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Québec election: Yanek Lauzière-Fillion for Option Nationale

More : Option Nationale, Québec, Québec election, seniors

by Être Staff on August 27, 2012

(The fourth of our 6 party overviews on LGBT issues) The Option Nationale party was not founded in 2011 for socially conscious reasons only: Jean-Martin Aussant did so believing that Pauline Marois’s PQ wasn’t doing enough to hasten Québec independence. You would expect then that everything, including LGBT issues, would take a (far) back seat to sovereignty for the Option Nationale. Not so, says Yanek Lauzière-Fillion, ON candidate for the Crémazie riding.

Yanek Lauzière-Fillion, spokesperson for minority and community rights for the Option Nationale, believes that there’s a way to harmonize the sovereignty question with other social issues. “By making Québec into its own country, we would provide legislation for LGBT people that is tailored to them, and not at risk of being curtailed by Harper’s Conservatives,” he says. As such, Lauzière-Fillion proposes the adoption of a new constitution which would enshrine the protection of minority rights, and make those sexual minorities “explicitly protected.”

The Crémazie candidate for the “ON” takes a page from the Liberal Action Plan and promises more of a concerted effort between elected officials to effectively combat homophobia on various levels – institutional, educational, and for seniors. Sound familiar? “Plans are all fine and good, but you have to put them into effect,” Lauzière-Fillion replies. “Take for example the issue of elder care: there’s a lot missing to ensure that the conditions for LGBT seniors is improved; they continue to be victims of homophobia,” he contends.

In order to finance improved social programmes, Yanek Lauzière-Fillion’s party would nationalize natural resources, make a single tax form (by eliminating the federal), and control spending by improving the management of the healthcare system.

Editor’s Note: This article includes quotes that have been translated from an original interview in French. In tandem with Êtremag, we will be publishing a series of brief articles on each of the political parties’ LGBT platforms and/or their candidate in the Sainte-Marie-Saint-Jacques riding.