The Scotsman

Quebec independen­ce party leader stands by principles

◆ Parti Quebecois is enjoying a resurgence in support under Paul St Pierre Plamondon as it looks to achieve ‘sovereignt­y’ for the province

- Jane Bradley

Paul St Pierre Plamondon has arrived directly from giving a speech at the Université de Montréal, where he was forced to turn away 150 people who could not fit into the room at the oversubscr­ibed event.

“I’ve never seen this in my years of following politics, so it’s exciting,” says the leader of the Quebec independen­ce party,partique be co is(pq ).“[ independen­ce] triggers emotions in people. People are listening to us.”

Since Mr Plamondon took over at the head of the party in 2020, he has seen membership grow exponentia­lly in a province which last voted on the issue of independen­ce nearly 30 years ago.

Following the result of the 1995 referendum which saw the No vote win by a hair’s breadth of just one per cent, support for Quebec independen­ce slumped. Until 2018, PQ had enjoyed 45 years in a significan­t position in the assembly of Quebec as either the governing party, or the official opposition.

Yet by the time of the last elections, in 2022,ithadjustt­hree member selected to the assembly and briefly lost its official party status.

Now, under Mr Plamondon’s leadership, it is enjoying a resurgence in support. A recent poll found that a majority say they would vote for PQ, if an election was held now. however, conversely, the proportion of people who actively support the idea of an independen­t Quebec has not changed over the past ten years, staying at around 35 per cent, suggesting that some ofpq’ s supporters do notwantall-outindepen­dence.

Despite this, Mr Plamondon is confident that he can return the province’s attention to achieving full independen­ce for Quebec, which is seven times the geographic­al size of the UK, with a not-dissimilar population size to Scotland, of 8 million. “Nobody has the ability of understand­ing exactly how and why people change their opinion toward the party, or towards the Yes option,” he says. “But I’m convinced it’s of vital importance for Quebec from a linguistic, financial and environmen­tal standpoint that we do achieve that.”

The Quebec government is currently headed by a former Pq politician, franco is leg au lt, who u-turned from the issue of independen­ce–knowninque­bec as “sovereignt­y” – to form his own party, Coalition Avenir de Quebec (CAQ), which runs on a platform of devolution.

But Mr Plamondon is adamant that he will not follow in his footsteps.

"The easy path for me, if I want to become prime minister of Quebec, is to say what other people have said in the past,” he says. “Simply say, ‘Independen­ce would be a good thing, but given there is no sufficient support in the short term, I'm going to go forward with a campaign on other issues without mentioning any specific plan on the topic of independen­ce’. People see that I could do that.

“But what’s the point of being in politics if you end up in power with your hands tied, then no hope of actually improving the situation? And that’s the terrible story of Francois Legault. He wanted the power. He got it by saying something that is not true. And once he got into power,he didn’ t have the leverage to actually do something.

“I’d rather have a decent shot at having a positive impact on my society with the necessary power and budget to do it, than to do something that is a waste of time.”

A vibrant, charismati­c character, with a tendency to litter his speeches about his party with the pronoun “I”, it is clear that Mr Plamondon himself is a key component of PQ’S increased support. I point out the parallels to Scotland, where the historic popularity of leaders such as Alex Salmond and Nicola Sturgeon has had a major impact on support forth eS NP. However, he is insistent that he and his “three musketeers” as he says they are known in Quebec – his three other MNAS with seats in the Quebecparl­iament–areequally the face of PQ politics.

“We deliver the same level of quality from an intellectu­al standpoint, so we’re kind of interchang­e able ,” he says .“and that level of quality is now a big part of our brand.”

The next quebec elections are in 2026, by which time he hopes to have grown his party’s staff – and pool of potential candidates.

Quebec’s independen­ce campaign is unique in that it stems chiefly from a desire to preserve the French culture of the province.

While the SNP has played to a certain extent on Scotland’s Gaelic heritage – its 2021 election manifesto presented new commitment­s to strengthen the Gaelic language, including the creation of a designated ‘Gàidhealta­chd’ or Gaelic-speaking area – Quebec’s Francophon­e status is historical­ly dominant across the province.

Statistics show that 71.2 percent of Quebecers are first language Francophon­es, with the vast majority of Anglophone­s concentrat­ed in the city of Montreal. meanwhile, a total of 95 per cent of Quebecers speak French.

However, increased immigratio­n in recent years, particular­ly to Montreal, threatens to dilute the French speaking population. Initiative­s by the CAQ government to ensure French is the first language used in business, education and every day life, are welcomed by Mr Plamondon, but he does not believe they go far enough.

“What are the odds of giving the French language a future in Montreal at this point?” he says. “Very little, if we don’t do anything.

“And, of course, some people will just [accept] that. On the other hand, if you present to them a solid option that gives them a future in their mother tongue – some projects or political opposition that is feasible – they might come back [to the idea of independen­ce].”

 ?? ?? Parti Quebecois leader Paul St Pierre Plamondon is a vibrant, charismati­c character and a key
Parti Quebecois leader Paul St Pierre Plamondon is a vibrant, charismati­c character and a key

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