Every few election cycles, Quebec’s sovereignist and nationalist political parties take pains to reach out to anglophones, reassure us that we belong, and vow that our rights will be respected — if we’ll just take a leap of faith and vote for their party.

Usually, it doesn’t take long for those nice words to turn into empty promises.

Days before the 1995 referendum, Parti Québécois Premier Jacques Parizeau penned a piece published in various media promising that whatever the results of the vote, the next morning “we will all be Quebecers.”

He promptly forgot that inclusive message the night the No side eked out a win and he gave a notorious speech blaming “money and ethnic votes” for thwarting Quebec sovereignty — coded language for minorities, including anglophones.

With his Coalition Avenir Québec poised to take power for the first time in the 2018 election, François Legault also attempted to woo English-speaking Quebecers who felt disenchanted with the Quebec Liberals. The former PQ cabinet minister promised a third way that would keep Quebec within Canada and provide a big tent where anglophones could feel at home.Legault then spent two mandates eroding the rights of English-speaking Quebecers and chipping away at our institutions. No need to list all the examples here, because they’re still fresh in our memories.

Just this spring, newly minted Premier Christine Fréchette, who replaced Legault as CAQ leader, promised a fresh start with anglophones after nearly eight years of friction between her government and the community — only to renew the pre-emptive application of the notwithstanding clause shielding Bill 96 from court challenges and refuse to participate in an English debate during the looming campaign.

So English-speaking Quebecers can be forgiven for taking the latest olive branch from PQ leader Paul St-Pierre Plamondon with a giant boulder of salt.

Following in the footsteps of so many of this predecessors, St-Pierre Plamondon........

© Montreal Gazette