Disappointed Caquistes. Independents who find their faith again. Young people who recognize themselves in Paul St-Pierre Plamondon. Since the October 2022 elections, the Parti Québécois (PQ) has seen a steady increase in its membership. Portrait of a trend that stands out in the political landscape of the province of La Belle.
On the eve of the last general election there were around 32,000 people who held PQ membership cards. Less than a year and a half later there are now 36,647, an increase of around 15%.
Nobody disputes that the PQ is still far from its glory days. When Jean-François Lisée became party leader in 2016, the party had twice as many members, around 73,000.
Nevertheless, such an increase in members in the provincial scene may arouse the envy of PQ opponents. For comparison: Québec Solidaire (QS) has around 25,000 members.
Last fall, the president of the Quebec Liberal Party (PLQ) said he could expect 15,000 to 20,000 members, a range that the PLQ would neither confirm nor deny today.
As for the Coalition Avenir Québec (CAQ), it simply does not specify the size of its active forces.
We have remained authentic since the beginning of Paul's involvement [St-Pierre Plamondon] in politics. “We are sticking to our lines,” analyzes Catherine Gentilcore, president of the PQ’s National Executive Council.
We take responsibility. I think people find it refreshing, honestly. It gives them confidence when they see us sticking to our principles and being true to ourselves.
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Catherine Gentilcore, President of the PQ National Executive Council
Photo: Parti Québécois
Disappointed Caquists
Furthermore, part of the PQ's renewed popularity can be directly attributed to the CAQ's difficulties since the start of its second mandate in government.
“The CAQ has broken several of its promises and I realized at the beginning of 2023 that I recognized myself much more in the ideas of the Parti Québécois,” says Kevin Serafini, 22, who received his PQ card in May last year.
The young man, a political science student at the University of Montreal, had been campaigning for the CAQ since 2020. However, the political changes in François Legault's government convinced him to defect.
He admits that his view of the world has also evolved in recent years.
When I joined the CAQ I had positions closer to the center right, but […] I realized that I recognized myself more in a kind of social democracy.
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Kevin Serafini (left) is also an activist in the Bloc Québécois.
Photo: Kevin Serafini
“I have found my X,” summarizes Kevin Majaducon, another ex-Caquist who made the jump to the PQ last year.
“I started questioning myself more after the 2022 by-election in Marie-Victorin, which made me think a lot about the way the CAQ conducted its business,” says the 27-year-old young man, who even Party was employed by François Legault.
I have seen how the party has developed […] Then I said to myself: I am not in my place.
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Kevin Majaducon was a member of the PQ for less than a year and was previously an activist and staff member of the CAQ.
Photo: Kevin Majaducon
The PSPP effect
Kevin Majaducon had been watching Paul St-Pierre Plamondon out of the corner of his eye for some time. It was the opening of the PQ chairman when he took office. I saw how he wanted to bring the party back into a sphere that was more nationalistic than the CAQ.
That is what attracted Alexandra Gilbert-Boutros, 35, who joined the PQ shortly before the 2022 election. I listened to the leaders' debates, I gathered information, then I was really fascinated by the leader of the Parti Québécois, she remembers.
Ms Gilbert-Boutros, a young mother, admits that she was already a PQist at heart, but was neither a member nor an active activist. It was both Paul St-Pierre Plamondon's calmer and more composed tone and his unwavering commitment to the cause of independence that won them over.
He is a leader who is not afraid to say this is his priority. This resonates with me and I am more likely to raise my hand to engage when I see this seriousness in the approach.
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Alexandra Gilbert-Boutros (second from left) and other PQ members
Photo: Facebook / Parti Québécois
However, for some, the approach to independence proposed by the PQ leader is having the opposite effect. Rémi Lebeuf, 24 years old and a master's student in public affairs and international relations, did not make the jump to the PQ when he decided to leave the CAQ.
Instead, he chose to campaign for the Bloc Québécois because he was not convinced by the PQ's social democratic positioning and Paul St-Pierre Plamondon's referendum logic. “I think that the referendum would be the final step if we could win it,” he summarizes.
I believe that the energy and time we are losing in the referendum process is time that could be invested elsewhere in building the state of Quebec.
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Rémi Lebeuf, 24, chose to run for the Bloc Québécois rather than the Parti Québécois.
Photo: Remi Lebeuf
The hardest part is yet to come
If even separatists find Paul St-Pierre Plamondon too zealous, isn't there a risk that this will have a negative impact on the renewed popularity of the PQ, which topped Quebec's voting intentions in a Léger poll last December?
Maybe, to be honest, says Alexandra Gilbert-Boutros, adding that the PQ has a huge task ahead of it.
The hardest part is yet to come. The most difficult thing will be to convince the population to vote “yes” during the elections and even after the election to hold a third referendum.
The president of the PQ national board is not playing her head in the sand either. The big challenge is obvious. “Right now the lights are on us,” notes Catherine Gentilcore.
However, the PQ is only the third opposition party in the National Assembly and its financial resources remain limited. The success of the coming years rests largely in the hands of our activists, adds Ms. Gentilcore.
Among these activists, Ms. Gentilcore expects CAQ members to continue to make the jump to the PQ and perhaps even work there.
We are not fools. When we come back to power in 2026, we can expect that there will be a personnel movement from the CAQ to the PQ, as there was a big movement from the PQ to the CAQ then.
As long as these newcomers share PQ values and are willing to plunge into a referendum process, they are welcome, assures Ms. Gentilcore.
We have said very clearly that we will not change course, that we will focus on the values that belong to us, on the independence project.