Nungak: Johnson’s departure inconsequential

IQALUIT — Makivik Corp. President Zebedee Nungak greeted Quebec Liberal party leader Daniel Johnson’s resignation this week with utter indifference.

“I’m not wailing in the streets about the departure of Mr Johnson, nor am I eagerly waiting for the salvation of his successor, because I know that the party and its program and its attitude are not very different from that of the [Parti Québécois]” Nungak told Nunatsiaq News.

The Inuit leader pointed out that Johnson and other prominent Liberals recently joined the separatist Quebec government to denounce Ottawa’s request for a Supreme Court opinion on the legality of Quebec’s unilateral secession from Canada.

Nungak said the Liberal party’s very strong nationalist faction prevents it from becoming a credible federalist voice in the province.

“Both the Liberals and the PQ are of the position that Quebec’s present boundaries are sacred,” Nungak said.

“No matter who replaces Mr. Johnson, there’s really not that much essential difference between the Quebec Liberal party and the PQ Nungak said. “They are very similar on the essentials.”