While the survival of the Parti Québécois is at stake, some tenors of the sovereigntist movement are ready to lend a hand to Paul St-Pierre Plamondon. The Bloc leader says he is available, but a public appearance with Yves-François Blanchet is not yet in the plans.
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“In the horizon of the schedule that is planned for the moment, nothing planned, but it is not excluded by the end of the campaign”, specifies the press secretary of the PQ leader, Laura Chouinard. – Thuly.
She adds that the party is in contact with several pro-independence figures and that a lot of support “comes organically”.
She takes as last proof the public release on Friday in the pages of the Log by Lucien Lessard, former MP and PQ minister in the 1970s.
At the Bloc Québécois, we assure that the PQ can count on Yves-François Blanchet, if the opportunity arises.
Photo QMI Agency, Mario Beauregard
Yves-François Blanchet, leader of the Bloc Québécois
“Right now, I go to local assemblies all over the place, and it’s very encouraging. If the PQ organizes an event of this type, we would be honored to support them,” said the Bloc leader, in a statement sent to our Parliamentary Office.
Moreover, he went to the ridings of Rosemont and Chambly at the start of the campaign to support PQ candidates.
Gilles Duceppe too
And Paul St-Pierre Plamondon can also count on former Bloc leader Gilles Duceppe to support him publicly, if he wishes.
“I’m going to support the PQ, that’s quite obvious,” he confides, on the phone. If the opportunity arises, we’ll see, it’s not me who decides. »
During the election campaign, Pauline Marois had been able to benefit from his help and his presence at his side. Jean-François Lisée too, if he remembers correctly.
But Gilles Duceppe will not impose himself, because he wants to respect the strategy of the party and the current leader. Especially since he could play the role of political analyst by the end of the electoral marathon.
“It can have the opposite effect too, [les gens peuvent se dire qu’]he needs others, that he is not able to move forward on his own, which is not the case, I think he is doing an excellent campaign! insists the ex-politician.
Gilles Duceppe claims to have regular contact with the PQ and the Bloc.
“spontaneous support effect”
A few days ago, when asked if he had appealed to the tenors of the independence movement to appear, PSPP said that those who had come out in the public square had done so on their own.
“I see the ripple effect taking place, but it’s not me who contacts people, we run the campaign we run, it takes a lot of energy and concentration to deliver quality and I notice in fact that there is a spontaneous effect of support for what we do. There is an appreciation felt on the pitch as well,” he said.
PSPP nevertheless specified that Lucien Bouchard did not give a boost to his campaign.
Recall that the former premier of Quebec and former leader of the PQ had pessimistic remarks for his former political party, barely three months ago.
If sovereignty is still a necessity in his eyes, he felt that other parties could carry the project. Mr. Bouchard did not respond to our messages.
– With Annabelle Blais
Former MPs lend a local boost
Some former deputies are active locally to give a boost to the PQ candidates, while the polls are at their lowest.
This is the case of François Gendron, who was MP for Abitibi-Ouest for 42 years and who has not lost the flame, despite the headwind.
The local PQ candidate, Samuel Doré, can count on his support and help to try to seduce the Abitibi electorate again during the electoral marathon.
“He was my senior political attaché!” says the ex-politician. I’m not there every day, I’m not a liaison officer, it’s not me who manages his campaign, but I give a helping hand”.
Paul St-Pierre Plamondon must go to the county, to La Sarre, this Sunday.
François Gendron will be there. Renowned for his outspokenness, the former elected official finds that the leader of the PQ is having a “very good campaign”, despite a lack of media coverage.
The war effort
According to him, it is quite natural that a former elected sovereignist participates in the war effort.
He believes that the old tenors of the movement should put their shoulder to the wheel, even if the cause seems to have lost its popularity.
“Giving 100-110 deputies to Legault does not tempt me at all in terms of democratic values! “.
The 77-year-old believes that in politics, convictions should take precedence over ambition. This is the message he wishes to deliver to all PQ activists, but also to the “25-30%” of convinced sovereignists seduced by the CAQ because of the attraction of power.
The “theoretical nationalism” of François Legault will not work and Quebec solidaire is not really an independentist party, he adds.
“It’s up to the people to wake up and see that there is only one pro-independence party, it’s the PQ”.
Maltese in Taschereau
Former PQ MP Agnès Maltais also gives some of her time to the campaign of the candidate in Taschereau, Jeanne Robin.
But the ex-politician is much less talkative. “I give a little helping hand to Jeanne Robin, she said, in a brief conversation. I just helped convince her to show up, for the rest, [je l’aide pour] all sorts of little things”.
Outgoing MP for Jonquière, Sylvain Gaudreault is not seeking a new mandate. He is still involved in the current campaign, especially with the PQ candidate who is trying to succeed him.
“It’s important that the elders get involved,” he adds. Regardless of the polls, it’s a matter of beliefs and it has to be done. »