MONTREAL – Even far away, across the ocean, Pauline Marois can’t escape the criticism.
The Premier is in Scotland wrapping up a meeting with separatist leader and head of government, Alex Salmond. The visit, paid for by Quebec taxpayers, is being denounced as a political operation to push the PQ’s sovereignist agenda and meddle in Scottish internal affairs, something the Liberals say Marois has no business doing.
“Never did a majority of Quebecers give her that mandate, it’s none of her business,” says Liberal interim leader Jean-Marc Fournier.
“She’s taking part in the debate.”
GALLERY: Marois meets Scottish First Minister in Edinburgh
Scotland will hold a referendum on independence in the Fall of 2014.
The CAQ says Marois suffered embarassment when the Scottish First Minister said he would only meet behind closed doors, refusing to take part in any public event.
“I think it’s a total failure for Mrs. Marois,” says Francois Legault. “We saw that he didn’t want to see her for a long time, no pictures, of course she was trying to have nice pictures, it’s a failure.”
Marois herself dismisses the incident as “standard protocol” in Scotland, but her critics say it’s clear Salmond doesn’t want to associate with Marois and risk offending the Canadian government, a natural ally and business partner.
“Certainly she’s being rebuked by the people of Scotland and she’s just trying to find a nice way out of it, but let’s face it, she’s gone there for the wrong reasons,” says Liberal MNA Lawrence Bergman.
Only Quebec Solidaire thinks Marois’ trip to Scotland was useful.
“It’s a sovereignist government, they have to do it and it’s for the sake of the future of Quebec, for our independence because the independence of Quebec means billions of savings in taxpayer money,” says Amir Khadir.
Marois returns from her European travels Wednesday. She attended the economic forum in Davos, Switzerland, promoted Quebec on the international scene and worked on business agreements with other leaders. But it’s her 45 minutes with Alex Salmond that, in the end, garnered the most – negative – attention.
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