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La politique en Rose The most well-known member of Quebec's Democratic Socialist Party (PDS) won't be running as a candidate in the provincial election on Nov. 30. Former FLQ member Paul Rose has been forbidden from entering the race despite the fact that he is the party's leader. Rose served 11 years of a life sentence for his role in the kidnapping and murder of then-cabinet minister Pierre Laporte during the October Crisis of 1970. He has since completed a Masters degree and a PhD in agricultural co-operations. Nevertheless, Quebec's Director General of Elections invoked his own discretionary power back in 1994 to disallow Rose's candidacy. Rose is still blacklisted in the DGE's books, though the party is petitioning to have the decision overturned. Party spokesperson Geneviève Ricard says that Rose is firm in his convictions, but that he condemns violence. The PDS, formerly known as the NDP-Québec, is gearing up to make a serious bid in the upcoming provincial election. The left-of-centre, indépendantiste party is planning to run candidates in each of Quebec's 125 ridings and has already conscripted 50 candidates for the Montreal region. Like all good socialists, the PDS want to eliminate unemployment and poverty. Their platform includes reducing the work week from 40 to 32 hours per week, allocating more resources to home workers and students, and imposing a "progressive" tax (those who earn more would be taxed more). Aptly, the PDS campaign gets off the ground at Café Chaos, 1637 St-Denis, Friday Nov. 6 at 11 a.m. -Dominique Ritter
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