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With the likelihood of yet another federal election growing more distinct day by day, former Bloc Québécois MP for Papineau Vivian Barbot has announced she will be trying to take back the seat the Liberals’ Justin Trudeau won in the October 2008 election. “It is for me a great pleasure to be out here in the field, making available my services to people for whom I have a particular fondness,” says Barbot, who scored a major victory for the Bloc in 2006 when she defeated Liberal cabinet minister Pierre Pettigrew in a riding that had long been considered a Liberal bastion.
Tories, Grits the same: Barbot
“This will be an occasion to re-start a fruitful dialogue already started with the population and the staff of community groups who are doing excellent work in the riding,” she adds. “More than ever, in the context of the economic crisis, Papineau needs an MP who is present and listening to its needs. In Quebec, the Liberal Party and the Conservative Party are devoted to the same cause by defending the same interests, those of Canada, to the detriment of Quebec. The Conservatives and Liberals are two parties with the same outlook: they have the same restrictive vision of the Quebec nation. In Ottawa, only the Bloc rises to defend the interests of Quebec and Papineau.”
Despite a recent decision by the Liberals to withdraw their support from the Conservative minority government, last week the Tories were able to keep from falling because of support provided by the NDP and the Bloc Québécois. The two opposition parties decided to go along with Conservative budget measures that included tax breaks for home renovations. In the meantime, however, the Bloc and the NDP have been trying to obtain concessions from the Conservatives for the reform of Canada’s employment insurance program.
Bloc wants EI reform
“The Bloc Québécois has been elaborating a complete reform of employment insurance with an admissibility criteria of 360 hours for all, accelerated access, without delays, an increase in benefits paid out, the enlargement of criteria for training and special program for aging workers,” says Barbot. “These proposals are on the table and if Michael Ignatieff and Stephen Harper want to help workers and the economy, they can act quickly.
“All the same, misters Harper and Ignatieff must become aware of one thing: elections or not, they will find themselves face to face with a team from the Bloc Québécois that stands tall for all Quebecers.” Since her defeat, Barbot was elected vice-president of the Bloc Québécois in January this year by the party’s members. When she was an MP, she was the Bloc’s spokesperson for issues concerning “francophonie,” Canada’s official languages and intergovernmental affairs. She was also an associate spokesperson for foreign affairs issues.