Paul St-Pierre Plamondon remains convinced that he can win a referendum

Photo: Jacques Boissinot The Canadian Press Paul St-Pierre Plamondon says he is ready to take power regardless of support for sovereignty at the next election.

Pierre Saint-Arnaud – The Canadian Press

Published at 17:43

• Québec

Paul St-Pierre Plamondon refuses to consider the possibility of a third losing referendum if he takes power.

The latest Léger poll published earlier this week places the Parti Québécois (PQ) comfortably ahead in voting intentions and even in a position to win a majority of seats in the National Assembly. However, in this same poll, respondents’ support for sovereignty is only 37%, with 8% undecided. This poll even shows that a quarter of respondents who support the PQ would vote “no” in a referendum on sovereignty.

Passing through the city, where he was invited Thursday by the Chamber of Commerce of Metropolitan Montreal, the PQ leader responded in a press scrum that “these are encouraging figures overall. There are a lot of undecided voters. We are asking the population to listen.” We tell people: if you find us relevant and intelligent on most subjects, there is a chance that we are also relevant on this subject [sovereignty].”

At no time does doubt cross Mr. St-Pierre Plamondon's mind: “We are ready to hold a winning referendum and we will do it, that is our program. And that is the same message that we constantly have.”

A persistent minority support

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When it is pointed out to him that, for several years, support for sovereignty has been in the minority (in fact, according to the poll aggregator Qc125, all polls since 2016 have placed support for the “Yes” vote in the minority range of 25% to 41%), Paul St-Pierre Plamondon retorts that “the referendum sequence of the 1995 referendum, from memory, was in that range before Jacques Parizeau took power.” When checked, even after Jacques Parizeau was elected in September 1994, a CROP Environics poll in February 1995, eight months before the October referendum of the same year, reported support for sovereignty of only 40%. On the day of the vote, October 30, 1995, the “Yes” vote had finally won 49.42% of the vote.

Polls, he says, are not a motive for action, at least not for him. “If I had operated by polls alone, I would never have taken on the role of leader of the Parti Québécois. […] You can’t make politics based on the poll of the day. If the diagnosis is correct, the answers will follow.” »

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Ready to govern

Paul St-Pierre Plamondon says he is ready to take power regardless of the support for sovereignty at the time of the next election. “I will govern in any case, but no one will be ignorant of the fact that I am a separatist and that I intend for Quebec to become a country.”

He explains that a potential PQ government will have the task of convincing a majority of voters with the arguments it brings. “We don't see a future for French in Canada, we don't see a future for our economic interests. Migration issues are completely beyond our control and Quebec independence will therefore lead us into a chapter where we won't be caught like François Legault was.”

According to him, “the failure of Philippe Couillard and François Legault is glaring. They claimed to take care of real issues. Then these real affairs deteriorate often because of federal policies that are made without our consent.”

The press scrum followed a speech by the PQ leader in front of 310 guests invited by the Chamber of Commerce and an exchange with its president, Michel Leblanc.

Immigration and labour shortage

Unsurprisingly, this exchange highlighted a significant divergence between the business community and Mr. St-Pierre Plamondon, who promised to reduce the number of permanent and temporary immigrants.

Mr. Leblanc criticized the PQ leader for repeating the words of Premier François Legault, according to whom the business community “wanted ‘cheap labour,’ that we didn’t want to pay a lot for. People who call on temporary workers, it’s not that they don’t want to pay a lot, it’s that they want someone,” argued Mr. Leblanc, citing the labour shortage.

Paul St-Pierre Plamondon responded that Quebec businesses are seriously lagging behind in productivity compared to other G-7 countries and that they need to invest quickly in robotizing and informing their operations. He also sought to be reassuring by talking about a gradual decline in the number of immigrants.

Several PQ supporters attended the dinner, including former Premier Pauline Marois and former PQ leader Pierre Karl Péladeau. Mr. St-Pierre Plamondon was warmly applauded by this portion of the audience that had already been won over.