Culture

Introducing Inroads 59

Inroads takes an in-depth look at the coming election in Quebec - along with developments in three other provinces

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Issue 59

When Inroads was launched in 1992, with the intent of making inroads into solitudes, among the solitudes it sought to address was that dividing Quebec and English Canada. This was especially urgent in the early years, the years of the Charlottetown Accord, the rise of the Bloc Québécois, the 1995 sovereignty referendum and the Clarity Act. While Quebec has not always been top-of-mind for English Canadians in the years since, providing cogent, knowledgeable reporting and analysis of developments in Quebec has remained a central goal of Inroads.

Although the governing Coalition Avenir Québec (CAQ) has shown new signs of life under Christine Fréchette, who succeeded François Legault as Premier in April, the Quebec election scheduled for October 5 will almost certainly, after eight years, mark the end of CAQ rule. The most likely – although by no means guaranteed – winner of the election is the Parti Québécois, which has promised a new referendum on sovereignty. Michel Venne traces the ups and downs of the Quebec sovereignty movement since 1995 and assesses its current state (In 2026, what does Quebec want?). In The Carney factor in the Quebec election, Anne Michèle Meggs provides a guide to the election in the context of the Prime Minister’s pragmatic approach to federalism.

There have been notable developments in other provinces as well. Alberta has its own sovereignty movement and is awaiting its own referendum – not on sovereignty itself but on whether to hold a sovereignty referendum. Mark Crawford puts the pieces together in Remain or referendum? Reg Whitaker analyzes British Columbia’s political crisis over reconciliation with First Nations, with Premier David Eby caught between promises to First Nations and fears surrounding property rights (When legal principle prevails over political prudence). Changing course from the centrism that has characterized the New Brunswick Liberal Party since the 1980s, Premier Susan Holt’s government is experimenting with empathetic liberalism, as Andrew Nurse reports (Thank you for sharing).

Three articles explore events in the United States. In his editorial (A crucial election – if it takes place), Henry Milner emphasizes the importance of a Democratic victory in the coming midterms and suggests that the Democrats may need to moderate some policy positions to maximize their chances. Drawing on a lifetime of Democratic Party activism, Derek Shearer maintains that Democrats need to say what they’re for, not just what they’re against (Planning for the day after Trump). Toward that end, he introduces a “Bold Economic Program for America” that he and colleagues have developed. I follow up my article in the last issue on MAGA and evangelical Christians by examining the attitudes of prominent MAGA figures toward Jews, and find a level of tolerance of antisemitism that is a worrisome departure from the norm of recent decades (MAGA and the Jews).

Also in this issue:

  • Zsuzsanna Magyar examines how the opposition Tisza party ended Viktor Orbán’s illiberal rule in Hungary’s election – and why, despite polls indicating the likelihood of that very result, it came as a surprise (Revolution by election in Hungary).
  • Mette Frederiksen’s Social Democrats won the most seats in Denmark’s election but, as Jacob Christensen explains in Fragmentation and uncertainty in Denmark, have no easy path to forming a coalition in the country’s intricate party system.
  • The results of Britain’s election for local authorities and the Scottish and Welsh parliaments were catastrophic not only for the governing Labour Party but also, as Eric Shaw notes, for the country’s longstanding two-party system (Labour’s catastrophe).
  • Geoff White reviews two books: Branko Milanovic’s study of the global economy (The trials of the rules-based international order) and Philippe Sands’s account of how the stories of a homegrown dictator and a Nazi fugitive came together in Chile, where Geoff served as Canadian trade commissioner (Sharpening the shadows of Chile’s past).
  • In the last issue, Henry Milner reflected on generational change in light of a book about the Łódź ghetto during World War II, where many of his relatives perished. Here he reflects further on how the Holocaust has affected our perception of the centuries that preceded it (Asking questions about the Jewish past).
  • In his poems (Discontent, fundamentalism and ambiguity), Philip Resnick maintains a critical distance from our much-lauded Prime Minister and ponders the appeal of religious fundamentalism as a response to our chaotic time.