Why an independent Quebec?
This resolution, entitled “Un pays pour faire quoi” (A country to do what?), was adopted by the Québec solidaire convention. Translation by Socialist Voice.
(a) An independent Quebec will have full mastery of all its economic policies: budgetary, fiscal, commercial, monetary and customs, that is, the powers required to implement a social agenda that is egalitarian, feminist, ecologist and solidaire [based on the principle of social solidarity]. An independent Quebec should provide its citizens with full powers over their policy choices and the political institutions needed to promote the most inclusive and participatory democracy. An independent Quebec would have full powers over its immigration policy, its international policy and the principles underlying them within the realities and constraints of a globalized world.
(b) Achieving true independence that is not limited to political sovereignty means rejecting economic domination and the pillage of our natural resources. Economic independence is the power to exercise our economic sovereignty over our natural resources and to control our own economic levers. A people’s freedom depends on its capacity to control, develop and process its own resources. Without a mastery of the economic tools, political sovereignty is simply an illusion. Independence will allow Quebec to renegotiate international agreements based on principles of equity.
(c) Achieving independence means being able to transform political institutions as we wish in order to establish equality between women and men within these institutions. It also means having the power to legislate on the French language in full autonomy without fear that such legislation will be overruled by the Supreme Court of Canada. Under the grip of the bilingualism and biculturalism laws, the French language is always endangered. Achieving independence also means promoting cultural policies that use the available means of communication (radio, television, etc.) to expand accessibility to cultural property and support the development of a culture of social transformation, justice and solidarity.
(d) Quebec will thereby have all the tools it needs to implement the feminist agenda of Québec solidaire. It will be able to apply a gender based analysis to all of its policies, laws and regulations, as well as transform all political institutions to establish therein a genuine equality between women and men.
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