Sometimes doing what you believe is right

Sometimes doing what you believe is right.

by

Claudia Maheux

Retired, 40-year Commercial Banking Career

The Canadian Party of Quebec is my Political Home. 🏠
By Claudia Ottaviano-Maheux

Sometimes doing what you believe is right means voting not merely for the result you expect on election night, but for the political landscape you want to exist five, ten or twenty years from now.

Voting for a new party can be an act of long-term thinking rather than an expectation of immediate victory. A vote can help establish an alternative, give an idea legitimacy and visibility, and allow that alternative to grow. Every established political movement was once a new one.

That is a large part of what drew me to the Canadian Party of Quebec.

For me, supporting a new party takes the courage to vote according to principle rather than habit, tradition, fear or strategic calculation. It means questioning the political status quo and asking whether assumptions that have dominated Quebec politics for decades still serve us well.

It means having the independence of mind to consider a party even when it is new, small and still building.

It means valuing rights — not privileges granted at the discretion of government, but rights that belong to citizens.

It means respecting the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms and understanding why constitutional protections matter, particularly for minorities.

It means believing democracy is about more than winning elections. It also requires respect for dissent, institutions, individual liberty and minority rights — and a system where people can vote for what they genuinely believe in rather than constantly calculating the least objectionable choice.

It means loving Canada and believing Quebec’s place within Canada is a strength.

It means believing in Canadian excellence — in the country we have built, our institutions and the values we should continue striving to uphold.

It means recognizing that trade, defence, migration, technology and geopolitical instability do not stop at the Quebec border. Quebec is stronger when it participates fully in Canada and Canada participates confidently in the world.

It means believing it is possible to love Quebec without defining Quebec in opposition to Canada.

It means believing Quebec can protect and promote French without treating English or English-speaking Quebecers as a threat, and recognizing official bilingualism as an asset that opens doors for our children and strengthens our economy.

It means believing governments should spend less time regulating identity and more time addressing health care, housing, education, infrastructure, affordability and economic opportunity.

And perhaps most importantly, it means having vision.

Political change rarely begins when everybody agrees the time has come. It begins when a relatively small number of people decide the existing choices are no longer good enough and start building something different.

That is how alternatives begin.

That is how ideas grow.

And that is why I chose to become involved with the Canadian Party of Quebec.