On February 15, Honourable Jean-Marc Fournier, former Government House Leader and Minister Responsible
for Canadian Relations and the Canadian Francophonie, came to our university to discuss the future of politics in Quebec and what it means
for politics in the rest of the country as well.
In this workshop participants discussed and tried to make sense of the meaning of the result of the Quebec election
last October 2018. One thing is for sure, the idea of Quebec independence has not disappeared from the electoral
agenda entirely and, due to the ongoing presence of underlying factors, is likely to resurface again in the future. What
are some of the short-term options facing provincial political parties? And what do the political realities in this
province mean for the rest of Canada? How will they play out at the next federal election and are parties ready to
tackle the challenges?
Canadian society is always changing and the space for convergence of identities may be continuously shrinking as a
result. In this workshop, Mr. Fournier also painted a portrait of some of the perceptions and misunderstandings of
Quebec and Canadian identities, their regional differences and similarities, and the new polarizations in Canadian
society that continue to emerge. How do we tackle these differences and open up space for discussion and common
ground? What are some of the challenges we need to overcome and can we engage academics and the media to help
open up this space for convergence?
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