Quebec Separatists Unite; Ontario Conservatives Win

The separatist movement in Quebec got a boost Friday, while Ontario, Canada’s most populous province, on Thursday took a sharp turn toward the political right.

In Quebec, separatist leaders ended their bickering and formed a common front, unveiling an agreement in principle on a “common project” they will put to Quebeckers in an autumn referendum on sovereignty for Canada’s French-speaking province.

At a press conference, the leaders of the Parti Quebecois, Bloc Quebecois and Action Democratique du Quebec said they seek a mandate to negotiate an economic and political union with Canada if the province votes to secede.

Quebec would declare its independence one year later, whether or not the negotiations with Canada were successful.

The agreement is pivotal because, in addition to unifying the ruling Parti Quebecois in Quebec with the Bloc Quebecois, which sits in Canada’s national Parliament, it brings a softer third party into the separatist fold and could boost the separatists’ standing in the polls.

Meanwhile, voters in Ontario tossed out the socialist New Democrats on Thursday and brought in the Progressive Conservatives, who have promised tax cuts and to make people work for welfare.

Progressive Conservative leader Mike Harris overcame what just six weeks ago seemed an insurmountable lead by the centrist Liberals to win a solid majority in the provincial legislature.

Harris, who some people have begun calling Gingrich North after U.S. Rep. Newt Gingrich (R-Ga.), campaigned on a platform of cutting taxes and government spending, and introducing a work-for-welfare program that seemed to have a lot of appeal in tough economic times.