The Union des forces progressistes (UFP) was a

left-wing Left-wing politics describes the range of political ideologies that support and seek to achieve social equality and egalitarianism, often in opposition to social hierarchy. Left-wing politics typically involve a concern for those in soci ...

political party in

Quebec Quebec ( ; )According to the Canadian government, ''Québec'' (with the acute accent) is the official name in Canadian French and ''Quebec'' (without the accent) is the province's official name in Canadian English is one of the thirtee ...

, Canada, active from 2002 to 2006.

History

The Union des Forces Progressistes (UFP) was formed in 2002 out of desire to unite Québec's leftists into a political party. Four parties merged to form the Union: * the

Rassemblement pour l'alternative progressiste The Rassemblement pour l'alternative progressiste or RAP ( en, Rally for a Progressive Alternative) began as the Rassemblement pour l'alternative politique, a social movement founded in 1997 as an attempt to unite the progressive and leftist forces ...

(RAP), * the

Parti de la démocratie socialiste The Parti de la démocratie socialiste (PDS; en, Party of Democratic Socialism) was a provincial political party in Quebec, Canada. Founded as the New Democratic Party of Quebec ouveau Parti Démocratique du Québec (NPDQ) the NPDQ was original ...

(PDS), formerly the

New Democratic Party of Quebec The New Democratic Party of Quebec (french: Nouveau Parti démocratique du Québec; NPDQ) is a federalist and social-democratic provincial political party in Quebec, Canada. The party is a revival of the comparable Nouveau Parti Démocratique d ...

* the

Parti communiste du Québec The Communist Party of Quebec (french: Parti communiste du Québec, PCQ-PCC) is a communist provincial political party in Quebec. It is affiliated with, but officially independent from, the Communist Party of Canada. In 2005, a sovereigntist ...

(PCQ), and * the Québec-based membership of the International Socialists. 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 (born January 13, 1948) is a former spokesperson of Québec solidaire – a left-wing, feminist, and sovereigntist political party in the province of Quebec, Canada. She was elected to serve as the Member of the National Assemb ...

. 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 (QS; ) is a democratic socialist and sovereigntist political party in Quebec, Canada. The party and media outlets in Canada usually use the name "Québec solidaire" in both French and English, but the party's name is sometimes ...

Principles and aims

The aim of the UFP was to bring together progressive forces across the broad left wing of the political spectrum, including

social democrats Social democracy is a political, social, and economic philosophy within socialism that supports political and economic democracy. As a policy regime, it is described by academics as advocating economic and social interventions to promote so ...

socialists Socialism is a left-wing economic philosophy and movement encompassing a range of economic systems characterized by the dominance of social ownership of the means of production as opposed to private ownership. As a term, it describes the eco ...

and

communists Communism (from Latin la, communis, lit=common, universal, label=none) is a far-left sociopolitical, philosophical, and economic ideology and current within the socialist movement whose goal is the establishment of a communist society, a so ...

. The UFP also advocated altermondialism,

feminism Feminism is a range of socio-political movements and ideologies that aim to define and establish the political, economic, personal, and social equality of the sexes. Feminism incorporates the position that society prioritizes the male po ...

pacifism Pacifism is the opposition or resistance to war, militarism (including conscription and mandatory military service) or violence. Pacifists generally reject theories of Just War. The word ''pacifism'' was coined by the French peace campaign ...

and

green politics Green politics, or ecopolitics, is a political ideology that aims to foster an ecologically sustainable society often, but not always, rooted in environmentalism, nonviolence, social justice and grassroots democracy. Wall 2010. p. 12-13. It b ...

. Its platform did not specifically endorse social democracy, socialism, or communism. The

Green Party of Quebec The Green Party of Quebec (GPQ) (french: link=no, Parti vert du Québec; PVQ) is a Quebec political party whose platform is the promotion of green politics. It has not won any seats in the National Assembly of Quebec. Its platform is oriented ...

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 Québec: the centre-left

Parti Québécois The Parti Québécois (; ; PQ) is a sovereignist and social democratic provincial political party in Quebec, Canada. The PQ advocates national sovereignty for Quebec involving independence of the province of Quebec from Canada and establishin ...

, the centre-right

Quebec Liberal Party The Quebec Liberal Party (QLP; french: Parti libéral du Québec, PLQ) is a provincial political party in Quebec. It has been independent of the federal Liberal Party of Canada since 1955. The QLP has always been associated with the colour red; e ...

