Voters in Quebec have handed power to the separatist Parti Québécois for the first time in more than a decade, setting up a new confrontation between the French-speaking province and Prime Minister Mark Carney’s federal government in Ottawa. Public broadcaster Radio-Canada projected the PQ victory on Monday night, though it was still unclear whether the party would secure a majority of the 127 seats in the provincial legislature.
A referendum on the horizon
PQ leader Paul St-Pierre Plamondon, a 49-year-old former lawyer, is set to become Quebec’s next premier. He has promised to hold a referendum on independence during his first four-year term, but not before Donald Trump leaves the White House. At a jubilant victory party in Montreal, he told supporters that the long struggle of francophones would “find meaning when they obtain their own country,” framing the future vote as a chance “to decide what our national future will be.”
The victory also comes just two weeks before Alberta, Canada’s oil-producing powerhouse, votes on whether to begin its own process of leaving Canada, adding to the political turbulence facing Carney’s government as it confronts a trade war and annexation threats from the United States.
No majority, no easy path
The PQ fell short of a majority, offering some relief to the federalist camp. The two largest opposition parties, the Liberals and the Conservatives, both declared they would never support an independence referendum, which will make it difficult for Plamondon to advance his separatist agenda.
Polls suggest only about 30 per cent of Quebecers currently want independence, and the PQ’s rise has been driven less by separatist fervour than by frustration over affordability and a desire to protect the French language in a majority-anglophone country. Plamondon has said a vote on independence requires “conditions that allow for an informed and calm debate” and ruled out a referendum until at least 2029.
The party also takes a hard line on immigration, particularly for non-French speakers, a stance that worries some young voters. Carney congratulated the new premier-elect, saying that “building a stronger Quebec is core to our mission of building a stronger Canada.”
Source: Channel NewsAsia