Comedian and musician Pierre-Luc Brillant formalized his candidacy for the provincial elections for the Parti Québécois in front of hundreds of excited activists Thursday evening in Rosemont, Montreal. One of the only star candidates of the party, he will face incumbent Vincent Marissal, of Québec Solidaire, in this former PQ stronghold. He says he wants to falsify the polls and rally young voters.
“We cannot trust the polls”, defended the one who is running for the sovereignist formation, in reference to the voting intentions for the PQ which have remained between 9 and 11% at the national level since January 2022, according to the firm. Light. The candidate says he hopes “a fair share” for his party in the next elections.
In Rosemont, the poll aggregation site Qc125 also ranks him third in terms of voting intentions, at 17%. Outgoing MP Vincent Marissal, from Québec Solidaire, remains in the lead, with 33% of the voting intentions, followed by Sandra O’Connor from the Coalition Avenir Québec, at 28%.
“I had more than enough of people denigrating the party that I have wholeheartedly supported since my childhood,” added Pierre-Luc Brillant – who is entering politics for the first time – to frenzied applause at the august. Petite-Côte Community Center, where the event took place. “Politics has always been part of my DNA,” he added.
Pierre-Luc Brillant claims to want to promote the sovereignty of Quebec and “stop the decline of French”, which he criticizes his united opponent for not putting forward enough. Universal accessibility and access to community housing are among the main issues in his riding, according to him.
“Rosemont has traditionally been a PQ since the 1970s, it’s a riding that I know well,” he said in an interview with the To have to, before his inauguration. In particular, he wishes to “remedy” the “lack of libraries and community centers” in his constituency.
“Pierre-Luc will win for the independence of Quebec,” launched Paul Saint-Pierre Plamondon, the leader of the Parti Québécois, during the nomination ceremony of his candidate. “These elections will do good,” he added, hoping to make gains for his party, despite the polls.
Born in 1978, Pierre-Luc Brillant made a name for himself in the cinema from the age of 12, in the main role of the film Money box Combines Co. by Rock Demers (1992). He has acted in many Quebec films such as The dismantling (Sébastien Pilote, 2013), The disappearance of fireflies (Sébastien Pilote, 2018) and CRAZY (Jean-Marc Vallée, 2005).
He has also held numerous roles on the small screen, in series such as District 31, A hard timeor THAT, alongside his wife Isabelle Blais. The couple also form a duo of musicians, entitled Comme dans un film. It is also accompanied by his spouse, in a musical number, that Pierre-Luc Brillant launched his investiture evening.
Reconnecting with Young Voters
“It’s fascinating to see how young people are returning to sovereignty,” says Pierre-Luc Brillant, who says he wants to rally young voters to the sovereignty project. However, the PQ is the major party with the lowest voting intentions in Quebec among young people, at 8% for 18 to 34 year olds, according to the latest Léger poll.
Florent Sabourin, a 17-year-old PQ and Bloc Québécois activist, met at the investiture of Pierre-Luc Brillant, affirms that “the French language is an issue that affects young people”. According to him, the party’s proposals on French in Quebec will appeal to this age group this year.
“I think our party rallies many young people […], we are definitely a party that talks about the future,” said Paul Saint-Pierre Plamondon. He believes that his party is the political formation whose average age of candidates is the lowest.
Tomorrow, the leader of the PQ will take part in the Youth dialogue of leaders – 2022 elections, a debate on the participation of young people in Quebec political life and on the electoral issues that affect them. The event is co-organized by Le Devoir and the Institut du nouveau monde (INM). It will take place at Concordia University, and will be broadcast live on the Facebook page of Le Devoir. Dominique Anglade, Gabriel Nadeau-Dubois and Éric Duhaime will also participate in the debate.