Curtis: Do separatist movements around the world have anything to learn from the PQ?
Adjunct Professor at Queen's University and Chair of Statistics Canada's Advisory Committee on International Trade Statistics
Yes; the PQ has been a well-organized, umbrella, and relatively moderate political organization since its founding in the late 1960s, attracting as candidates and spokespersons generally highly intelligent persons from its core constituencies – academe, unions, social groups, and small business, all within the mainstream of Quebec society. The overall (but unique) overall context of a loose Canadian federal system, with a linguistic minority in charge of its own government with clear constitutional responsibilities, has been helpful to the PQ as a successful political organization as well.
