Québec solidaire recently held its national congress. The leadership are on clear a rightward trajectory, seeking to water down the party’s anti-capitalist and socialist traditions in order to “prepare to govern". By this, they mean making the party acceptable to the establishment, and ready to govern within the limits of capitalism.

The victory of the CAQ (Coalition Avenir Québec, or Coalition for the Future of Quebec) in the 1 October elections in Quebec marked the end of an epoch in the province. The Liberal Party and the Parti Québécois (PQ) who had held power interchangeably for nearly half a century were pummeled at the polls, receiving their worst electoral results in history. The political landscape in Quebec is increasingly polarised on the left with Québec solidaire and on the right with the CAQ, while the establishment parties in the “centre” have been punished.

On 7 October, thousands of people gathered in downtown Montréal to march against racism and the newly elected CAQ government. The demonstration brought out a large number of immigrant families, grandparents and children included, all of whom were shocked by the election of the anti-immigrant government. La Riposte socialiste organised the socialist contingent of over 60 activists on the march.

The Quebec election this past Monday marked the end of an era. Support for the establishment parties, the PQ and the Liberals, collapsed to its lowest point on record. The main benefactor is the right-wing CAQ, which swept a dozens ridings and will now form a majority government. But the vote was also polarised to the left, with Quebec solidaire more than doubling their vote share and going from three seats to 10. This unprecedented situation opens up a new period of class struggle against the CAQ government.

With the Quebec general election approaching on 1 October, the increasing support for the left-wing Québec solidaire has provoked a wave of panic in the camp of the Parti Quebecois and the establishment media. Obtaining just 7.6 percent of the vote in the 2014 election, the party has now risen to 16-19 per cent in the latest polls.

Recent independence movements, most notably those in Scotland and Catalonia, have caused many people to draw parallels between them and Quebec. This, combined with the identitarian turn that the mainstream Québécois nationalist parties have taken recently, forces us to return to the basics and re-evaluate the Marxist approach to this question.

Il y a 45 ans avait lieu le plus grand mouvement de grève de l’histoire du Québec. Lors de cet épisode historique, les travailleur-euses de la province ont investi massivement la scène politique pour lutter contre la classe bourgeoise. Au paroxysme du mouvement, les travailleur-euses occupèrent les usines et les mines et la grève générale paralysa l’économie de la province. Aujourd’hui, les événements du printemps 1972 demeurent dans l’angle mort de l’histoire québécoise officielle, laquelle retient généralement la crise d’octobre 1970 comme moment phare des turbulences politiques et sociales de cette période. À l’heure où la crise du capitalisme s’éternise, la lutte des classes refait

Forty-five years ago, the largest and most important strike movement in the history of Quebec took place. During this historic episode, the workers of the province stormed onto the political arena to fight against the bourgeoisie. At its peak, workers occupied the factories and mines, and the general strike movement brought the economy of the province to a halt.

The moment that everyone was waiting for has finally arrived: On Thursday, March 9th, Gabriel-Nadeau Dubois, the celebrated student leader from 2012, announced that he will be joining Quebec solidaire. He will be the candidate for the party in the riding of Gouin and also desires to become the male spokesperson for the party. He said he wants to get rid of the "political class" that has governed for 30 years and has "betrayed Quebec".

Five years have passed since the heroic struggle of the students during the “maple spring.” This magnificent movement shook the Canadian province of Quebec to the core and ended with the defeat of the Liberal Party and the cancelling of the tuition increase. However, five years later, austerity continues at a steady pace and the Liberals seem to be comfortably seated in power. The fifth anniversary of the maple spring is an occasion for us to revisit those historic events and to highlight the lessons of this fantastic movement.

This audio file, recorded on the 11th June at the Socialist Appeal London aggregate, hears Rob Lyon talk on the National Question in relation to the current and historical situation in Quebec.