Union des forces progressistes
Encyclopedia
The Union des forces progressistes (UFP) was a left- wing
political party in Quebec
, Canada
from 2002-2006. Four parties merged to form the UFP in 2002 out of desire to unite Quebec's political left:
On 4 February 2006, UFP merged with Option citoyenne
to form the new political party Québec solidaire
.
The aim of the UFP was to bring together progressive
forces across the broad left wing of the political spectrum, including social democrats
, socialists
and communists
. The UFP also advocated altermondialism
, feminism
, pacifism
and green politics
. Its platform did not specifically endorse social democracy, socialism or communism.
The Green Party of Quebec
pledged to try to avoid running candidates in ridings where there was a UFP candidate, although it reserved the right to run anywhere it wants to (even ridings with a UFP candidate), and did not merge with the UFP.
The UFP presented itself as an alternative to the main three parties in Quebec: the centre-left Parti Québécois
, the centre-right Quebec Liberal Party, and the conservative Action démocratique du Québec
/Equipe Mario Dumont
, saying that all three are but different faces of the same right-wing
ideology called neoliberalism
.
The UFP opposed globalization
, privatization
, and deregulation
, and called for increased funding of social services, higher taxes on the rich and business, proportional representation
in the National Assembly of Quebec
, and an alternative economy based upon co-operatives
and nonprofit organization
s.
The UFP supported Quebec sovereignty. It considered this option not as an end in itself, but rather as a means to achieve the party's social ideal for the people of Quebec. To solve the national question, the UFP suggested the creation of a Constituent Assembly
, mandated to draw up and propose to the population, via referendum, a Constitution for a progressive, republican, secular
and democratic Québec.
The UFP was led by a council instead of a single leader. The UFP promised to be a party of the ballot box and of the streets, meaning that it would work to increase awareness of social problems and for progressive social change even between elections, particularly with regards to the rights of workers and of the unemployed.
Considering its modest results in the 2003 elections (1.06% of the votes or 1.50% if the Green Party of Quebec's votes were included), the UFP was a marginal party.
On 5 November 2005, delegates of the UFP voted unanimously in favour of a merger with the party of the Option citoyenne movement led by Françoise David
. The founding congress of the new party was held on 4 February 2006 and resulted in the formation of a new party, Québec solidaire
.
Left-wing politics
In politics, Left, left-wing and leftist generally refer to support for social change to create a more egalitarian society...
political party in Quebec
Quebec
Quebec or is a province in east-central Canada. It is the only Canadian province with a predominantly French-speaking population and the only one whose sole official language is French at the provincial level....
, Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
from 2002-2006. Four parties merged to form the UFP in 2002 out of desire to unite Quebec's political left:
- the Rassemblement pour l'alternative progressisteRassemblement pour l'alternative progressisteThe Rassemblement pour l'alternative progressiste or RAP originated as the Rassemblement pour l'alternative politique, a social movement founded in 1996 as an attempt to unite the progressive and leftist forces in Quebec, Canada...
(RAP), - the Parti de la démocratie socialisteParti de la démocratie socialisteThe Parti de la Democratie Socialiste was a political party in Quebec, Canada.The early origins of the PDS can be traced back to the Fédération du Commonwealth Coopératif , later renamed Parti social démocratique du Québec...
(PDS), formerly the New Democratic Party of Quebec - the Parti communiste du QuébecCommunist Party of QuebecThe Parti communiste du Québec or PCQ is a communist political party in Quebec. The PCQ was the Quebec branch of the Communist Party of Canada until 2005 when the PCQ split at convention with a majority opposing the CPC's stance on Quebec independence...
(PCQ), and - the Quebec-based membership of the International SocialistsInternational Socialists (Canada)The International Socialists is a Canadian socialist organization. It is part of the International Socialist Tendency. The I.S. publishes an English-language monthly paper, Socialist Worker and holds an annual Marxism conference every spring in Toronto....
.
On 4 February 2006, UFP merged with Option citoyenne
Option citoyenne
Option citoyenne was an altermondialist and feminist political organization in the Canadian province of Quebec. The group was created by Françoise David in 2004; David and François Saillant were its official spokespersons. Option citoyenne gave official support to the left-wing Union des forces...
to form the new political party Québec solidaire
Québec Solidaire
Québec solidaire is a democratic socialist and sovereigntist political party in Quebec, Canada, that was created on 4 February 2006 in Montreal. It was formed by the merger of the left-wing party Union des forces progressistes and the alter-globalization political movement Option Citoyenne, led...
