Premier-designate Paul St-Pierre Plamondon says a referendum on Quebec sovereignty is not among his immediate priorities as he prepares to lead a Parti Québécois minority government after his party’s election victory.
Less than 24 hours after the election, St-Pierre Plamondon struck an optimistic tone about his ability to govern, despite winning 59 seats, five short of the 64 needed for a majority in the National Assembly.
“There’s a responsibility to be coherent and to go forward with what you actually promised,” he told reporters Tuesday.
The PQ surged from just three seats four years ago to 59 on Monday, ending the Coalition Avenir Québec’s eight years in power and putting the sovereigntist party in position to form government.
While St-Pierre Plamondon has pledged to hold an independence referendum during his first term, he reiterated Tuesday that it would not happen while U.S. President Donald Trump remains in office.
“We’ve got time and we’ve got plenty of urgencies and problems to solve,” he said. “I think the upcoming months will be more about topics I mentioned, things that are urgent.”
Instead, he said his government will focus on issues including homelessness, government spending and the rising cost of living. He said his first act in office would be to organize a summit on reducing homelessness. Other priorities include freezing salaries for legislature members and Crown corporation directors, creating a secretariat to review government spending and bureaucracy, and naming a trade team to respond to the ongoing trade war with the United States.
St-Pierre Plamondon also said he wants to govern for all Quebecers, including anglophones.
“I just want to let you know very clearly that I will be the premier of everyone in Quebec,” he said. “We’re all in the same boat and we share the same future.”
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However, the prospect of a future referendum remains a divisive issue. Bloc Québécois Leader Yves-François Blanchet said the goal remains to eventually allow Quebecers to decide whether to create their own country.
“In the perspective of proposing Quebecers to get and create their own country,” Blanchet said.
Analysts say leading a minority government could make it more difficult for St-Pierre Plamondon to advance his long-term sovereignty ambitions.
“He will not be able to be as cut throat as he is in his stance and he will really have to seek collaboration to navigate and thread the needles because at any moment, the opposition can raise the flag and we can go into an election very shortly,” political analyst Daniel Tran said.
St-Pierre Plamondon acknowledged he will need support from other parties to advance his agenda and said he plans to meet with each opposition leader.
Prime Minister Mark Carney, who spoke with the premier-designate after the election, said this is a “crucial time” for Quebec and Canada and stressed the importance of focusing on immediate challenges.
“This is not a time to wait for something a few years down the road,” Carney said. “It’s a time to act. It’s a time for boldness.”
Opposition leaders also signalled a willingness to work with the new government on some issues while drawing a line on sovereignty.
Liberal Leader Charles Milliard, whose party won 40 seats, said Quebecers expect parties to co-operate on issues such as health care and support for families and businesses. However, he said Liberal members would not support a referendum.
“It’s not worth crossing the room to come see us, because for us, it’s no,” Milliard said.
Québec solidaire co-spokespersons Ruba Ghazal and Sol Zanetti said they would work to build support for independence but stressed that any move toward sovereignty must have public backing.
“If there is a single condition for independence, it is that the population wants it,” Ghazal said.
Conservative Leader Éric Duhaime, whose party won 19 seats, said he expects to discuss areas of common interest with St-Pierre Plamondon, including reducing taxes on used goods and cutting government spending.
For now, St-Pierre Plamondon appears focused on issues he considers more pressing than the constitutional future of Quebec, while preparing to navigate a legislature where co-operation with opposition parties will be required to pass legislation.
–with files form The Canadian Press