004The Canadian federal election, 2004 , was held on June 28, 2004 to elect members of the Canadian House of Commons of the 38th Parliament of Canada. The Liberal government of Prime Minister Paul Martin lost its majority, but was able to form a minority government after the elections...
: received 252 votes in PapineauPapineau (electoral district)Papineau is a federal electoral district in Quebec, Canada, that has been represented in the Canadian House of Commons from 1948 to 1988 and since 2004. Its population in 2006 was 101,019....
for the Communist Party of CanadaCommunist Party of CanadaThe Communist Party of Canada is a communist political party in Canada. Although is it currently a minor or small political party without representation in the Federal Parliament or in provincial legislatures, historically the Party has elected representatives in Federal Parliament, Ontario...
(winner: Pierre PettigrewPierre PettigrewPierre Stewart Pettigrew, PC is a Canadian politician.Born in Quebec City, Pettigrew has a BA in Philosophy from the Université du Québec à Trois-Rivières and an M.Phil in International Relations from Oxford University...
, LiberalLiberal Party of CanadaThe Liberal Party of Canada , colloquially known as the Grits, is the oldest federally registered party in Canada. In the conventional political spectrum, the party sits between the centre and the centre-left. Historically the Liberal Party has positioned itself to the left of the Conservative...
)