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Template:Infobox Canada Political Party The Parti communiste du Québec or PCQ (in English: Communist Party of Quebec) is a communist political party in Quebec. The PCQ is the Quebec branch of the Communist Party of Canada, which was founded in 1921. It has run candidates in Quebec general elections from 1936 to 1998.
The party was banned in 1941, and henceforth ran candidates as the Parti ouvrier-progressiste (in English: Labour Progressive Party) until 1959.
In 2002, the PCQ has merged with the Rassemblement pour l'alternative progressiste and the Parti de la démocratie socialiste to form the Union des forces progressistes. However, the organization is still active as the Quebec branch of the Communist Party of Canada and as a tendency within the UFP. The party's leader is André Parizeau.
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2005 split
In 2005, the Parti communiste du Québec split into two rival groups, both of which claim to legally represent the party. The national committee of one group, led by André Parizeau, voted unanimously to separate from the CPC in June 2005. The CPC does not recognize the legality of Parizeau's group, as it had previously expelled Parizeau from the party.
This split followed a lengthy dispute between PCQ leader Parizeau and the Central Executive Committee of the CPC. In November 2004, Parizeau introduced a series of amendments to the CPC program "Canada's Future is Socialism". These amendments, according to a report of the situation written by Ontario party leader Elizabeth Rowley, called on the party to strengthen its support for Quebec nationalism, and to shift its policy from "advocacy of a new, equal and voluntary parternship of nations within a confederal republic, based on recognition of the right of nations" to "self-determination up to and including the right to secession".
These amendments were rejected by the Central Executive Committee by a vote of 7-1. The National Executive Committee (NEC) of the Quebec Party also rejected Parizeau's amendments by a vote of 4-2.
In January 2005, Parizeau wrote a letter to PCQ members declaring that the party was in crisis. Describing the four NEC members who opposed his amendments as a "Gang of Four" and a pro-federalist faction, he summarily dismissed them from office. Parizeau's opponents in the PCQ called for the CPC to suspend him from office pending an investigation into his activities.
This controversy came to a head at the PCQ convention of April 2005. After delegates voted 16-14 to expel one of the dismissed NEC members, Parizeau's opponents staged a mass walkout from the convention hall. The seventeen delegates who stayed voted to establish a new National Committee and Executive, consisting entirely of Parizeau's supporters.
On April 27, 2005, the Central Executive Committee of the CPC voted to expel Parizeau for "factional activity and the pursuit of a right opportunist line", declared that the expulsions from the PCQ were illegal, and affirmed the authority of the previous National Executive Committee. The matter has not yet been resolved.
The PCQ group led by Parizeau published a letter of withdrawal from the CPC on June 15, 2005. In this letter, the CPC was accused of holding "des idées chauvines vis-à-vis du Québec". The CPC has rejected similar accusations from Parizeau in the past.
An edited version of the CPC's account of this situation is available online ([1] (http://www.rabble.ca/babble/ultimatebb.php?ubb=get_topic&f=1&t=001648), halfway down the page), as is the letter from Parizeau's PCQ group ([2] (http://www.jeunes-communistes.com/pcq/New050615.html)).
General election results
| General election | # of candidates | # of seats won | % of popular vote |
| 1936 (COM) | 4 | 0 | 0.32% |
| 1939 (COM) | 1 | 0 | 0.03% |
| 1944 (POP) | 3 | 0 | 0.59% |
| 1948 (POP) | 1 | 0 | 0.32% |
| 1952 (POP) | 4 | 0 | 0.23% |
| 1956 (POP) | 33 | 0 | 0.36% |
| 1960 (PCQ) | 2 | 0 | 0.03% |
| 1962 (PCQ) | 1 | 0 | 0.00% |
| 1966 (PCQ) | 4 | 0 | 0.02% |
| 1970 (PCQ) | 1 | 0 | 0.01% |
| 1973 (PCQ) | 3 | 0 | 0.01% |
| 1976 (PCQ) | 14 | 0 | 0.05% |
| 1981 (PCQ) | 10 | 0 | 0.02% |
| 1985 (PCQ) | 10 | 0 | 0.02% |
| 1989 (PCQ) | 10 | 0 | 0.02% |
| 1994 (PCQ) | 10 | 0 | 0.03% |
| 1998 (PCQ) | 20 | 0 | 0.05% |
See also
- Parti ouvrier-progressiste
- Politics of Quebec
- List of Quebec general elections
- List of Quebec premiers
- List of Quebec leaders of the Opposition
- National Assembly of Quebec
- Timeline of Quebec history
- Political parties in Quebec
- Communist Party of Canada
External links
- Parti communiste du Québec website (http://www.pcq.qc.ca/)
- Communist Party of Canada (http://www.communist-party.ca/)
- National Assembly historical information (http://www.assnat.qc.ca/fra/patrimoine/)
- La Politique québécoise sur le Web (http://www.quebecpolitique.com/)