Plateau lefties unite

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by Siobhàn O'Connor

Never a dull moment in the provincial riding of Mercier, the Plateau/Mile-End PQ stronghold. In an unprecedented move to unite for the socialist cause, provincial parties including the Parti de la démocracie socialiste (PDS), the Rassemblement pour l'alternative progressiste (RAP), Socialist Party, Communist Party and the Marxist-Leninist Party have all agreed not to run candidates in the April 9 by-election. Instead, they have united to support independent candidate Paul Cliche.

The bad news is that the PQ crushed all other parties with 55 per cent support while the parties supporting Cliche scored around six per cent in 1998. But Cliche, 65, a former journalist, city councillor and PQ member predicts mainstream parties will lose support in the area since following the "zero deficit, neo-liberal trend. I hope this experience will help unify progressives in Quebec and [create a] bridge between the left politics and the left social community groups and unions," he says.

Claude Ricard of the PDS says that the experiment has been a long time in the planning and will be watched closely by the parties involved, who might unite in the future if the results look good. "I'd like to see a fusion," says Ricard. "We think we'll have some pretty interesting results." All are invited Saturday, March 17, as the party adopts its lefty platform at 4452 St-Hubert from 10 a.m.--4 p.m.