.
The aim of the UFP was to bring together progressive
Progressivism
Progressivism is an umbrella term for a political ideology advocating or favoring social, political, and economic reform or changes. Progressivism is often viewed by some conservatives, constitutionalists, and libertarians to be in opposition to conservative or reactionary ideologies.The...
forces across the broad left wing of the political spectrum, including social democrats
Social democracy
Social democracy is a political ideology of the center-left on the political spectrum. Social democracy is officially a form of evolutionary reformist socialism. It supports class collaboration as the course to achieve socialism...
, socialists
Socialism
Socialism is an economic system characterized by social ownership of the means of production and cooperative management of the economy; or a political philosophy advocating such a system. "Social ownership" may refer to any one of, or a combination of, the following: cooperative enterprises,...
and communists
Communism
Communism is a social, political and economic ideology that aims at the establishment of a classless, moneyless, revolutionary and stateless socialist society structured upon common ownership of the means of production...
. The UFP also advocated altermondialism
Alter-globalization
Alter-globalization is the name of a social movement that supports global cooperation and interaction, but which opposes the negative effects of economic globalization, feeling that it often works to the detriment of, or does not...
, feminism
Feminism
Feminism is a collection of movements aimed at defining, establishing, and defending equal political, economic, and social rights and equal opportunities for women. Its concepts overlap with those of women's rights...
, pacifism
Pacifism
Pacifism is the opposition to war and violence. The term "pacifism" was coined by the French peace campaignerÉmile Arnaud and adopted by other peace activists at the tenth Universal Peace Congress inGlasgow in 1901.- Definition :...
and green politics
Green politics
Green politics is a political ideology that aims for the creation of an ecologically sustainable society rooted in environmentalism, social liberalism, and grassroots democracy...
. Its platform did not specifically endorse social democracy, socialism or communism.
The Green Party of Quebec
Green Party of Quebec
The Parti vert du Québec/Green Party of Quebec or PVQ is a Quebec political party whose platform is the promotion of green values. It has not elected any members to the National Assembly of Quebec...
pledged to try to avoid running candidates in ridings where there was a UFP candidate, although it reserved the right to run anywhere it wants to (even ridings with a UFP candidate), and did not merge with the UFP.
The UFP presented itself as an alternative to the main three parties in Quebec: the centre-left Parti Québécois
Parti Québécois
The Parti Québécois is a centre-left political party that advocates national sovereignty for the province of Quebec and secession from Canada. The Party traditionally has support from the labour movement. Unlike many other social-democratic parties, its ties with the labour movement are informal...
, the centre-right Quebec Liberal Party, and the conservative Action démocratique du Québec
Action démocratique du Québec
The Action démocratique du Québec, commonly referred to as the ADQ is a centre-right political party in Quebec, Canada. On the sovereignty question, it defines itself as autonomist, and has support from both soft nationalists and federalists....
/Equipe Mario Dumont
Mario Dumont
Mario Dumont is a television personality and former politician in the province of Quebec. He was a Member of the National Assembly of Quebec , and the leader of the Action démocratique du Québec , from 1994 to 2009...
, saying that all three are but different faces of the same right-wing
Right-wing politics
In politics, Right, right-wing and rightist generally refer to support for a hierarchical society justified on the basis of an appeal to natural law or tradition. To varying degrees, the Right rejects the egalitarian objectives of left-wing politics, claiming that the imposition of equality is...
ideology called neoliberalism
Neoliberalism
Neoliberalism is a market-driven approach to economic and social policy based on neoclassical theories of economics that emphasizes the efficiency of private enterprise, liberalized trade and relatively open markets, and therefore seeks to maximize the role of the private sector in determining the...
.
The UFP opposed globalization
Globalization
Globalization refers to the increasingly global relationships of culture, people and economic activity. Most often, it refers to economics: the global distribution of the production of goods and services, through reduction of barriers to international trade such as tariffs, export fees, and import...
, privatization
Privatization
Privatization is the incidence or process of transferring ownership of a business, enterprise, agency or public service from the public sector to the private sector or to private non-profit organizations...
, and deregulation
Deregulation
Deregulation is the removal or simplification of government rules and regulations that constrain the operation of market forces.Deregulation is the removal or simplification of government rules and regulations that constrain the operation of market forces.Deregulation is the removal or...
