On Tuesday Paul St-Pierre Plamondon said an independence referendum will not be an early priority for his incoming minority government, according to the Globe and Mail and the Toronto Star. The PQ holds 59 of 127 seats and has said any referendum would wait until Donald Trump leaves office in January 2029. Prime Minister Mark Carney spoke with him that morning, called it a crucial time for the country and said it is not a time to wait for something years down the road. His Quebec lieutenant Joël Lightbound said a mandate for separation must go through a referendum. The Star also reported Mr. Carney said his mandate is bigger than the PQ's and that Ottawa remains optimistic about high-speed rail. CTV News reported a first move toward abolishing the monarchy in Quebec.
Mr. St-Pierre Plamondon is setting a low bar on purpose. A minority government that opens with a referendum fight risks losing a confidence vote and an election. Mr. Carney is setting out his own terms: federalism as delivery, with money and projects, rather than a constitutional argument.
Nothing in your daily life changes. The things to watch are practical: federal funding deals with Quebec, the fate of the high-speed rail plan, and any change to the oath that members of the National Assembly swear to the King.
Quebec voted for change, not for leaving. By playing down the referendum, the premier-designate is respecting what the 28% who voted PQ and the majority who did not both told him.
A party founded to make Quebec a country says it is in no hurry. That is a tactic until a better moment arrives, and Ottawa should not mistake patience for abandonment.
Two things will show whether the calm holds. First, whether the PQ's first throne speech mentions a referendum at all. Second, whether Mr. Carney offers Quebec something concrete, such as infrastructure funding, within weeks rather than months. Rhetoric about boldness is cheap; a cheque is not.
The Globe and Mail · Toronto Star · The Canadian Press via CP24 and BNN Bloomberg · Associated Press via WCAX · CTV News · CBC News · Global News (all Oct. 6). Attributed quotes are as reported by those outlets.
Quebec's premier-designate says an independence vote is no early priority. Carney tells Quebec to focus on the economy
A day after the Parti Québécois won a minority, Paul St-Pierre Plamondon played down the referendum, Prime Minister Mark Carney called him, and the defeated premier quit as leader of her party.
The morning after, the tone from Quebec City was careful. Paul St-Pierre Plamondon told reporters that an independence vote will not be an early priority for his incoming minority government, according to the Globe and Mail and the Toronto Star. The PQ won 59 of the 127 seats in the National Assembly on Monday, five short of a majority, and he has said any referendum would wait until Donald Trump leaves the White House in January 2029. His government will need opposition votes to pass a budget, let alone to hold a vote on leaving Canada. The Liberals under Charles Milliard are now the official opposition.
Prime Minister Mark Carney spoke with the premier-designate on Tuesday morning. Afterwards he told reporters that Canada is at a crucial time and that Quebec and the rest of the country should focus on housing, growth, infrastructure and workers hit by American tariffs. "This is not a time to wait for something a few years down the road," he said, according to The Canadian Press and the Associated Press. His Quebec lieutenant, Joël Lightbound, put the constitutional point more bluntly: a mandate for separation has to go through a referendum, and Monday was an election, not a referendum. The Toronto Star reported that Mr. Carney also argued that his own national mandate is larger than the PQ's, and that his government remains optimistic about the high-speed rail link between Toronto and Quebec City despite the result.
The new government's early agenda will still test Ottawa. Mr. St-Pierre Plamondon promised during the campaign to break with the monarchy, and CTV News reported he has already taken a first step toward abolishing it in Quebec. Alberta separatists, meanwhile, told Global News and the Star that they see an ally in him. Mrs. Fréchette announced Tuesday that she is leaving the CAQ leadership. The Bloc Québécois leader said he is very proud of the PQ win, according to CBC. No party has said how it would vote on a confidence motion.