, and the conservative

Action démocratique du Québec Action may refer to: * Action (narrative), a literary mode * Action fiction, a type of genre fiction * Action game, a genre of video game Film * Action film, a genre of film * ''Action'' (1921 film), a film by John Ford * ''Action'' (1980 fil ...

/Equipe

Mario Dumont Mario Dumont (born May 19, 1970) is a Canadian television personality and former politician in Quebec, Canada. He was a Member of the National Assembly of Quebec (MNA), and the leader of the Action démocratique du Québec (ADQ), from 1994 to 20 ...

, saying that all three are but different faces of the same

right-wing Right-wing politics describes the range of political ideologies that view certain social orders and hierarchies as inevitable, natural, normal, or desirable, typically supporting this position on the basis of natural law, economics, authorit ...

ideology called

neoliberalism Neoliberalism (also neo-liberalism) is a term used to signify the late 20th century political reappearance of 19th-century ideas associated with free-market capitalism after it fell into decline following the Second World War. A prominent fa ...

. The UFP opposed

globalization Globalization, or globalisation (Commonwealth English; see spelling differences), is the process of interaction and integration among people, companies, and governments worldwide. The term ''globalization'' first appeared in the early 20t ...

privatization Privatization (also privatisation in British English) can mean several different things, most commonly referring to moving something from the public sector into the private sector. It is also sometimes used as a synonym for deregulation when ...

, and

deregulation Deregulation is the process of removing or reducing state regulations, typically in the economic sphere. It is the repeal of governmental regulation of the economy. It became common in advanced industrial economies in the 1970s and 1980s, as a ...

, and called for increased funding of social services, higher taxes on the rich and business,

proportional representation Proportional representation (PR) refers to a type of electoral system under which subgroups of an electorate are reflected proportionately in the elected body. The concept applies mainly to geographical (e.g. states, regions) and political divis ...

in the

National Assembly of Quebec The National Assembly of Quebec (officially in french: link=no, Assemblée nationale du Québec) is the legislative body of the province of Quebec in Canada. Legislators are called MNAs (Members of the National Assembly; french: link=no, déput ...

, and an alternative economy based upon

co-operatives A cooperative (also known as co-operative, co-op, or coop) is "an autonomous association of persons united voluntarily to meet their common economic, social and cultural needs and aspirations through a jointly owned and democratically-control ...

and

nonprofit organization A nonprofit organization (NPO) or non-profit organisation, also known as a non-business entity, not-for-profit organization, or nonprofit institution, is a legal entity organized and operated for a collective, public or social benefit, in co ...

s. The UFP supported Québec 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 Québec. To solve the national question, the UFP suggested the creation of a

Constituent Assembly A constituent assembly (also known as a constitutional convention, constitutional congress, or constitutional assembly) is a body assembled for the purpose of drafting or revising a constitution. Members of a constituent assembly may be elected b ...

, mandated to draw up and propose to the population, via referendum, a Constitution for a progressive, republican,

secular Secularity, also the secular or secularness (from Latin ''saeculum'', "worldly" or "of a generation"), is the state of being unrelated or neutral in regards to religion. Anything that does not have an explicit reference to religion, either negativ ...

, 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 Québec's votes were included), the UFP was a marginal party.

UFP position on the national question

From the Preamble of the UFP political platform, ''Building a world that reflects our ideals!'

:''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.''

Representatives

Pierre Dostie Pierre is a masculine given name. It is a French form of the name Peter. Pierre originally meant "rock" or "stone" in French (derived from the Greek word πέτρος (''petros'') meaning "stone, rock", via Latin "petra"). It is a translation ...

and Molly Alexander (2002–2004) *

Amir Khadir Amir Khadir ( fa, امیر خدیر; born June 12, 1961) is a Canadian politician in the National Assembly of Quebec (MNA), Canada for the electoral district of Mercier, and the first male spokesperson for Québec solidaire, a sovereigntist and ...

and Denise Veilleux (2004–2006)

Election results

References

External links

Union de Forces Progressistes Website

National Assembly historical information

La Politique québécoise sur le Web
{{DEFAULTSORT:Union Des Forces Progressistes (Canada) 2002 establishments in Quebec 2006 disestablishments in Quebec Alter-globalization Defunct provincial political parties in Quebec Left-wing nationalist parties Political parties disestablished in 2006 Political parties established in 2002 Provincial political parties in Quebec Socialist parties in Canada Socialism in Quebec