Opposition parties battle for union support
ELIZABETH THOMPSON, The Gazette
Published: Tuesday, January 15

The New Democratic Party will move today to challenge the Bloc Québécois's hammerlock on Quebec's union movement, announcing that labour leader Jean-Claude Rocheleau will run for the party in the next election.

At a press conference in Montreal, NDP leader Jack Layton will confirm that Rocheleau, president of a union local representing oil refinery workers in east-end Montreal, will take on incumbent Bloc Québécois Réal Ménard in the working-class riding of Hochelaga-Maisonneuve.

Nor is Rocheleau the only union organizer who will be running under the NDP banner. Alexandre Boulerice of the Canadian Union of Public Employees will be running in Rosemont-La Petite Patrie, which is held by Bloc MP Bernard Bigras, while Rejean Bellemare of the Federation des travailleurs du Québec will run in Repentigny against Bloc MP Raymond Gravel.

"The values the (NDP) shares are the same values we defend at the union level, in terms of the rights of workers, help for families, the poorest, etc.," Rocheleau said in an interview yesterday.

Traditionally, labour unions have been fertile ground for the New Democrats across Canada, supporting the party with cash and votes. In Quebec, however, labour federations that have taken positions have generally backed the Bloc. Bloc leader Gilles Duceppe is a former union labour negotiator and well connected in union circles.

While the NDP hasn't got the endorsement of the biggest labour federation in Quebec, party organizers say they are beginning to see more and more interest on the part of union members and organizers in Quebec.

"There are winds of change within that movement in Quebec," said Rebecca Blaikie. "Unionized workers here are realizing that the NDP has been and is the voice for people like them across the country."

In Rocheleau's case, the decision to run for the NDP came after many years as a union leader and many talks with Layton.

Rocheleau said the more Quebec union members know about the NDP, the more likely they are to support the party.

Today's press conference is expected to discuss the NDP's energy policy, a subject near to Rocheleau's heart and one of the reasons he has decided to run for office. Rocheleau said he is concerned about Canada's future energy sovereignty and the impact that plans afoot to build a pipeline from the oil sands to the U.S. will have on Canada's ability to meet its own energy needs in the future.

Once crude starts being shipped to the U.S. via a pipeline, Canada won't be able to turn off the tap, Rocheleau said.