Despite his promise to propose a referendum on the independence of Quebec in a first mandate, Paul St-Pierre Plamondon cannot guarantee that the consultation will take place if he is elected at the head of a minority government.
• Read also: Light Poll: many PQ voters opposed to sovereignty
• Read also: Light Poll: the Parti Québécois solidifies its lead
The PQ leader clarified his commitment Wednesday morning, after appearing to hesitate in the face of questions from journalists at a press briefing.
To trigger a referendum, the government must‘first have a bill adopted by a majority of elected officials in the National Assembly. “We cannot, at this stage, assume the composition of the‘National Assembly, nor presume how each elected official would react to such a bill,” explained a spokesperson for the National Assembly.‘parliamentary wing of the Parti Québécois.
“Our commitment is very clear,‘whether it is a majority or a minority, a PQ government will table such a bill triggering popular consultation on the‘future of Quebec,” he added.
Non-sovereignty voters
Paul St-Pierre Plamondon was also questioned, Wednesday morning, about a Léger poll which revealed that a quarter of PQ voters would not support sovereignty in a possible referendum.
According to pollster Jean-Marc Léger, this data demonstrates that many voters are attracted by the new leader’s speech, without being independent supporters.
“Freedom is precisely about advancing one’s ideas, and I see this proportion of people who are favorable to the Parti Québécois as people who are listening,” commented Paul St-Pierre Plamondon. We may not have convinced them completely, but clearly, we at least have their ears.”
CAQ resilience
Among the CAQ troops, down at 25%, according to the recent Léger survey, we showed resilience in the corridors of parliament before the question period in the Blue Room.
“Listen, I’ve already been in elections, we were at 13%. It takes a little more than that to discourage me,” said MP Donald Martel, first elected in 2012.
His colleague Minister of Education, Bernard Drainville, also spoke of his years as an elected representative of the Parti Québécois to explain that he remains hopeful. “I saw others. I was in another party before and we ended up coming back, winning,” he declared.