To sovereigntists, Bouchard’s out of gas - The Globe and Mail

To sovereigntists, Bouchard’s out of gas - The Globe and Mail
Because of Mr. Bouchard’s influence on Quebeckers, the PQ leadership shied away from confronting their former leader on his decision to lobby on behalf of corporate interests. But Amir Khadir, co-leader of the left-wing Quebec Solidaire party, had no such misgivings.

“You wouldn’t expect the ‘father of the nation’ who was once premier of Quebec to serve the oil and gas industry that is 90-per-cent foreign controlled in order to dispossess our underground resources in a sector of activity that is central to the notion of independence and sovereignty,” Mr. Khadir said.

Mr. Khadir was expressing what many PQ members whispered in private but were too embarrassed to say publicly. It was unthinkable for them that a former leader of Quebec independence would put himself at the service of the same private interests who had no qualms about blocking Quebec’s national emancipation. In their view, Mr. Bouchard had gone too far.

Mr. Khadir confronted him this week during hearings before a National Assembly committee, saying to the former premier that “you have not been loyal to the commitment that we must have as servants of the public good.”