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Dumont's vision of Quebec startles

Quebec would have a flat tax, user-pay health care and much happier relations with the rest of the country under a government led by Mario Dumont, the upstart star of Quebec politics suggested yesterday in his first major foray into English Canada.

Polls suggest Mr. Dumont, leader of the Action Démocratique du Québec, could become his province's next premier, despite having only five seats in the National Assembly now.

In a speech to Toronto businesspeople, he offered a taste of what has made him a political phenomenon at home. Mr. Dumont laid out a conservative-leaning political manifesto that echoes the platforms of Mike Harris, former premier of Ontario, and Ralph Klein, the Alberta Premier, and at times veers to the right of either Tory.

He pledged that he would push the Constitution and sovereignty all but off the agenda as his Quebec strived to forge closer links with the rest of the country.

"My party and I are trying to chart a new course for Quebec, to launch a new era in both our internal political life and in our dealings with our Canadian partners," Mr. Dumont told Canadian Club members.

"We are convinced that a sea change is required in our approach to government."

Attractive, young and charismatic, the 32-year-old career politician was his party's only elected member of the legislature for eight years, but his fortunes have risen phenomenally in recent months. The Action Démocratique captured three of four by-elections last June in ridings that had been held by the governing Parti Québécois.

The most recent polls suggest his party would defeat the PQ and the Liberals in a general election.

As a nationalist who worked for the pro-sovereignty side in the last Quebec referendum, Mr. Dumont has supporters in both separatist and federalist camps.

Outside Quebec, his own version of Mr. Harris's Common Sense Revolution has won plaudits from the Canadian Alliance.

Mr. Dumont said yesterday that debate on crucial social and economic issues has been overshadowed for 30 years by constitutional wrangling, leaving Quebec lagging behind most of North America economically.

It is time for Quebecers to put sovereignty aside and "think outside the box," he said.

An ADQ government would end the "empty-chair" practice Quebec often follows of refusing to participate officially in federal-provincial meetings, Mr. Dumont said. Instead, he said, the province would instead become an active, dynamic and creative participant.

But asked later whether he considers himself a sovereigntist or a federalist, he refused to answer directly, saying only that he would not dwell on such issues.

He also espoused a pared-down government that would give citizens the choice to spend what they like on their own health care.

The overburdened public health care system must be augmented by letting people pay for basic medical care out of their own pocket, the ADQ leader said.

"It's a strange value system where the government lets us spend all the money we want to purchase non-essential medical services, but we are not allowed to pay extra to help our mother get a faster hip replacement," he said.

He said the Quebec government, which pays almost $8-billion in interest on its debt, must act decisively to reduce the debt and end the "buy now, pay later" approach to public spending.

Mr. Dumont also argued for getting government out of the way of business and simplifying the province's tax code.

A flat tax -- which usually means one tax rate for all classes of taxpayer, regardless of their income level -- would help encourage entrepreneurship, he added.

Mr. Dumont also said he would not allow policy to be directed by special-interest groups.

Audience members appeared to react positively to his speech.

John Turner, former Liberal prime minister, said Canada needs young leaders like Mr. Dumont to invigorate the political scene.

"I believe he is a representative of a new generation of politician."

Tom Long, a lead architect of Mr. Harris's winning campaigns and a former contender for the Alliance's leadership, recalled a speech by Jacques Parizeau, then the separatist Quebec premier, to the same Canadian Club in 1994.

Mr. Parizeau had compared Canada's relationship to Quebec to a never-ending trip to the dentist.

"The contrast was incredible," Mr. Long said of Mr. Dumont's speech. "Parizeau gave us a very negative message that [Quebec] needs to be apart."

tblackwell@nationalpost.com