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PQ's pick for summer reading

At the cottage, by the pool, or on your deck, you've probably got your summer reading lined up by now. But, in case you're short of ideas, Jean-Pierre Charbonneau has one for you.

He's the Quebec cabinet minister responsible for the reform of democratic institutions. And just before the National Assembly recessed for the summer, Charbonneau published the results of his reflection on the future of Quebec democracy - surely a burning issue at pools, barbecues and golf tournaments across the province.

His paper is called Le Pouvoir aux Citoyens et Citoyennes, and, among other things, it suggests Quebec could adopt a U.S-style presidential system and a form of government modeled on a republic.

For good measure, Charbonneau wants to throw in proportional representation and citizen-initiated referendums.

The public reaction to all this? Pass the sun screen.

Now, even if the report will not make many people put down their John Grisham novels, that's not deterring Charbonneau.

Public Hearings

He's spending his summer making sure that everybody who counts gets a copy of his work. Next month, he's supposed to begin public hearings on the proposals, if anybody is actually back from vacation by then.

He couldn't pick a worse time to ask Quebecers to ponder the advantages of a strict separation of powers between the legislative and executive branches.

It's enough to make people stay at the cottage and never come back. Because next year - drum roll, please - there will be a grandly-named estates-general on the whole thing, if the government hasn't been voted out of office by then.

I suppose we could give Charbonneau his due for trying to address the so-called "democratic deficit" that a lot of politicians are talking about.

He prefaces his report by remarking on the growing gap between the public and its elected representatives, the pervasive cynicism about politicians, the sense that people are dropping out of democracy and abdicating responsibility for it.

These are genuine concerns, and Charbonneau spends a lot of time talking about what other provinces have done to address them.

For example, he mentions the adoption of an Alberta law on Senate elections. British Columbia has passed laws on referendum initiatives and fixed dates for provincial elections. Ontario's Liberal Party has called for a referendum on reform of the electoral system.

But Charbonneau's ideas are so far out in left field, they're not even in the same ballpark.

His plan looks an awful lot like a blueprint for the First Republic of Quebec, an avant-goût of what sovereignty could look like, if anybody still believes in that tired dream.

Sovereignty Lite

Imagine Quebec with a system of governance so radically different from the rest of the country. One could almost see it as sovereignty lite, if one had been out in the sun too long.

The whole idea seems ridiculous, but before dismissing it, consider this. The PQ is planning a renewed focus on the sovereignty option when politics resumes in the fall. The Charbonneau plan would fit right in - an easy and painless first step toward nationhood.

The whole thing could be done within the federation, he says, arguing that the constitution allows provinces to change anything in their own constitutions except for the office of the Queen's representative.

So would the lieutenant-governor stay on the job under Quebec's first president? Not a problem, says Charbonneau. There's room for everyone in the new republic.

Of course, there's always the chance that common sense will prevail and somebody will tell Charbonneau he doesn't really need to throw away a system that's worked nicely for the past 135 years. The parliamentary process might need repair, but it's not something that belongs on the scrap heap of history.

The irony in all this is considerable. Quebecers resisted the siren call of the American Revolution and republican government when they got important guarantees of political and cultural protection, first under the Quebec Act of 1774 and then under the Constitutional Act of 1791, which established our parliamentary framework.

Charbonneau would be tossing a fair bit of history out on its ear, history that has served Quebec well.

- Peter Hadekel's E-mail address is phadekel@thegazette.southam.ca.