MONTREAL - A prominent Quebec politician says the recent turmoil involving the Parti Quebecois is further proof the debate over independence should be put on the back burner.
Francois Legault, a former Parti Quebecois cabinet minister who once pushed for Quebec independence, is the head of a new right-of-centre political movement in the province.
Legault says PQ Leader Pauline Marois isn't the problem - the independence movement just isn't as popular as it once was.
Legault made the comments at a youth conference in Montreal today.
Former longtime PQ cabinet minister Louise Beaudoin was in attendance and did not seem drawn in by Legault. "I think he's wrong on the national issue," she told CTV Montreal.
Political analyst Henry Aubin also believes that the landscape is not shaping up favourably for the nationalist movement in Quebec.
"A splintered sovereignty movement means it'll be difficult to launch a more coherent campaign," he said.
Legault was apparently facing a tough crowd too, however. One student in attendance, Caroline Lang of the University of Montreal thought that Legault's new party needs work. "I don't think it's ready to be launched," she said.
As Legault launches his new movement, so too does a newly-formed group of sovereigntists which wrote a public manifesto slamming the Parti Quebecois as a spent force in the fight for independence.
The group, composed of former members of both the PQ and the Bloc Quebecois, is scheduled to hold a meeting in Montreal on Sunday.
With a file from The Canadian Press
