Au Revoir, Pauline

   Quebec's sovereigntist premier Pauline Marois Parti Quebecois has gone down to defeat in the general election. And Marois herself lost her own seat as the Liberals swept into power, taking 70 seats in the legislature. The P.Q was reduced to 30, the party's worst ever electoral defeat. Marois later stepped down as party leader.
   This means there won't be another sovereignty referendum for at least the next 4 years. And to this outside spectator, it also seems to mean Quebecers have no taste for another vote on splitting from Canada.
   But it also could mean the sovereignty movement in the province itself is dying, if not already dead. Last night's loss follows on the heels of the huge defeat the separatist federal Bloc Quebecois took in the last federal election.
   That's not to say the flame of sovereignty has been extinguished in Quebec, but it does seem to me to be flickering very low right now.

TTFN