If at first you don’t succeed, try, try again.
That’s PQ star candidate Richard Le Hir’s philosophy on the referendum on Quebec’s sovereignty that the PQ would like to hold if it’s elected.
Le Hir has surprised reporters and even some members of his own party by saying that if Quebecers vote in a referendum against separating from Canada, a PQ government wouldn’t take that as a definite ‘no’ to sovereignty. In fact, he said it could hold a second referendum in the same mandate.
Le Hir pointed to the example of Newfoundland, which held two referendums before voters agreed to join Canada in 1949.
But another PQ candidate, noted legalist Serge Menard, said Le Hir’s idea would violate Quebec law and would make Quebec’s independence hard for the international community to accept.
“It’s the appeal to the democratic principle recognized in international law which is the only way Quebec can realize sovereignty,” said Menard.
