The Bloc

Terry A. Crowley is an associate professor of history at the University
of Guelph and the author of Agnes Macphail and the Politics of Equality.

While parliamentary democracy provides a flexible instrument for giving
political expression to contemporary concerns, seldom has the ability of
Canadians to establish new political parties been seen to greater
dramatic effect than in the establishment of the Bloc Québécois, still
the Official Opposition in Ottawa, and devoted to Quebec’s
sovereignty.

This first book-length study of the Bloc Québécois does not contain
any surprises in placing Lucien Bouchard front and centre in the
party’s ascent, but it does show that the Bloc’s representatives
have long associations with Quebec’s sovereigntist campaign. The
section on the party’s policies emphasizes that its members
essentially see themselves as centrists on most issues other than that
of sovereignty. They wish to maintain social programs, reduce government
expenditures, and support human rights. Although this study ends in
1995—before the defeat of the Quebec sovereignty referendum and Lucien
Bouchard’s departure for Quebec City—Cornellier’s work provides
evidence that the Bloc has sufficient capital and human resources to
continue to be a forceful presence on the political scene for some time
to come.