(Quebec) The leader of the Parti Québécois (PQ), Paul St-Pierre Plamondon, has come to claim for his political formation “the right to exist” in the National Assembly, considering himself reduced to demanding “the bare minimum vital” to carry out its work in Parliament, starting from the start of the next session on November 29.
While the negotiations between the parties are at an impasse, Mr. St-Pierre Plamondon says he is now ready to take a step back and revise his demands downwards, with a view to quickly concluding an agreement on the recognition of his party to the National Assembly, as a parliamentary group.
Dissatisfied with the offers on the table, the PQ opposition feels aggrieved and unfairly treated by the three other parties represented in the National Assembly, and more particularly by the government parliamentary leader, Simon Jolin-Barrette.
The PQ therefore says it is now ready to give up recognition of the position of parliamentary leader of the PQ opposition, in the hope that this can help resolve the impasse. Mr. St-Pierre Plamondon wanted the MNA for Matane-Matapédia, Pascal Bérubé, to inherit the position of leader of the third opposition group in the House.
In a telephone interview with The Canadian Press on Friday, Mr. St-Pierre Plamondon dismissed out of hand the criticism of all those who believe that the PQ has been “too greedy”, believing that it would obtain all the advantages of full recognition in the National Assembly, when he only managed to elect three deputies on 3 October.
On the contrary, the PQ “was the least greedy of the three opposition parties”, replies Mr. St-Pierre Plamondon, convinced that other parties “are treated differently” by the CAQ government, quick to prefer “petty politics “. He calls for fair treatment between all opposition parties.
Normally, to obtain full recognition, the rules provide that a parliamentary group must have elected at least 12 deputies or have obtained 20% of the vote.
“We are asking for the bare minimum of living in order to exist in the House,” said Mr. St-Pierre Plamondon, annoyed by noting that the current government position “amplifies the already significant distortions” between the percentage of votes received by each party and the number of seats obtained on 3 October.
“There is a minimum of functioning which has not been granted to us to date”, denounces the PQ leader.
Three demands
From now on, to break the impasse, the PQ opposition is essentially demanding three things: first, an annual operating budget of $800,000 net (thus not counting the remuneration of constituency staff), when it is being offered so far $495,000. Then, with regard to speaking rights, she wants the guarantee of being able to ask one of the nine questions a day from the ranks of the opposition. Finally, the PQ wants to have a seat on the Bureau of the National Assembly, the BAN, responsible for managing disputes between parliamentarians and taking decisions relating to the functioning of the assembly.
This is “a request that is reduced and very reasonable”, argued the PQ leader, who is “reaching out” to the government and the leaders of the other opposition parties, with a view to planning a meeting in the coming days and closing the case.
For an opposition party, official recognition is a fundamental issue. It has a direct impact on the funding granted to the parliamentary group and on the speaking time available so that it can present itself in the House, particularly during question period.
The PQ, which only elected three deputies, still won 14.6% of the popular vote, ahead of the Liberal Party of Quebec (PLQ), which forms the official opposition with 14.3% of the vote collected. and 21 deputies (now 19).
If nothing moves, the PQ should settle for $495,000, or 7% of the total budget. The Liberal official opposition would have 4.4 million (64%) and Québec solidaire, which elected 11 deputies with 15.4% of the vote, would have 1.9 million (28%).
If the proposed model is retained, the speaking time reserved for each opposition party would be divided as follows: for each cycle of 100 questions, the Liberal opposition could ask 70, Québec solidaire 25 and the PQ only 5.
“The Liberals have 70 questions, I have five! and I got more votes than them,” recalls the PQ leader, to illustrate the real impact of the distortion on his political party.