, and called for increased funding of social services, higher taxes on the rich and business, proportional representation
Proportional representation
Proportional representation is a concept in voting systems used to elect an assembly or council. PR means that the number of seats won by a party or group of candidates is proportionate to the number of votes received. For example, under a PR voting system if 30% of voters support a particular...
in the National Assembly of Quebec
National Assembly of Quebec
The National Assembly of Quebec is the legislative body of the Province of Quebec. The Lieutenant Governor and the National Assembly compose the Parliament of Quebec, which operates in a fashion similar to those of other British-style parliamentary systems.The National Assembly was formerly the...
, and an alternative economy based upon co-operatives
Cooperative
A cooperative is a business organization owned and operated by a group of individuals for their mutual benefit...
and nonprofit organization
Nonprofit organization
Nonprofit organization is neither a legal nor technical definition but generally refers to an organization that uses surplus revenues to achieve its goals, rather than distributing them as profit or dividends...
s.
The UFP supported Quebec sovereignty. It considered this option not as an end in itself, but rather as a means to achieve the party's social ideal for the people of Quebec. To solve the national question, the UFP suggested the creation of a Constituent Assembly
Constituent assembly
A constituent assembly is a body composed for the purpose of drafting or adopting a constitution...
, mandated to draw up and propose to the population, via referendum, a Constitution for a progressive, republican, secular
Secularism
Secularism is the principle of separation between government institutions and the persons mandated to represent the State from religious institutions and religious dignitaries...
and democratic Québec.
The UFP was led by a council instead of a single leader. The UFP promised to be a party of the ballot box and of the streets, meaning that it would work to increase awareness of social problems and for progressive social change even between elections, particularly with regards to the rights of workers and of the unemployed.
Considering its modest results in the 2003 elections (1.06% of the votes or 1.50% if the Green Party of Quebec's votes were included), the UFP was a marginal party.
On 5 November 2005, delegates of the UFP voted unanimously in favour of a merger with the party of the Option citoyenne movement led by Françoise David
Françoise David
Françoise David, CQ is the spokesperson, with Amir Khadir, of Québec solidaire - a left-wing, feminist and sovereignist political party in the province of Quebec, Canada. Quebec Solidaire was born from the merger of Option Citoyenne with l'Union des Forces Progressistes...
. The founding congress of the new party was held on 4 February 2006 and resulted in the formation of a new party, Québec solidaire
Québec Solidaire
Québec solidaire is a democratic socialist and sovereigntist political party in Quebec, Canada, that was created on 4 February 2006 in Montreal. It was formed by the merger of the left-wing party Union des forces progressistes and the alter-globalization political movement Option Citoyenne, led...
.
UFP position on the national question
From the Preamble of the UFP political platform, Building a world that reflects our ideals! http://www.ufp.qc.ca/article1339.html:- UFP members share the view that the answer to the national question, and by extension social emancipation, is sovereignty for the Quebec people. The UFP believes that Quebec should become a country, free from the federalist yoke, and should acquire the essential tools it needs to develop as a nation.
UFP Representatives
- Pierre Dostie and Molly Alexander (2002–2004)
- Amir KhadirAmir KhadirAmir Khadir is a politician in the National Assembly of Quebec , Canada for the electoral district of Mercier, and currently the male spokesperson for Québec Solidaire, a sovereignist and left-wing political party which was created by the merger of the Union des Forces Progressistes and Option...
and Denise Veilleux (2004–2006)
Election results
| General election | # of candidates | # of elected candidates | % of popular vote |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2003 Quebec general election, 2003 The Quebec general election of 2003 was held on April 14, 2003, to elect members of the National Assembly of Quebec . The Parti libéral du Québec , led by Jean Charest, defeated the incumbent Parti Québécois, led by Bernard Landry.-Unfolding:... |
73 | 0 | 1.06% |
See also
- Politics of QuebecPolitics of QuebecThe politics of Quebec are centred on a provincial government resembling that of the other Canadian provinces, namely a constitutional monarchy and parliamentary democracy. The capital of the province is Quebec City, where the Lieutenant Governor, Premier, the legislature, and cabinet reside.The...
- List of Quebec leaders of the Opposition
- Political parties in Quebec
- SPQ LibreSPQ LibreThe SPQ Libre ! or Syndicalistes et progressistes pour un Québec libre ! is a political club that until March 2010 operated within the Parti Québécois...
- David FennarioDavid FennarioDavid William Fennario, né David Wiper is a Canadian playwright best known for Balconville , his bilingual dramatization of life in working-class Montreal, for which he won the Floyd S. Chalmers Canadian Play Award. A committed socialist, Fennario has been a candidate for the Union des forces...