N.S.-born prof and sovereigntist wants to run for Parti Quebecois

MONTREAL — A small fishing village in southwestern Nova Scotia seems like the last place you’d find a voice for Quebec independence.

But the latest Parti Quebecois hopeful seeking to run under the sovereigntist party’s banner in next year’s provincial election is hoping that small town background will come in handy.

Jennifer Drouin, a native of Shelburne, N.S., who has lived on-and-off in Quebec since 2001, is hoping to secure the nomination in the downtown Montreal riding of Sainte-Marie-Saint-Jacques.

After several years teaching English literature in the U.S., she’s been a visiting scholar with McGill’s Institute of Gender, Sexuality, and Feminist Studies, all the while doing a double major in law at the university.

Drouin is not new to the party, having been a PQ member for nearly 20 years.

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The political novice said being a lesbian and playing an active role in the LGBTQ community made the riding, which comprises Montreal’s Gay Village, the right choice for her.

Her smalltown upbringing and educator background put her at ease with people, noting her hometown doesn’t have a street light. 

“So it’s a very small community and I feel like I can talk to regular people in the community (in Montreal) because that’s the background I come from,” she said.

Her interest in Quebec’s long-standing debate came about during the province’s 1995 sovereignty referendum — where she found herself cheering for the federalist side as a Canadian but slowly developed a soft spot for the sovereigntist cause as the night wore on.

She recalled seeing the faces of Yes side supporters: “Seeing all the emotion on the faces of these people and seeing there’s something really big going on here, and it really mattered to them,” she said.

Eventually, it mattered to her too. Drouin said she wants to bring together all Quebecers around the independence project, regardless of language or ethnicity. She called the decline of French worrisome.

A rarity as an anglophone sovereigntist, Drouin said she wants to bring together all Quebecers around the independence project, regardless of language or ethnicity, while stemming the decline of French.

“Whereas English isn’t going anywhere: we’re good, we’ve got all of English Canada, we’ve got the United States next door,” she said. “English is not under threat.”

The riding was once considered a PQ stronghold, but has been held recently by incumbent is Manon Masse, a co-spokesperson for left-leaning Quebec solidaire.

Drouin said her family is mostly OK with her political leanings and respect her commitment, even if they don’t share her opinion of Quebec independence.

“Generally, they don’t necessarily agree with everything but we have an agreement to agree to disagree on some things,” Drouin said. 

“Or just not talk about it at the Thanksgiving or Christmas dinner table.”

— with files from Michel Saba in Montreal

Sidhartha Banerjee, The Canadian Press