MONTREAL | Éric Duhaime is now closing the door but is not ruling out independence as a solution for Quebec in the future.
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“Please let the last one to come in leave the door open,” Jacques Parizeau said in 1994 to call for a gathering of sovereignists.
Éric Duhaime instead suggests “locking the door, but not throwing the key in the river”. While at the Brokerage Institute to woo Montreal’s English-speaking community, the conservative leader vowed not to hold a referendum on Quebec’s independence if he is elected provincial head.
But if a referendum were held today, would he vote against Quebec’s independence? “In the current context, absolutely,” he replied.
The Conservative leader explained that young people have no appetite for sovereignty. “Look at all the polls and talk to young people. There is a new reality and we cannot create a country against the will of the new generation,” he argued. There are also several Sovereignists in Mr Duhaime’s immediate circle who share the same opinion.
However, according to Éric Duhaime, a prime minister’s responsibility would also be to ensure that the people of Quebec have the opportunity to choose independence if they so choose.
“I want to make sure that if the next generations change their minds, they have the opportunity,” he said.
Mr Duhaime believes the French fact “can flourish very positively” in Canada at the moment. But other circumstances, he says, could make the independence project relevant “in a decade, two decades, or five decades.”
“The French fact, I think, can thrive very positively within the Canadian confederation at this time, but if the majority comes to different conclusions in a decade, two decades, five decades, they must have the opportunity to do so.”
“It’s not an issue that can be resolved in a year or two, it can evolve,” he concluded.