Holness could not use the name “Movement Quebec”.

Anglophone rights defender Balrama Holness was denied use of the name Mouvement Québec after a French language conservation group challenged his request before the DGEQ.

• Also Read: Balarama founded Notre-Dame-de-Grace of Holness

Balrama Holness, who lost his candidacy for mayor of Montreal under the banner of his Movement Montreal party, announced his intention to create a new political party in the regional scene, Movement Quebec.

But Quebec’s Director General of Elections (DGEQ) refused to use the name after a challenge from the French Movement Quebec (MQF), which feared confusion between the two groups.

“In this case, we inform you that Mouvement Québec has denied the authorization of the party,” a DGEQ spokesperson said in an email to MQF earlier this week.

English speaking vote

While the MQF worked to protect the French, Balarama Holness courted the predominantly Anglophone vote by his own admission. Mr Holness specifically opposes the Bill 101 reform passed by the Legault government this spring and confirms that the PLQ will grant the Anglophone vote.

During his campaign for mayor of Montreal, the former Canadian football player also proposed a referendum to grant Montreal the status of a bilingual city.

He ultimately won a little more than 7% of the vote.

Montreal Block

So Mr. Holness will campaign in next fall’s general election under the name Black Montreal, a name that evokes the Black Quebecois on the federal scene.

Reached by telephone, Anastasia Pomares, official agent of Bloc Montreal, assured that the party had never considered the Mouvement Québec name. However, DGEQ confirmed in its email to MQF that the name was reserved, as reported in the media.

Mr Holness did not respond to interview requests from our parliamentary office.

Earlier this month, he told the English-language daily Montreal Gazette that he chose the new name to better reflect the party’s “mission,” “which is to represent Montrealers in the National Assembly.”

“We recognize that Quebec is different in Canada. But Montreal is also different in Quebec,” he told the English daily.