Towards the elections | ” Everything can happen “

They aspire to become Prime Minister. In a few days, they will travel across Quebec to convince voters to give them their confidence. The Press met them. Today, the leader of the Parti Québécois, Paul St-Pierre Plamondon.

Hugo Pilon Larose
The Press

Tommy Chouinard
The Press

(Quebec) Although the polls put him dead last, Paul St-Pierre Plamondon insists that the Parti Québécois (PQ) will surprise on October 3rd. “I won’t make a prediction about what will happen, but what I know about election campaigns is that anything can happen,” he hopes.

In an interview with the political office of The Press in Quebec, the PQ leader is attacking. He takes off his jacket and sits behind the desk of the leader of the third opposition, Joël Arseneau, since he has not yet been elected as an MP. In the coming weeks, he promises to have “fun”, unlike the last days of the previous parliamentary session, where he took blows even from his own camp, like those of Lucien Bouchard.

“I’m going to be straight as a barbell and I’m going to fight for things that are true. Never let fear condition the little time we have on earth. Never ! he exclaims without looking away.

Since the beginning of the summer, “people have started to take me by the forearm, to tell me: don’t let go, it’s important what you are doing,” says Mr. St-Pierre Plamondon, perked up. . From now on, he wants to be the one who brings “hope”.

“We are called the Parti Québécois. You cannot dissociate the destiny of French-speaking Quebec in America [du] fate of the Parti Québécois. These are choices that are linked. […] A small gesture of hope is to vote Parti Québécois. It’s not a big gesture, but this gesture is still a choice of hope, ”insists the PQ leader.

A summer to reflect

Despite its optimism, opinion polls suggest that the PQ could still lose feathers in the next election, while well-known deputies such as Véronique Hivon or former party leadership candidate Sylvain Gaudreault do not stand for re-election. The only seat that seems assured to the PQ is that of Matane-Matapédia, occupied by Pascal Bérubé.

After a summer spent in Témiscamingue, to give himself time and space to reflect, Paul St-Pierre Plamondon believes he has found the question of the ballot box.

“The CAQ appeals to the resignation of the electorate with regard to the independence of Quebec. We are the opposite. The CAQ presents a plan that will not reverse the decline of French in Montreal. We are proposing a plan that will reverse the decline. The CAQ, in environment, proposes a plan which is clearly insufficient. We are going to arrive with a rigorous and complete plan, ”he lists, not revealing any electoral commitments to support his statements.

“In my opinion, this creates the following question between the CAQ and the Parti Québécois: choose resignation or, on the other hand, you have a renewed party, which has fun and pride in embodying hope. I am the one who carries this hope,” maintains Mr. St-Pierre Plamondon.

Independence at the heart of everything

Faithful to the PQ’s refoundation congress in 2019, which put sovereignty back at the forefront, the PQ leader will speak of independence throughout Quebec during the election campaign, including in ridings less sympathetic to his cause.

Follower of the writings of Gandhi in his fight against fear (he is inspired by it, but does not compare himself to him), he hums spontaneously in an interview The two springs by Daniel Bélanger — “Scared beings who want to contaminate you” — when confronted with the lack of appetite for sovereignty and the risk of being the last leader of the PQ as a recognized party in the Assembly national.

In terms of recruitment, Paul St-Pierre Plamondon denies that his party had to row against the tide to find candidates. “When all our candidates are [annoncés], look at them for their whole. You will see how many people are obviously ministers,” he says.

“People are not running for the Parti Québécois out of opportunism right now. The [électeurs] will appreciate the authenticity, the assumed and sincere character of our candidates. [À la CAQ]you have people who present themselves out of a taste for power, who manage according to keeping power, who are not able to name their convictions. […] Me, I’m not hiding. I’m not [en politique] by calculation of probability,” he says.

But the party will not just talk about sovereignty. The PQ will update their proposals in health, with increased front-line services, in education, in favor of a stronger public school, and they will present measures to help Quebecers in the face of the rising cost of living.

Paul St-Pierre Plamondon is impatient to present his proposals, he who has denounced for months that the management of the pandemic has allowed the government to occupy the vast majority of media space. “What we are going to do in the election campaign is to assume responsibility and make people dream,” he promises.