On the recommendation of the Sûreté du Québec, the Parti Québécois (PQ) increased security around its national weekend council in Drummondville. For the first time since the time of Pauline Marois, metal detectors were stationed at the entrance to the activist rally on Saturday.
A decision encouraged by the police authorities, argued the PQ communications director, Laura Chouinard-Thuly, when questioned to this effect by the media present. The political party had recently taken the initiative of contacting the Sûreté du Québec to obtain its recommendations.
“The events that I personally experienced and other events have ensured that we are in constant contact with the Sûreté du Québec [SQ] », noted the PQ leader, Paul St-Pierre Plamondon, Saturday morning. “So, from these situations a more general discussion was born, namely: if we want to be exemplary and have the best practices in this area, what do you recommend to us? »
Never under the leadership of Paul St-Pierre Plamondon had the PQ installed such security gates at the entrance to one of its national gatherings. According to the party organization, this is the first time since the time of Pauline Marois’ government.
The increased climate of threats, the PQ’s history in this area – the attack on the Metropolis in the first place – and the growing notoriety of its leader will have prompted the SQ to make the recommendation to strengthen security measures with a view to the event. This is a very rare practice for an opposition party.
Asked about these measures, Mr. St-Pierre Plamondon agreed that his party’s position in the polls was part of the analysis. “There is surely a role, but I think that the main role, unfortunately, is the deterioration of good citizenship in our societies, probably linked to [les téléphones intelligents] and social media,” launched Camille-Laurin’s elected representative in the press scrum.
“It is clear that doing politics these days sometimes comes with less civic-mindedness, more lack of respect,” he added. Last month, Mr. St-Pierre Plamondon confirmed that he and his family had received death threats.
Around 500 people, half of whom are delegates, were expected in Drummondville for the PQ National Council this weekend.
Immigration, the “first factor” behind the housing crisis
The National Council, which focuses on housing, will be an opportunity for delegates present to vote on dozens of proposals aimed at improving access to property, the supply of housing and the protection of tenants.
On Saturday, however, it was on immigration – “the first factor” behind the housing crisis, according to him – that Paul St-Pierre Plamondon opened the activist rally. “Each year, there are many more people arriving in the region than housing being built,” he lamented to the media.
His party is therefore asking the Coalition Avenir Québec (CAQ) government to immediately freeze the issuance of Quebec acceptance certificates for non-permanent residents under their control. This aims to stop the increase in the number of temporary students and temporary workers from the Temporary Foreign Worker Program (TFWP).
“Companies that already have temporary workers can continue to extend the participation of these workers over time, but we say to the Quebec state: you cannot tell the federal government to reduce temporary immigration without looking at yourself. even in your backyard what you do,” recalled Mr. St-Pierre Plamondon on Saturday.
In Quebec, last year, nearly 125,000 temporary students held a study permit. Nearly 60,000 PTET workers had work permits.
The PQ could choose this weekend to include in its platform for 2026 the commitment to “ban Airbnb-type rentals in cities where the vacancy rate is less than 3%, excluding areas of resort”, to “establish a public, universal and obligatory rent register” or even to “finance the construction over 5 years of a minimum of 45,000 off-market housing units, including 10,000 for students”. Other measures for access to property or the creation of housing in vacant government buildings appear in the PQ members’ proposal list.