Political uncertainty shadows Quebec in the aftermath of a contentious provincial election campaign. Since the vote, the specter of separatism has re-emerged in the multiethnic Canadian province where political rhetoric by the French-language-focused Parti Quebecois could bring about the return of economic instability and undermine fragile business confidence.
In a tightly contested three-way race, voters went to the edge but stopped short of giving the separatist Parti Quebecois (PQ) a majority. Still, the shadow has not passed as the PQ will now form a minority government, albeit with a plurality of 32 percent of the vote. Emotions and tragic violence marred the end of the campaign. A shooting killed a bystander at the PQ's victory rally in downtown Montreal.
Now, after nine years in power, Quebec's federalist Liberal Party has run out of ideas, steam and luck. The final straw for longtime Premier Jean Charest was trying to institute lukewarm education reforms under which university students would pay an additional $254 a year for their studies (the cost of a few sweatshirts at American Universities). Some 84 percent of total university costs are paid by taxpayers.