Turmel vs. Lebel: their sovereigntist ties
For head-to-head comparison purposes, here's what we know about the past sovereigntist ties of interim NDP leader Nycole Turmel, and how they stack up against those of Transport Minister Denis Lebel:
How long were they members of a sovereigntist party?
Turmel held a Bloc membership for just over four years, from December 2006 until January 2011. She became an NDP candidate shortly afterwards. It's unclear exactly when Turmel became a member of Quebec Solidaire, but it only formed as a provincial political party in November 2006. Turmel did not give up her membership in the provincial party until it became controversial last week.
Lebel was a member of the Bloc for eight years, from July 1993 until April 2001. In the summer of 1993, the Bloc was fighting its first-ever federal election campaign, under then-leader Lucien Bouchard. (The party became the official Opposition that fall.) Lebel was still a Bloc member when he was elected mayor of Roberval in 2000.
Why were they members of a sovereigntist party?
Turmel says she took out a Bloc membership to 'support a friend': then-BQ MP Carole Lavallée. She says she agrees with some of the Bloc's policies, but not its position on national unity. When Turmel served as the head of the Public Service Alliance of Canada, the national federal civil servants' union endorsed Bloc Québécois candidates. Of Quebec Solidaire, Turmel told Rosemary Barton on
Power & Politics that her support for the provincial party was based on the fact that "they work on issues for Quebec families." She says Quebec Solidaire spokesperson (the party does not have a leader in the traditional sense) Françoise David is also a friend of hers.
Lebel explains his Bloc membership as part of his political and community involvement more generally in the Saguenay-Lac-Saint-John region of Quebec, a nationalist stronghold. He told Radio-Canada that he wanted to get closer to then-MP Michel Gauthier, who became the leader of the Bloc after Lucien Bouchard left to become premier of Quebec in 1996.
How active and committed were they to the sovereigntist cause?
Turmel says that despite her memberships and the small donations (totalling $235) she made in support of her friend Lavallée, she was never active in the sovereignty movement per se. Her past work as a national union leader did find her on common ground with the Bloc on other social and justice issues. She maintains that she is and always has been a federalist.
Turmel has disclosed that she voted against separation in both of Quebec's sovereignty referendums.
Lebel says that despite his membership and small donations (a few hundred dollars), he never actively campaigned for the Bloc, although he did attend Bloc events and participate in partisan activities. A party organizer for the Bloc during that time period supports his claim not to have been a party activist or strong campaigner. Lebel told reporters in 2007 that he is a Quebec nationalist.
Lebel has not disclosed how he voted in Quebec's sovereignty referendums.
Turmel vs. Lebel: their sovereigntist ties - Inside Politics
Pop Quiz for Colpy:
Which possible sovereigntist would
you be more suspicious of?
One that reveals she voted against separation? Or the one that does not disclose how he voted in referendums at all?
