She wants to break up the nation
The PQ’s weapon of mass seduction
MONTREAL • At Wednesday’s Fête nationale parade, Parti Québécois leader Pierre Karl Péladeau was front and centre in a contingent of politicians strolling down Saint-Denis Street, smiling and waving at the crowd.
But it was the woman to his left, his fiancée Julie Snyder, who was generating the most electricity.
An excited group of teenage girls rushed up to have their picture taken with her, seemingly oblivious to the presence of the man who hopes to lead them to independence. A woman in a Quebec-blue dress, wearing an “I am sovereigntist” button, approached to show Snyder her fleur-de-lis manicure.
At one point Snyder left her partner behind, going ahead to tell a delegation from the Kahnawake reserve how happy she was they were taking part in the parade. Then, she posed as her assistant took a photo of her beside a bare-chested Mohawk wearing the headdress of the Wolf Clan. Before the end of the day the picture and others from the parade would be on her Facebook page, which is liked by 263,000 people.
Snyder, 47, whose talk-show antics made her a celebrity in Quebec before she started dating Péladeau in 2000, has adapted seamlessly to her new role as political spouse. Called the PQ leader’s “weapon of mass seduction” in L’actualité’s latest edition, she made a splash this month when she went door-to-door to drum up PQ support in a Quebec City byelection (ultimately won by the Liberals). She was active in the campaign leading to Péladeau’s election as leader in May, signing up new party members.
“She is very well-liked in the political party,’ said Marjolaine Morin, a longtime PQ member who volunteered on Péladeau’s leadership campaign. “When we made calls to see who people were going to support, people talked to us a lot about Julie Snyder. They liked her enormously.”
In a way, Snyder is the perfect foil for Péladeau, 53, who can be aloof, even prickly. A little more than a year into his political career, he is known primarily from his recent life as a business tycoon, heir to his father’s Quebecor media empire.
Snyder grew up in a middleclass francophone home in suburban Montreal, the only child of an insurance broker father and medical technician mother. At 16, she made her TV debut on a community cable station. She developed a flare for the medium and went on to host a string of shows on Radio-Canada’s now defunct TQS and France 2, before settling in at TVA, part of the Quebecor empire.
On screen, she became known for stunts, costumes and unorthodox questions. On one show she dressed in a vegetable-adorned suit and sought a spot in the pop group the Spice Girls as Veggie Spice. She was taken away by police when she showed up at Buckingham Palace dressed as the Queen and yelled, “Charles! Charles! It’s Mommy. Open the door! I forgot my key.” Interviewing Celine Dion, she asked the diva whether she knew how to use a bank machine, and when Formula One drive Jacques Villeneuve was her guest, she asked what he does when he has to relieve himself during a race.
She has gradually moved to the production side of the business since creating her own company, Productions J in the late 1990s. In 2003, she imported the concept for a musical reality show, Star Académie, from France and turned it into one of Quebec’s most successful programs ever, drawing more than two million viewers for its weekly variety broadcasts. More recent hits from her company include the reality show, Occupation Double, the musical talent search, La Voix, and Le Banquier, an adaptation of the Deal or No Deal game show she hosts.
Snyder has also become more outspoken on public policy issues. Her two children with Péladeau were conceived through in-vitro fertilization — she is credited with persuading the government to cover the procedure under medicare so it would be available to the less wealthy. The policy would bring comfort to couples and yield “more little Quebecers, more little taxpayers,” she told a legislature committee in 2008, five months pregnant with her second child.
She has been an advocate for breastfeeding and she came out in support of PQ leader Pauline Marois in the 2012 election. In 2013, she was a central figure in the Janettes, a group of women who supported the PQ’s Charter of Values. The charter would have outlawed the wearing of such conspicuous religious symbols as hijabs and kippas by public servants.
In a 1990s interview with Catherine Deneuve, Snyder put a paper bag over her head, saying she did not want her looks compared to those of the French actress. But she is no shrinking violet. On Wednesday, Péladeau said it is normal people are drawn to her.
“Julie made her career in television. She is famous,” he said. “She is not going to put a paper bag on her head.”
Snyder seems at ease in her new role as the aspiring first lady of an independent Quebec.
“I am someone who adapts well to change, so I’m very comfortable with this change,” she said of political life in a brief interview Wednesday. “I did not choose it, but I’m comfortable with it.”
Speaking to L’actualité earlier, though, she expressed concern for the impact of Péladeau’s new role on their family life.
“There is something violent in politics that you do not suspect until you have lived it,” she said. “There is pressure from party supporters, from opponents, from the media. It gets inside you physically. There is a constant discomfort.”
Not long ago, it seemed she would have little part to play in her partner’s political career. The couple announced their separation in January 2014.
Péladeau had stepped down as Quebecor’s chief executive officer and had been considering a move into politics after a 2011 pep talk from former PQ premier Jacques Parizeau. In March 2014, he made it official.
“I want to thank, very deeply, very sincerely, Julie, the mother of my two youngest, for supporting me in this effort,” he said in his speech. “Her support was essential in the decision I had to make to enter politics, and without her support, I would not be here before you this morning.”
Snyder told L’actualité she approved his jump to politics on the condition he continue going to their therapy, which he did. By the summer, they had reconciled and their marriage is scheduled for Aug. 15 in Quebec City.
Michel Nadeau, a longtime friend of the Péladeau family, said Snyder’s fairy-tale story, achieving fame and fortune from humble beginnings, helps smooth Péladeau’s edges.
While Péladeau is the alpha male in a suit and tie, Snyder is “another aspect of Quebec,” he said. “She represents the woman who wants to succeed, who works hard, who supports her husband, who shares his values.”
It is hard to think of another power couple on the level of Péladeau and Snyder in Canadian politics.
Christian Bourque, executive vice-president of Léger Marketing, said the closest parallel might be across the ocean — France’s Nicolas Sarkozy and Carla Bruni. “But she was, quote-unquote, just a folksinger,” he said of Bruni.
Bourque said Snyder ’s popularity could definitely aid Péladeau’s political ambitions. A recent poll by his firm found more Quebecers disliked Péladeau (45 per cent) than liked him (39 per cent).
“I think some presence by Julie Snyder would be helpful,” he said, but it cannot be seen as a deliberate attempt to manipulate public opinion. For example, blanket coverage of the upcoming wedding in Quebecor’s stable of celebrity magazines could backfire. “It has to be done right, but I do think she’s beneficial to his image,” he said.
Pauline Tétrault, the woman with the fleur-de-lis fingernails, said she has been fighting for the independence cause for 45 years. She hopes having Snyder at Péladeau’s side will be a recipe for victory.
“It is really exceptional to have two well-known people together who make the headlines regularly,” she said. “It can only be good for Quebec.”