<div dir="ltr">
<h1 class="entry-title">Lise Ravary: Anglos shouldn't spurn alternatives to the Liberals</h1>
<div class="gmail-fixed-holder gmail-first gmail-left">
<div class="entry-details gmail-byline gmail-clearfix">
<div class="gmail-story_details"> <div class="gmail-author-wrap">
<div>
<span class="gmail-author">
<img alt="Lise Ravary, Special to Montreal Gazette" src="https://postmediamontrealgazette2.files.wordpress.com/2018/04/ravary21.jpg?w=50&h=50&crop=1&quality=80&strip=all" class="gmail-avatar gmail-avatar-50 gmail-photo" width="50" height="50">
<span class="gmail-name">Lise Ravary, Special to Montreal Gazette</span>
</span>
</div>
</div>
<div class="gmail-byline-dates">
<p><strong>Published:</strong> September 24, 2018 </p><p><strong>Updated:</strong> September 24, 2018 11:45 AM PDT </p><p class="gmail-filed_under"><strong>Filed Under:</strong></p><div class="gmail-breadcrumb-wrap gmail-opinion gmail-sub">
<ul class="gmail-breadcrumb-list"><li class="gmail-track_event">
<a href="https://theprovince.com"><span>The Province</span></a>
</li><li class="gmail-opinion gmail-sub gmail-track_event">
<a href="https://theprovince.com/category/opinion"><span>Opinion</span></a>
</li><li class="gmail-columnists gmail-sub gmail-current-category gmail-track_event">
<a href="https://theprovince.com/category/opinion/columnists"><span>Columnists</span></a>
</li></ul>
</div>
</div>
<div class="gmail-social-bar gmail-share">
<ul class="gmail-social-icons"><li class="gmail-facebook">
<br></li><li class="gmail-twitter">
<br></li><li class="gmail-more-social">
<br></li></ul>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
<div class="gmail-fixed-fluid-holder gmail-right gmail-active gmail-last">
<div class="gmail-fluid-holder gmail-right">
<div class="entry-content">
<img class="gmail-wp-post-image" alt="Coalition Avenir du Quebec Leader Francois Legault greets candidates and supporters while campaigning Friday, September 21, 2018 in Montreal, Que." src="https://postmediamontrealgazette2.files.wordpress.com/2018/09/que-elxn-caq-201809212.jpg?w=840&h=630&crop=1&quality=80&strip=all" width="840" height="630">
<p>
<span class="gmail-img-caption">Coalition Avenir du Quebec Leader
Francois Legault greets candidates and supporters while campaigning
Friday, September 21, 2018 in Montreal, Que.</span>
<span class="gmail-img-author">
<span>Ryan Remiorz</span> / <span>THE CANADIAN PRESS</span> </span>
</p>
<div>
<h2 class="excerpt">Voting en masse for one party, election after
election, regardless of circumstances, sends a message of not-belonging,
of otherness.</h2><p>By the time you read my next Gazette column,
Quebec will have elected a new government. I doubt that Philippe
Couillard will be premier again.</p><p>He was a contender, albeit by a
minuscule margin, until he assured Quebecers that it was possible to
feed a small family for $75 a week.</p><p>So weird was this remark that even the BBC and The Guardian covered it.</p><p>And unbelievably stupid.</p><p>But
it won’t stop Le Bloc Anglo from voting Liberal. Nor will the ongoing
investigation by UPAC into illegal fundraising, nor the mess that is
Gaétan Barrette’s reform, including his neglect of the McGill University
Health Centre, nor cuts to educational services for children with
special needs.</p><p>There must be a reason why 71 per cent of francophones were dissatisfied with the Liberal government.</p><p>For
the first time since the 1970 election campaign, the issue of Quebec
independence does not stand between anglophones and francophones. And
yet, I feel that we are farther apart than before.</p><p>Voting en masse
for a party seen as kowtowing to the English-speaking community,
election after election, regardless of circumstances, sends a message of
not-belonging, of separateness, otherness.</p></div></div></div></div>
<br clear="all"><br>-- <br><div dir="ltr" class="gmail_signature" data-smartmail="gmail_signature">=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+<br><br> Harold F. Schiffman<br><br>Professor Emeritus of <br> Dravidian Linguistics and Culture <br>Dept. of South Asia Studies <br>University of Pennsylvania<br>Philadelphia, PA 19104-6305<br><br>Phone: (215) 898-7475<br>Fax: (215) 573-2138 <br><br>Email: <a href="mailto:haroldfs@gmail.com" target="_blank">haroldfs@gmail.com</a><br><a href="http://ccat.sas.upenn.edu/~haroldfs/" target="_blank">http://ccat.sas.upenn.edu/~haroldfs/</a> <br><br>-------------------------------------------------</div></div>