Latest news with #PaulStPierrePlamondon
CTV News
2 days ago
- General
- CTV News
The Québec solidaire candidate in Terrebonne switches to the Parti Québécois
Archives - Parti Québécois leader Paul St-Pierre Plamondon celebrates with candidate Catherine Gentilcore, second from left, after she won the by-election in Terrebonne on Monday, March 17, 2025. (The Canadian Press/Christinne Muschi) The candidate who represented Québec solidaire (QS) in the Terrebonne by-election, Nadia Poirier, is leaving the party to join the Parti Québécois (PQ). Poirier made the announcement on social media on Sunday, just over two months after the by-election, which PQ candidate Catherine Gentilcore easily won. A few days after the by-election, in which she finished fourth with 4.55 per cent of the vote, Poirier publicly lamented the lack of support from QS during the campaign. On Reddit, Poirier pointed out, among other things, that no QS MNAs had come to Terrebonne with her to campaign, except co-spokesperson Ruba Ghazal for a 'solidarity beer.' On Sunday, Poirier revealed that this was 'only the tip of the iceberg of what [she] criticizes the party for.' 'But since I prefer to wash my dirty laundry in private, I shared the rest of my grievances with them privately. The result remains the same: I am leaving Québec Solidaire,' she announced. Poirier justified her move to the PQ by saying that she had read the party's national platform and found 'particularly progressive elements, ideas that overlap with those of QS, refreshing proposals.' 'When you put aside the QS-PQ rivalry, you realize that we are not so far apart,' she wrote. Poirier stated that she will continue to campaign for independence. She also said she hopes for a 'sovereignist convergence' with a view to a third referendum. Poirier also ran for QS in Terrebonne in the 2022 general election. She finished third, behind the Coalition Avenir Québec and the PQ. This report by The Canadian Press was first published in French June 2, 2025.
Globe and Mail
29-05-2025
- Business
- Globe and Mail
Quebec's National Assembly unanimously votes to break ties with the monarchy
Quebec's National Assembly had a parting gift for King Charles III on Tuesday: a unanimous motion to abolish the monarchy in Quebec. Within hours of the sovereign leaving Canada after his brief visit to open Parliament and deliver the Throne Speech, the blue chamber of the provincial legislature voted 106-0 to cut all ties between the Crown and the province. The motion does not bind the government to act, and constitutional experts agree that enacting it would be nearly impossible, but the gesture highlighted the stark difference in feeling toward all things regal in English and French Canada. King Charles delivers Throne Speech asserting Canada's sovereignty, pledging major transformation in economy The leader of the sovereigntist Parti Québécois, Paul St-Pierre Plamondon, put forward the motion, but every party in the legislature supported it, with no abstentions, including the governing Coalition Avenir Québec and the staunchly federalist Liberals. The practical implications of the motion would include jettisoning Quebec's Lieutenant-Governor, the representative of the Crown in the province, who formally appoints ministers, signs laws and launches elections. The leftist Québec solidaire suggested replacing her with an 'administrator' until the province becomes independent, as QS would like. 'I have nothing against the English,' Mr. St-Pierre Plamondon said in a scrum Tuesday. 'It's just not my king. It's not my country. And I don't understand why we throw tens of thousands of dollars every year at these institutions. I find it unacceptable.' Quebeckers have always had a complicated relationship with a monarchy that some still view as a symbol of conquest. Today, the overwhelming sentiment is one of crushing indifference: 87 per cent of respondents in a recent Léger poll said they felt no attachment to the Crown. The Quebec government has taken steps in recent years to diminish the place of the monarchy in public life. In 2022 it scrapped the requirement for members of the National Assembly to pledge allegiance to the King, after a stand-off with deputies from the PQ who refused to do so. In 2023 the National Assembly approved a motion calling to abolish the role of lieutenant-governor. But bringing this week's motion into force would require much more drastic action, said Jean-François Gaudreault-DesBiens, a professor of constitutional law at the University of Montreal. To break with the monarchy in Quebec would require abolishing it across Canada, a step that would involve constitutional reform agreed to by all the provinces and the federal government. 'It's a bit of wishful thinking,' Prof. Gaudreault-DesBiens said. 