(Saint-Hyacinthe) Buoyed by the victory in Jean-Talon and positive polls, the Parti Québécois must remain focused on its goals, including achieving Quebec independence, believes Paul St-Pierre Plamondon. The PQ leader urged his troops on Saturday to remain “humble.”
Published at 10:31 am. Updated at 11:48 a.m
“We have to focus on the goals, even if there are successes,” the Parti Québécois leader said in a press scrum on the sidelines of his political party’s national council this weekend in Saint-Hyacinthe. This is the first time that PQ activists – there will be around 400 by the end of the week – have met since their stunning victory in Jean-Talon.
HOTO CHARLES WILLIAM PELLETIER, SPECIAL COLLABORATION
The National Council of the Parti Québécois takes place in Saint-Hyacinthe.
Paul St-Pierre Plamondon entered a room electrified by the sounds of Loco Locass’s Hymne à Québec, surrounded by his team of now four deputies. The new MP Pascal Paradis was also invited to speak. “We are the party that will make Quebec a country. Period,” said the MP for Jean-Talon energetically and to thunderous applause.
The leader of the Parti Québécois wants to use the event to remind his members to remain “humble” despite their successes and to remain focused on his party’s goals, starting with Quebec independence. He will also convey this message in his closing speech on Sunday morning.
When things were more difficult, I found it extraordinary that the activists remained focused on our goals without chaos ensuing. But vice versa: When things are going very well, you can’t allow yourself to be distracted [de mener] our real goals, namely to have a positive influence on society and to really help people.
Paul St-Pierre Plamondon, head of the PQ
This also applies to “not allowing yourself to be distracted” by your opponents’ criticism. The Parti Québécois faced criticism this week when it presented the annual budget for a sovereign Quebec. The submission of the document led to clashes at the Salon Bleu this week between Mr St-Pierre Plamondon and Prime Minister François Legault, who signed the last similar exercise in 2005.
“We have a game plan and we are following it,” said MP Pascal Paradis.
“We have learned from the past,” says Marois
PHOTO CHARLES WILLIAM PELLETIER, SPECIAL COLLABORATION
Former Prime Minister Pauline Marois
Former premier Pauline Marois, who will give a speech to activists on Saturday, believes lessons have been learned from the referendum failure and that Quebec’s economy is in much “better shape” today. During the Parti Québécois leadership race in 2005, Ms. Marois said that the creation of a Quebec country would be followed by five years of “turbulence.”
“Five years is a bit excessive,” she admitted in a press interview. “Quebec is stronger than ever. We are fully employed and have fantastic investment tools. We also have the experience of the 1995 referendum with Mr [Jacques] Parizeau, who, as we will remember, had carefully planned to have sufficient liquidity to avoid disruptions in the markets,” she stressed.
We have learned from the past and the future should show this.
Pauline Marois, former PQ Prime Minister from 2012-2014
In addition, she supports the proposal of Mr. St-Pierre Plamondon, who believes that a sovereign Quebec should have its own currency. At that time she took the opposite position. “Paul suggests taking a different path that would essentially avoid a lot of debate with the Bank of Canada and tensions. “It is a path that deserves to be thoroughly investigated and it seems interesting to me,” she said.
The place of private schools
“Education, the cornerstone of a nation” is the theme of the National Council. Members must express their views on a number of proposals, in particular on abolishing three-tier schools, upgrading the teaching profession, pre-school development of children and supporting our young people.
Among the proposals being discussed are the option to “offer all currently subsidized private schools the opportunity to become accredited schools fully funded by the state” and “to gradually reduce subsidies to below 50 for private schools that do not have agreements % to reduce”. This is a more nuanced position, as the PQ proposes in its current national project to completely eliminate public subsidies.
Chef Paul St-Pierre Plamondon seems happier with the new proposal. “I think what’s in the notebook [de propositions du Conseil national]”For now it’s sensible, then it’s the goal,” he explained, reiterating that private schools also have their place in Quebec’s school ecosystem. “We are right to think about three-tier schools, it’s unfair, but we also have to go for something tiered and respect the fact that there are private schools that work very well,” he said.