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Parti Québécois Leader Paul St-Pierre Plamondon rallied his party faithful Sunday, less than a year from the next provincial election and with a number of important tests to come before then.
“We have the right, but above all, we have the duty to build a different Quebec than the Quebec of decline,” St-Pierre Plamondon told several hundred gathered in Sherbrooke, Que.
“The Quebec of decline that has been imposed on us by the federal government, the CAQ (Coalition Avenir Québec), and the Quebec Liberal party for several years now.”
St-Pierre Plamondon insists that he will hold a sovereignty referendum during his first term if elected to government, even though a majority of Quebecers are opposed to independence.
On Saturday, the PQ leader announced that an independent Quebec would have its own currency. It would be a slow transition from the Canadian dollar that could take up to 10 years.
The currency option is the latest chapter from the PQ’s Blue Book, which outlines what an independent Quebec would look like and which the party has been slowly rolling out in recent weeks.
The Quebec Liberals wasted no time in denouncing the money plan.
Liberal Frédéric Beauchemin urged the PQ to stop “talking nonsense,” noting that separating from Canada would cut Quebec out of its current economic agreements and would be “creating an unprecedented wave of economic instability and taking Quebec out of NATO.”
“Monetary policy is not a fairy tale. What you’re saying will result in an incalculable decline in the purchasing power of Quebecers,” Beauchemin, the party’s finance critic, added in an X post.
On Saturday, the PQ leader had predicted that the “federalist camp” would condemn his proposal.
“It’s certain that the federalist discourse — and I’ll give you a hint — will be to say that a Quebec currency will be dreadful, and to wage a fear campaign that is absolutely not based on facts,” he said.
Other scenarios
The PQ wants to establish an independent commission following a successful sovereignty referendum, which would then make its own recommendations, including whether or not to create a Quebec currency.
The PQ considered two other scenarios: keeping the Canadian dollar or adopting the American currency.
According to the PQ leader, keeping the Canadian dollar would have ensured “stability and continuity.” The problem, he argued, would stem from the fact that an independent Quebec would have no influence on Canada’s monetary policy.
It’s a similar issue with the U.S. dollar.
“In times of crisis, for example, actions will be taken solely based on American interests, and Quebec’s situation will be completely ignored,” he explained.
St-Pierre Plamondon added using the U.S dollar given the current context would not be acceptable in the province.
He said he believes a Quebec currency is “by far the most likely scenario.”
The PQ has been soaring in the polls for almost two years now while Francois Legault’s CAQ government is struggling in public opinion.
Polling aggregator Qc125 indicates that the CAQ could be virtually wiped off the electoral map if an election were held today. The Quebec Liberals are emerging as the likely main challenger to the PQ.
But the PQ leader noted several tests remain, including a yet-to-be-called byelection in Chicoutimi, a traditionally nationalist riding which his party stands a good chance of taking from the governing Coalition Avenir Québec.
St-Pierre Plamondon said what is to come will be intense but it’s important to maintain focus.
“In the minds of millions of Quebecers, we represent the hope for a Quebec that will do better,” St-Pierre Plamondon told the gathering.
“That explains why our opponents attack us relentlessly and without restraint, we simply must not let ourselves be distracted.”
