French government in crisis mode after a weekend of riots

Josh Gabert-Doyon (0:04)

Good morning from the Financial Times. Today is Monday, October 19th, and this is your FT News Briefing. The French government is in crisis mode after a weekend of riots, and investor jitters are only increasing over AI.

Plus, Canada's oil-rich Alberta is voting on whether to become a sovereign country.

Ilya Gridneff (0:23)

Someone described it as a bit like when you're a kid and you write a letter to your parents saying that you're running away from home. Maybe deep down they don't really want to leave.

Josh Gabert-Doyon (0:33)

I'm Josh Gabert-Doyon, and here's the news you need to start your day.

Violent protests in France have put some serious pressure on President Emmanuel Macron. The government is now facing criticism that it's screwed up policing of the riots this weekend. Over half a million people, many students, have been protesting against the high cost of living and conditions in schools. On Saturday night, peaceful demonstrations turned violent to a level officials called quote unprecedented. Protesters attacked city halls in Lille and Marseille, burnt down a historic clock tower in the city of Limoges, and there was heavy rioting in cities across the country. Macron's government blamed the far left for the riots, while the opposition parties accused the government of being unprepared for the violence that followed weeks of widespread peaceful protests. Ministers deny that accusation. It all comes at a pivotal time for France. We're only six months away from a highly uncertain election that will determine who succeeds President Macron. Far right candidate Marine Le Pen is currently the front runner in the polls.

In the Canadian province of Alberta, a separatist movement has been gaining steam. Residents of the Western province will vote today on whether they should break away from Canada and become a sovereign state. It's a non-binding vote, but if it passes, it could be the first step towards an actual referendum. Who to explain is the FT's Ilya Grydnev. Hi, Ilya.

Ilya Gridneff (2:13)

Hi, how are you doing?

Josh Gabert-Doyon (2:14)

Good. Ilya, just to start us off, why do some people in Alberta want to break off from Canada?

Ilya Gridneff (2:21)

Well, that's a good question. The main issue is that Alberta is an oil-rich province in the country's west. They feel ignored, they feel that they've been taken advantage of, and that they basically bankroll the rest of the nation with all that money from the oil.

It really came into momentum in the 70s and 80s, and again, it was tied very much about resentment over the federal government's energy policy. This is the traditional animosity between Alberta and Ottawa.

Josh Gabert-Doyon (2:50)

Okay, so long-standing animosity, why then is this coming to a head right now?

Ilya Gridneff (2:55)

Well, in many respects, this latest iteration of the separatism movement has come out, or is a continuation of protests out of COVID.

People were very angry about the federal government's lockdown laws, vaccine mandates, mask mandates, and it created a groundswell of protests and a very online ecosystem that sort of incorporated some of the wilder kind of conspiracy theorists. And over the years, that movement has grown momentum and it's sort of coalesced into a protest and a push to become an independent state. Essentially, the Premier, Danielle Smith, to placate members of her own party who are pushing to leave Canada, said, well, we'll have a vote on the issue. The vote today is actually a vote about a vote. The question is more about whether we launch the legal process to do this formally and hold a formal referendum. So it's still a long way to go. And depending on the outcomes today, it will determine whether there is a more formal vote to leave Canada.

Josh Gabert-Doyon (3:55)

And separatism isn't unique to Alberta, is it? I grew up in Quebec, which has had two similar votes, in fact, on whether to separate.

Ilya Gridneff (4:03)

Oui, bonjour. Yes, exactement. It's not the first existential crisis that Canada has faced over its identity. As you mentioned, Quebec in the country's east, the French-speaking part of Canada has had two unsuccessful referendums in 1980 and 1995 But both of these efforts to leave Canada really had a traumatic effect on the nation. It's an issue that's popped up most recently because the Parti Quebecois, which has got a separatist platform, was recently re-elected the first time in over a decade.

There is a sense that this issue is bubbling away in the background, but in many respects, due to the hostilities from US President Donald Trump and the US, there seems to be a pervasive attitude that Canada wants to stick together in a sort of united effort to fend off the attacks from its southern neighbor in the US.