President Trump may currently be engaged in a war of words with Prime Minister Trudeau of Canada over international trade agreements. But not everyone north of the border is viewing the United States with a combination of confusion, suspicion and fear these days. It appears we have some secret admirers in Québec.
With Québec’s National Assembly elections slated for Oct. 1, a new political party has gained some notoriety in the province due to its peculiar vision – to separate Québec from Canada and become the 51st U.S. state.
Appropriately named Parti 51, the group is led by lawyer Hans Mercier, who says that his relatively small membership includes an eclectic mix of federalists, sovereigntists, socialists, francophones and anglophones who believe that Québec’s unique culture would fit very nicely into a place as big and diverse as the United States.
Mercier sees a number of benefits for Québec to join America, including a stronger dollar, larger economic markets and better international protection. As the party’s website states: “a state in the union is sovereign and can legislate in all spheres, Québec would have its own criminal laws and could even have its own militia. Simply put, we truly would be ‘masters in our own house.’” The party believes that America’s tolerance of diversity would enable it to keep its French language and traditions intact.
Parti 51’s desire for statehood is a twist on Québec’s off-and-on flirtation with sovereignty, which last saw a surge in 1995. The party itself is actually a reincarnation – the original Parti 51 was started by Serge Talon in 1989, but disbanded soon after the 1990 provincial election because it did not have enough members to form an executive council.
Like its predecessor, the current Parti 51 faces an uphill battle to gain relevance. At present, only four candidates are running for office. However, Mercier is not discouraged, even though the timing of the party’s reemergence isn’t ideal, as many Canadians are turned off by the current state of U.S. politics. He said he gets an enthusiastic reaction from voters after getting past the topic of President Trump.
“The current presidency is polarizing and may create a knee-jerk reaction (against the concept),” Mercier told The Montreal Gazette. “But then we can discuss the project in a rational way and explain the American system — the checks and balances, the role of U.S. states, and the limited power of the president.”