Union des forces progressistes (UFP)

The forces supporting Cliche’s campaign called themselves the Union des Forces Progressistes, or "alliance of progessive forces".

This was a historic electoral challenge from the left in Quebec. Cliche campaigned against the FTAA and in support of the Quebec City protests against the Summit of Americas that took place shortly after the election, on making layoffs by profitable corporations illegal, and for the elimination of poverty in Quebec. The high result for Cliche was all the more surprising as the riding had been a Parti Québécois stronghold for more than 20 years.

The UFP was not launched as a new electoral party immediately, but by June 2002 a founding congress was held in Montreal, with an eye to contesting the 2003 Quebec provincial election. A basis of unity was developed around opposition to neo-liberalism, a policy of zero-poverty (as opposed to the "Zero-Deficit" policy of the Parti Québécois), for self-determination for Quebec and for First Nations, and against imperialism and for peace.

The UFP calls for sovereignty for Quebec as part of a larger struggle for social justice and democracy.

They have made it clear, however, that this is fundamentally different from the vision of sovereignty held by the Parti Québécois, which favours a Quebec for the wealthy.

And the UFP is intent on doing outreach in various ethnic and cultural communities in order to break down traditional divisions, including those between francophones and anglophones. The Quebec City protests against the FTAA created new openings for francophone-anglophone-allophone solidarity, and the UFP wants to foster those links in order to represent the true scope of the left in Quebec today.

Efforts are now well underway to identify UFP candidates for a provincial election, which could be called as early as the spring. There is a UFP recruitment and fundraising campaign presently underway throughout Quebec, with postering in a number of residential neighbourhoods, a UFP newspaper with membership form, an online newsletter, and a website where individuals can join or found a regional and/or local section of the UFP where one doesn’t already exist, and get regular updates about local acitivities (www.ufp.qc.ca)

The time is ripe.

Quebec has not only seen the rise of Mario Dumont’s right-wing ADQ, as a voter response to punish the PQ without rewarding the Liberals, but also the highest strike levels in years, continued opposition to the FTAA, including a demo of 10,000 in Montreal on Oct 31, 10,000 marching for Palestine in Montreal, and thousands more in other places like Quebec City.

And now, Quebec unions are moving towards a public and official break with their long-standing informal relationship with the PQ. Formal resolutions have been passed by the two major trade union federations, the CSN and FTQ, to back candidates to the left of the PQ — but without specifying who. There is a small but crucial window of opportunity, where conditions are ripe for a left electoral challenge, but won’t necessarily stay that way forever.

As a "party of the streets", the UFP has held meetings on local issues such as housing, and has even organized small events under the UFP banner such as a solidarity picket for the very important strike at Vidéotron.

It is part of a broad Quebec coalition against war in Iraq, called Echec a la guerre, and has had a visible presence at anti-war marches in a number of locales in Quebec. On the November 17 march, the UFP distributed a leaflet declaring: "The left in Quebec takes a position on international questions. If the traditional parties run away from the global political reality, the UFP demonstrates today against globalization and its wars, against US war plans on Irak, against imperialism and against the segregation of muslim peoples here and elsewhere."

The UFP is the only electoral party in Quebec that is clearly opposed to a war on Iraq, despite the fact that over 70 per cent of the Quebec population is opposed to this.

The UFP is made up of local groups in a number of ridings (similar to riding associations) and regional associations. There is a presence in a number of places outside of Montreal and Quebec City, such as Joliette, Chicoutimi, Saguenay/Lac St-Jean, etc. Decisions are made by a national executive committee that was elected at the founding congress, but also by a larger delegated council, the Conseil de l’Union, that meets regularly.

There is also a second congress, or membership-wide convention, coming up on February 1-2 in Montreal. All members in good standing can fully participate, and observers are welcome.

The structure of the UFP allows for different platforms and organizations to exist within it, with the common goal of building the UFP on the ground and in the electoral arena. In fact, there is also a special relationship with the Green Party: although not an official member of the UFP, their respective candidates will not run against each other but will support each other instead.

There are some doubts on the Quebec left about the viability of the UFP. Some even raise the need for "strategic" voting for the PQ or even the Quebec Liberals to stop the rise of the ADQ. But strategic voting for centre-right parties has never been successful in stopping the right from gaining ground.

There are some doubts whether the forces currently represented by the UFP are capable of filling the huge political vacuum on the left in the short time-span between now and the next election. This will certainly be a challeng. But the UFP election strategy is to target a reasonable number of favourable ridings to stand candidates, rather than trying to fill the vacuum entirely. And the goal is not merely electoral, but to play a role in shifting the terrain of debate.

UFP spokespeople have published articles in the well-known Quebec left paper l’autre journal emphasizing that: "power is not only about getting to the National Assembly at all costs, power is not a goal in itself but is what you make of it, something which must be visible now in the party’s practice, which is a fore-taste of what we want to do at the level of society." And a recent document on the UFP’s electoral strategy begins: "we refuse to subordinate the entirely of our party’s activities only to the needs of the electoral arena, provincial or other."

An election can be a platform for anti-globalization and anti-war politics, and the goal can be to build a progressive left-wing movement through an election. The UFP sees the election as a means to build the movement on the ground and unite the broad left, rather than uniting as a means to get elected, or using the movement on the ground as a vehicle for winning elections.

In order to make the most of this exiting experiment in Quebec, its impact must be shared beyond Quebec. The UFP’s impact on electoral politics could potentially open up new political space in English Canada as well, where those looking for change can draw inspiration from the UFP’s efforts, no matter what the final election results turn out to be.