(Montreal) Paul St-Pierre Plamondon wants to go from success of esteem to electoral success and sent a message to those who liked his election campaign: “Judge us on merit” and “vote” for the Parti Québécois.
Updated yesterday at 11:10 p.m.
“Fate is calling us. There’s a lot of you. There are more and more of us, ”he said to a crowd of nearly 700 activists gathered at the Paradoxe theater in Montreal.
“The last few days have been special. We have never had so much encouragement, more wind at our back than in the last five days. People have a lot of sympathy and interest,” he explained. He now has two days to turn this interest into concrete votes.
In his speech, he highlighted the backstory of his campaign: independence and the French language. “Never in the history of Quebec has there been such a marked and rapid decline in French as over the past four years,” he said. This is why the Parti Québécois must be represented in force in the National Assembly, he argued.
In Camille-Laurin, there is all the symbolism of saying that if it is in Montreal that important decisions will be made over the next few years for the future of French, if Montreal really is a part of Quebec in its own right and that the national destiny of Quebecers passes through Montreal like all the other regions, very well, the leader of the Parti Québécois will present himself in Montreal, and will win.
Paul St-Pierre Plamondon, leader of the Parti Québécois
“Judge us on merit for the good of democracy, for the future of our democracy,” said the PQ leader.
PHOTO JACQUES BOISSINOT, THE CANADIAN PRESS
Paul St-Pierre Plamondon affirms that the PQ still continues to rise in voting intentions, and that it could form the official opposition.
The revelation of the countrysays Marois
Former Prime Minister Pauline Marois warmed the room by greeting Mr. St-Pierre Plamondon, the “revelation of this election campaign”. “With consistency, clarity, he refused to give up, he fought day after day against defeatism by presenting a bold social project,” she said.
She launched a “solemn appeal” to the men and women of her generation to reconnect with the Parti Québécois. “With the PQ, in all areas, we have enabled Quebec to make extraordinary progress,” she said. But we must keep the “door open” for the youngest. “Until Monday evening, we must continue to roll up our sleeves and convince every Quebecer,” said Ms.me Marois to the crowd.
At the start of the day, Mr. St-Pierre Plamondon launched a blitz to rally undecided voters. Passing through Trois-Rivières for the first time since the start of the electoral campaign, he relaunched the “Convincre” operation, imagined by Jacques Parizeau, as Jean-François Lisée had done before him in 2018. He hammered this message during his visits to the ridings of Joliette, Pointe-aux-Trembles, and the one where he is a candidate, Camille-Laurin.
“If you liked the PQ campaign […] go talk to someone who may not vote, go talk to someone who is undecided, ”he told his activists. He said that the PQ, which was at its lowest point in the polls in August, still continues to rise in voting intentions.
Gaspé, Sept-Iles and Jonquière
This Sunday, on the eve of the election, he will fly to Gaspé, Sept-Îles and Jonquière, three PQ castles he hopes to keep. He also had to defend during the day his decision to allow two ex-candidates – in Rousseau and L’Assomption – to continue campaigning despite anti-Muslim remarks published in 2015 and 2016.
“They asked me to be judged on the whole, and not on publications of 2015 only, I accepted this request. Leadership is about making tough decisions, respecting and listening to everyone involved trying to consider all aspects,” he said.
He will give back the sums paid by the Chief Electoral Officer “to charitable works”. And “if really we are in the precise case where [il y a] two oppositions with the same number of seats and that we have to rely on the universal ballot to try to decide between them, it’s simple, we will say to the Assembly: do not take into account the votes from these two counties”, he added.