by PATRICK LEJTENYI

François Saillant and Stephen Harper don't have much in common. Except for the fact that both have declared it imperative that the parties on their respective ends of the political spectrum - Harper on the federal right, Saillant on the Quebec left - unite or face electoral death. Harper succeeded, and now controls an impressive opposition in Parliament; Saillant will try, and hopes to achieve relevance in the National Assembly.

As temporary spokesman for Option citoyenne, the new left-wing party co-founded by himself and feminist Françoise David, Saillant believes Option citoyenne will eventually merge with the Union des forces progressistes (UFP), and that the Quebec left will be stronger for it. The merger, and other issues, will be discussed by party members following their first "Rencontre nationale" in Quebec City Nov. 12 to 14. It will be here that the party's organization and platforms, from economics to the role of women, will be hashed out in preparation for the next provincial election.

Saillant, best known locally for his role as coordinator of housing activist group FRAPRU, says there are a lot of questions that remain to be answered at the congress. "There will be four main themes," he says. "The first is the organization of the party, that's our priority. We also want to address the role of women - we're very proud that two-thirds of our membership is women. Then there is the economy issue, and the national question."

As for any party, the national question is a big one. Option citoyenne claims it is officially sovereigntist, but, Saillant says, only so it can be sovereign to pursue its social policies. It's a woolly definition to be sure, and will face further scrutiny at the congress (but at least there will be one official policy. Over at the UFP, the national question yields different answers from candidate to candidate - although Saillant believes that, in general, the UFP puts more emphasis on sovereignty than Option citoyenne does).

Saillant himself has stayed out of organized politics for over 30 years. The 53-year-old was a member of the fledgling Parti Québécois at its inception but left in the late '70s. Since then he and thousands of other francophone nationalists have grown increasingly disillusioned with the PQ, saying they've strayed too far from their original socialist-leaning mandate. Both the UFP and Option citoyenne were formed, in part, as a response to this. Both parties are also attracting people who've found themselves on the short-end of the economic stick.

"There's something happening, I think," Saillant says. "When we look at the Liberal government and some of the decisions they've taken, and how they are moving society backwards and how the PQ isn't doing anything against that, people are starting to question that."

Still, convincing the UFP to merge with Option citoyenne won't be easy. "We recognize that the UFP has done a lot," Saillant says. "There's not a lot of things we disagree on, but we don't have the same kind of political culture."