Opponents waste no time sniping Peladeau’s victory
Newly-elected Parti Quebecois leader Pierre-Karl Peladeau may be in for a short honeymoon as some of his political opponents were already sniping at him a day after he handily won the PQ leadership.
Premier Philippe Couillard tweeted he had called Peladeau to congratulate him, shortly after he won his party’s leadership Friday night with 57.6 per cent of the ballots cast. Francois Legault, the leader of the opposition party Coalition for Quebec’s Future, also took to social media to congratulate Peladeau, tweeting “our political ideas differ, but your commitment merits respect.”
The two leaders left the partisan work to their underlings who took aim again at Peladeau on a number of fronts, including his staunch pro-sovereignty views and his refusal to sell his controlling interest in media giant Quebecor Inc.
In his victory speech, Peladeau reiterated his main political goal of achieving Quebec independence, telling delegates on Friday that they have given him a “strong and clear mandate — to make Quebec a country.”
Quebec’s labour minister accused Peladeau of being out of touch with Quebecers.
“Mr. Peladeau entered politics for only one reason: to achieve Quebec separation,” said Sam Hamad. “The choice of the pequistes is the separation of Quebec. The choice of Quebecois is the economy and jobs.”
Francoise David and Andres Fontecilla, co-spokespersons for Quebec Solidaire described Peladeau as anti-union and divisive. “His style is not unifying, he polarizes,” David said in a news release.
Peladeau’s predecessors at the PQ helm lined up behind the new leader.
Former premier Bernard Landry expressed hope the new PQ leader could steer the party to a referendum victory. “Tonight, he gave us hope,” he said Friday night.
Former premier Pauline Marois sent out a statement congratulating Peladeau and his team. “I will always be at their sides to convince Quebec citizens to give themselves a country, our country,” she wrote.
In the 2014 election, the PQ received only 25 per cent of the vote.