The leader of the Parti Québécois discussed independence with the mayor of Quebec, Bruno Marchand, and said he felt “listening” on his part to his ambitions for the city in a sovereign Quebec.
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Quebec City Mayor Bruno Marchand met Thursday with Parti Québécois leader Paul St-Pierre Plamondon for about 45 minutes at Quebec City Hall. At the beginning of the meeting, questioned by the journalists, Mr. Marchand did not want to say if he would like his city to be the national capital of an independent country.
Photo Stephanie Martin
Quebec City Mayor Bruno Marchand meets with Parti Québécois leader Paul St-Pierre Plamondon at Quebec City Hall.
“We will take the time to discuss. I am very happy to welcome Mr. St-Pierre Plamondon today. You will have the chance to discuss with him afterwards, I think.
Paul St-Pierre Plamondon did not hesitate to come back to the subject after the meeting. “Yes, I talked about it. The proposal of the CAQ is: “We offer you to be the second metropolis of Quebec”. It’s like being the consolation prize. And what I said to Mr. Marchand is that our vision is to make Quebec City a shining international capital, a unique place, the capital of a country. Of course he listens as mayor. Obviously, his role is not to pronounce. But there is listening in this vision of a city of Quebec that shines and takes all the space and the measure that it deserves in my opinion.
Later in the afternoon, Mayor Marchand commented on the morning visit.
“Mr. St-Pierre Plamondon has his project, his party’s project. He talks about independence, it’s his choice. The Mayor of the City is not going to take a position on whether or not we should be a country. That’s not the point. But that we have ambition for Quebec, that we want to strengthen this role of capital, that we have ideas and that we listen to elected officials, this is excellent news.
Villeneuve “insulted”
For his part, the Leader of the Opposition, Claude Villeneuve, believes that if Quebec were to become the fourth capital of a country in North America, “it is certainly something that would contribute to the influence”.
He finds it “absurd” that the outgoing Prime Minister, François Legault, intends to make Quebec the second metropolis. For him, it already is. “I’m insulted when people say: it’s going to take a third link for you to be the second metropolis. […] I think we are a lot more the locomotive than the caboose when it comes to economic development in Quebec.”