Photo: Jacques Boissinot The Canadian Press “I prefer to be sensitive, but not cynical. […] I would rather be like that and not change too much than try to build a shell for myself,” Paul St-Pierre Plamondon said on Friday.
Isabelle Porter in Quebec
Posted at 10:18 a.m.
- Quebec
Criticized during the last session for his knee-jerk reactions, the leader of the Parti Québécois, Paul St-Pierre Plamondon, says he does not intend to “change too much” because he does not “want to be cynical.”
“We can always evolve, I just don't want to become cynical,” said the leader when a journalist asked him Friday about the lessons he had learned from the last session.
“I prefer to be sensitive, but not to be cynical. And therefore refuse behavior which, I think, is not up to par with the National Assembly. I'd rather be like that and not change too much than try to build a shell for myself. »
In April, Minister Bernard Drainville bluntly described the PQ leader as a “milk soup”.
The leader of the PQ left the study of credits before having expired the time granted to him to question the Prime Minister, François Legault. The latter had undertaken to read past quotes from Mr. St-Pierre Plamondon, dating from a time when he did not support the sovereignist option.
Became first in the polls, the leader of the PQ said he “felt” the attacks of his adversaries were increasing. “But the positive side is that we have gained a lot of influence. »
Screen time, temporary immigration and sovereignty
The PQ congratulates in particular on having succeeded in imposing the debate on screen time among young people. “We finished the session and then the CAQ made a 180-degree turn. »
Same thing on temporary immigration. “Last year, the CAQ explicitly said that we could not plan for temporary immigration. […] The Parti Québécois has exerted an influence so that it is no longer the CAQ’s discourse at all. »
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Paul St-Pierre Plamondon is also delighted that his outings on sovereignty have not reduced his support as some observers predicted. “We talked about independence, we were attacked throughout the session and in the end, we ended the session with exactly the same support [in the polls]. »
Léger's latest survey gives 32% of support to the Parti Québécois, ahead of the Coalition Avenir Québec (25%).
Support for Quebec sovereignty hovers around 35% and the PQ has promised to hold a referendum if it is elected during a first mandate.
Asked how he intended to go about increasing support for the option, the leader of the PQ said he wanted to focus on three things.
On the one hand, On the other hand, he believes that the failures of CAQ governance “demonstrate the need for the independence of Quebec”. He also relies on the “consistency” of his speech to convince people and finally on “time”.