Possibly coming to a province near you: Manon Masse and Quebec’s ‘revolutionary’ party
MONTREAL — Seven years ago, Manon Masse was aboard a flotilla of ships bound for the Gaza Strip in an attempt to break the Israeli-Egyptian blockade of the embattled territory.
She had joined activists from around the world determined to “denounce (Israeli) apartheid” and help a Palestinian people “forgotten by the international community,” she recalled in a recent interview.
The flotilla never reached Gaza — it was blocked in Greece by local authorities — but the episode offers insight into the personal politics of a woman strikingly different from most would-be premiers.
As co-spokesperson for Quebec solidaire and a long-shot candidate to be premier, Masse is the voice of what is arguably the most radical, left-wing party with seats in a Canadian legislature. Yet Masse’s team is polling in the mid-teens and has a strong chance of increasing its seat total of three and winning its first ridings outside Montreal.