St-Pierre Plamondon says he has nothing to do with the threats of expulsion of a PQ member

Photo: Jacques Boissinot The Canadian Press The decision to exclude Vincent Boulay or not is up to a committee of which he is not a member, said Chief Paul St-Pierre Plamondon.

Isabelle Porter and François Carabin in Quebec City

Published at 11:12 a.m. Updated at 11:36 a.m.

• Quebec

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Parti Québécois (PQ) leader Paul St-Pierre-Plamondon says he played no role in the expulsion threat against political committee member Vincent Boulay and assures that differences of opinion have their place within his party.

“It's not my responsibility, it's not me,” he said Tuesday morning. “I can't comment on confidential work that isn't done by me. »

The PQ leader was reacting to the threats of expulsion made by the party's top brass to Vincent Boulay, a member of the political commission.

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In the letter sent to Vincent Boulay last week — a letter that Le Devoir was able to consult —, PQ national secretary Sophie Lemieux refers to “violations of the Code of Ethics” and “breaches of the party’s Communications Policy.” He is particularly criticized for Mr. Boulay’s communications on social media.

At a press briefing, Mr. St-Pierre-Plamondon said that the decision was made under regulations put in place in 2019, before he took over as party leader. In a message apparently addressed to former minister Louise Harel, who spoke out on the controversy, he stressed that these regulations were not in place during the 1980s. In recent days, Ms. Harel had come to Vincent Boulay’s defense.

“The right to have a divergent point of view in the PQ is clear,” he also argued. The PQ leader also mentioned that Mr. Boulay had published numerous letters critical of the party's positions in newspapers and that “nothing ever happened.”

However, he would not say whether he agreed or not with the threats made against this member and repeated that he intended to “let the authorities do their work.” The decision, he specified, is up to a committee, of which he is not a member.

It is the PQ's national executive council that will determine Mr. Boulay's future as a member. Made up of around fifteen people, this group “automatically” includes among its members the leader of the party.

Decision pending

The national executive council of the Parti Québécois had still not made its decision on Mr. Boulay’s future at the time of writing. According to our information, the person concerned sent his plea to remain a member of the political commission on Saturday at noon.

This is not the first time that the PQ has made such approaches to a member, confirmed in an email the communications director of the sovereignist party. According to its internal rules, a member must exercise “a duty of reserve and a duty of loyalty” to the party, she noted.

More details will follow.