A decision by the Parti Quebecois to pull advertisements from a sovereigntist newspaper caused a rift within the party Saturday.
Both the PQ and the Bloc Quebecois severed ties with Le Quebecois newspaper and its controversial editor Patrick Bourgeois after he called for civil disobedience to protest the now-cancelled restaging of the Plains of Abraham battle. Originally it was planned for next summer in Quebec City.
But a number of PQ members who attended the party’s national council in Quebec City this weekend said their leader Pauline Marois went overboard in asking her caucus members to completely stop advertising in the journal.
A PQ staffer said Friday that Marois took the step because Bourgeois made “inappropriate comments with seemingly violent undertones.”
But a member of a left-wing faction of the PQ (the Syndicalistes et progressistes pour un Quebec libre) said Saturday that Marois had made a regrettable decision that wouldn’t prevent Le Quebecois from publishing.
“I never personally heard (Bourgeois) foster violence,” said Marc Laviolette.
PQ MNA Camil Bouchard, who has bought advertisements in the paper, tried to minimize Marois’ choice.
“The PQ has always lived with all its separate movements,” he said.
“There are nationalists who are more radical. We’ve always lived very well together.”
Bourgeois found himself in the centre of the Plains of Abraham slugfest when he mentioned that some people on his website made statements promoting violence should plans to restage the bloody conflict between British and French forces go forward.
The National Battlefields Commission cancelled the event last week, citing major safety and security concerns.
The PQ has since been trying to distance itself from the editor, blogger, and figurehead of the Reseau de resistance du Quebecois, a radical sovereigntist organization.
The Bloc Quebecois was also keeping at arm’s-length from Bourgeois’ publication.
“A year ago, we suggested to our MPs that they no longer purchase ads in Le Quebecois,” said Bloc spokeswoman Karine Sauve.
“At the next caucus meeting we’ll straight out ask them to no longer buy ads at all.”
In the 13 issues between the summer of 2006 and this January, the paper ran 175 ads for either the PQ or the Bloc.
“About 80% of our ad revenue comes from either the Bloc or the PQ,” said Bourgeois.
“That’s between $8,000 and $10,000.”
