Bloc Québécois
Summary:
The Bloc Quebecois was formed in 1990. The Bloc has devoted on the Quebec's sovereignty. The first leader of Bloc was Lucien Bouchard who had been a federal minister of the environment. This unofficial union had member of Progressive Conservative and Liberal members of Parliament from Quebec who had already left their own party by the time of the defeat of the Meech Lake Accord. The Meech Lake Accord was planned to persuade the
government of Quebec to approve on 1982 constitutional Act and raise the support in Quebec for remaining within Canada. However, the rejection only brought the enthusiastic support for Quebec sovereignty. At first, the party was meant to be impermanent, but also it had the goal of the promotion of sovereignty.
Roots:
At the first election, they won 54 seats out of 75 seats in Quebec.The support of Bloc was somewhat bigger than the other party's support. Soon after the new Parliament sworn
in, Bouchard announced that the MPs of Bloc would only speak the French in the House of Commons. And this policy still remains nowadays. However, this policy was unnecessary because most of members could not speak English that well enough to use in the debate.
The fact that many of members are former Conservatives who left the party after
the failure of the Meech Lake Accord would make them right wing. However, the separatist
movement has been traditionally extreme left. Thus, There are still left wings as well. This being
so the position of the Bloc Quebecois is questionable. And their only goal is to accomplish the
separation of Quebec from Canada.
The Bloc had changed a bit over time. The support of Quebec's sovereignty was
decreased and as a result, they only won four seats in the 2011 federal election. The
requirement to be an official party status is 12 seats, but they still remains as a party. Now, they
are the second largest party in the parliament.
Sources:
Summary:
"Political Parties In Canada." The Canada Page. N.p., n.d. Web. 29 Sept. 2013.
<www.thecanadapage.org/Parties.htm>.
Roots:
"Bloc Québécois - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia." Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. N.p.,
n.d. Web. 29 Sept. 2013. <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bloc_Qu%C3%A9b%C3%A9cois>
"Constitution Act, 1982 - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia." Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
N.p., n.d. Web. 29 Sept. 2013. <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Constitution_Act,_1982>