Quebec Election

It received no attention here in the U.S., but Quebec held a provincial election on Monday. Prior to the election, the governing Liberal party held a majority of the seats, with the separatists Parti Quebecois a distant second. A third party, Action Democratique Quebec, known by its initials, "ADQ", which unlike the other two parties favours conservative economic principles (but may also be separatist; its leader, Mario Dumont, won't commit one way or the other) held a handful of seats.

Now, Quebec has its first minority government in almost 130 years. For the CBC story on the election, go here: http://www.cbc.ca/canada/montreal/story/2007/03/26/qv-liberals20070326.html. The Liberals held on to power, but barely. The ADQ finished a close second, and the Parti Quebecois finished a disappointing (for it) third. Why does this matter? Well, the balance of power in Quebec is now being held by two parties, one of which is overtly separatist, and the other of which might be, and probably is. This would impact NAFTA, NORAD, NATO and a whole bunch of other acronyms. Dumont is generally thought to be pro-American, but Andre Boisclair and his Parti Quebecois most certainly are not.

All in all, the situation bears watching...............