Money and The Ethnic Vote

"Money and the ethnic vote" is a phrase that is part of a speech by Jacques Parizeau. On October 30, 1995, Parizeau, then-Quebec premier, walked onto the Montréal Convention Center stage and gave what is arguably the most controversial concession speech in Canada's history. The pro-sovereignty camp had just narrowly lost the 1995 Quebec sovereignty referendum—50.58 per cent to 49.42 per cent. Parizeau's top aide, Jean-Francois Lisée, would later tell CBC documentarians that he heard Parizeau use "nous," the French word for "us," in reference solely to French-Canadians, and he knew they were in trouble.

«On va parler de nous : à 60 pour cent, on a voté pour». ("We'll talk about us: at 60 per cent, we voted in favour.")

He went on to suggest that the next time, the sovereigntists should just aim their efforts at French speakers, because that's how they'd win.

Half a minute later:

«C'est vrai, c'est vrai qu'on a été battus, au fond, par quoi? Par l'argent puis des votes ethniques, essentiellement». ("It's true, it's true we were beaten, yes, but by what? By money and ethnic votes, essentially.")

The statement was greeted with subdued applause—not as much as the man's arrival or the early results showing the "oui" side in the lead. Lisée later reflected that his gut reaction was to immediately leave the building and that he was in the process of doing so when he ran into Parizeau, who apparently interpreted the look on his top strategist's face and asked him if he felt his speech was "too harsh."

"I said, 'you bet it's too harsh,'" he told the CBC during an interview for Breaking Point, a documentary released on the referendum's 10th anniversary. "'You were worried about being insulted, now you're going to be insulted.'"

The media-storm meant that Parizeau practically committed "political suicide." Parizeau announced his resignation as premier the next day, although he has consistently asserted that he planned to resign long before the vote in the event of a "Yes" defeat.