'As long as Quebec wants to remain within the constitutional order of Canada – so unless it achieves independence – it has to play by the rules.' The PQ, currently leading in the polls, has promised a referendum on independence during its first mandate if elected. But despite the party's popularity, support for Quebec sovereignty is hovering around a historic low amidst U.S. President Donald Trump's threats to annex Canada. The office of Premier François Legault declined to say Wednesday whether it would take steps to abolish the monarchy in Quebec, but spokesperson Ewan Sauves defended the government's support for the motion. 'We are a nationalist government,' he said in a statement. 'We are responding above all to the people of Quebec. It's clear for us that a majority of Quebeckers don't recognize themselves in the monarchy. And remember: Quebec is a distinct nation within Canada. The motion adopted yesterday is in that spirit.' With reports from The Canadian Press
CTV News
28-05-2025
- General
- CTV News
Quebec legislature votes unanimously to cut all ties with the monarchy
Parti Québécois leader Paul St-Pierre Plamondon during Question Period at the National Assembly, May 1, 2025. (Jacques Boissinot/The Canadian Press) King Charles III had barely left the country as the National Assembly unanimously adopted a motion on Tuesday to cut all ties with the monarchy. The motion was tabled by PQ leader Paul St-Pierre Plamondon after Question Period, on a red-letter day in another parliament, Ottawa, where the monarch delivered the Speech from the Throne for the first time since 1977. The PQ motion was adopted unanimously, with 106 votes in favour and no abstentions. Even the federalist Liberals, who are more attached to Canadian institutions, voted in favour, as did the CAQ government benches. The vote was at 3:06 pm. The King had just left Canada shortly after 1 p.m., at the end of a short two-day visit. On Tuesday, he was welcomed by crowds of curious onlookers who lined Wellington Street, where he was escorted by the Royal Canadian Mounted Police Musical Ride. This report by The Canadian Press was first published in French on May 27, 2025. By Patrice Bergeron, The Canadian Press
National Post
21-05-2025
- Politics
- National Post
Chris Selley: Central Canadians are practically goading Alberta to consider separation
Of all the problems Canada faces in 2025, the prospect of Alberta sovereigntists winning a referendum and plunging the country into constitutional hell does not appear to be one of them. A Postmedia-Leger poll released last week, found just 29 per cent of Albertans supported the province 'becoming a country independent of Canada,' which is what the straightforward referendum question recently proposed by the separatist Alberta Prosperity Project (APP) would ask. That's even fewer than the 36 per cent of Quebecers who would vote Yes in their own sovereignty referendum, according to a Leger poll released before last month's federal election. Article content Article content But good grief, Central Canada could hardly be doing more to try to pump the APP's tires. Ironically, that includes some Quebec separatists. Article content Article content Parti Québécois leader Paul St-Pierre Plamondon has offered support, in principle: 'I totally agree with provinces that stand up, that are loyal to their own parliament, that are capable of showing a strong hand,' he said earlier this month. This seems like the only logical strategic position for Quebec sovereigntists to take if — like the PQ, which is in pole position to win the next provincial election — they're actually planning on holding and winning a referendum and commencing divorce proceedings with Ottawa, the other provinces and First Nations. Article content Others in the Quebec sovereignty movement, however, haven't been able to resist broadcasting their contempt for Alberta. Legalities aside, Bloc Québécois Leader Yves-François Blanchet averred earlier this month, a proper sovereignty-seeking entity 'has to have a culture of their own.' Article content Article content 'I am not certain that oil and gas qualifies to define a culture,' he added disdainfully. Article content Article content 'In Quebec, we have a nation, a language, a culture, a distinct history,' Marie-Anne Alepin, president of the arch-nationalist Société St-Jean-Baptiste de Montréal, told The Canadian Press earlier this month. 'They want an oil-based future. We have no common goals. We're not alike.'
CTV News
13-05-2025
- Politics
- CTV News
PQ leader defends Arthabaska byelection candidate's activist past
Parti Québécois Leader Paul St-Pierre Plamondon during question period at the legislature in Quebec City, Tuesday, April 8, 2025 (Jacques Boissinot / The Canadian Press) (Jacques Boissinot/The Canadian Press)
