Prominent sovereigntist Jean Dorion won't support Parti Québécois
Former Bloc Québécois MP says secular 'values' charter throws 'oil on the fire'
Jean Dorion, a prominent figure in Quebec's independence movement, says he won’t be endorsing the Parti Québécois.
The former Bloc Québécois MP is urging pro-separatists to vote for one of the other sovereigntist parties: Option Nationale or Quebec Solidaire.
"I personally totally disagree with the type of society that the PQ is trying to put us in," he said on CBC's Daybreak on Friday.
He told Daybreak host Mike Finnerty that the PQ's charter of values was an opportunistic move to gain electoral support.
Dorion said immigrants are an important part of Quebec society, which the proposed charter threatens by playing on "petty prejudices."
"Cultural coexistence may create a number of frictions, but real statesmen [and] stateswomen try to mitigate them and find solutions. On the contrary, [the PQ] throws oil on the fire and I absolutely cannot agree with that," Dorion said.
He pointed out that other well-known separatists, including Lucien Bouchard and Louis Harel, are opposed to the proposed charter.
“You have a number of people especially in the intellectual class, who have been devoted supporters of Quebec's independence, and [who] cannot support that kind of independence."