Facing extinction on October 3, the leader of the Parti Québécois has chosen to put sovereignty back at the forefront.
Softened for too long, shunned even by previous leaders, the country project spearheaded by Paul St-Pierre Plamondon could very well be the PQ’s lifeline.
Speak rationally first
During Face-à-Face 2022 on TVA, I slammed Paul St-Pierre Plamondon for his pedagogical tone by suggesting on Twitter that he be “punchy”. In hindsight, I tend to think his tone is the right one and he’s pushing his option.
Of course, in speaking of the sovereignist option as a logical choice, the leader of the PQ is doing what several others before him have failed to do, for fear of unsettling voters accustomed to the famous “menace” of the referendum.
For St-Pierre Plamondon, the land project is no longer taboo, but an obvious solution to several problems, the root of which is always the same, the lack of autonomy from Ottawa.
Save the Parti Québécois
The last time the sovereignist option attracted so much interest was during the 1995 referendum. Since then, every leader has made a point of not rocking the boat lest it sink.
When Pierre Karl Péladeau raised his fist in 2014, his gesture was quickly dismissed as an impulsive mistake rather than an example of enthusiastic engagement. We know the rest.
The PSPP’s attitude and tone make the PQ stand out in this campaign. The Parti Québécois is the only truly sovereign option.
Although QS claims to be sovereignist, it is a party that the majority of voters spontaneously describe as primarily “left”.
To win over its voters, the solution of an open, patient and assertive pedagogy proposed by Paul St-Pierre Plamondon could well be the one that will save the PQ.
