(Quebec) CAQ MPs are protesting against a statement by PQ leader Paul St-Pierre Plamondon.
Posted at 1:52 p.m.
Updated at 4:34 p.m.
Patrice Bergeron
The Canadian Press
The Canadian Press reported comments made by the sovereignist leader on Wednesday evening which irritated elected government officials.
During an activist rally in Terrebonne, Mr. St-Pierre Plamondon had alluded to “several deputies from the CAQ (Coalition Avenir Québec) whose names we barely know, whose freedom of expression to come to the defense of their constituency is not quite there.
Several CAQ elected officials seized the opportunity and responded on the X network, in a context where polls suggest a decline of the CAQ and a constant rise of the PQ.
“What arrogance and contempt towards the citizens of our ridings, who know their MP very well, especially from a party leader,” wrote the Minister of Natural Resources and MP for Rimouski, Maïté Blanchette Vézina.
“The arrogance of your words is an insult to the fellow citizens of our constituencies who know our names,” added the member for Joliette, François St-Louis.
“Your comments are disrespectful and unworthy of a party leader,” said the MP for Laporte, Isabelle Poulet. The citizens of my riding know me. »
“By your words, you are disrespectful! » said the CAQ MP for Beauharnois, Claude Reid.
“If you took the time to greet your colleagues when you meet them at the National Assembly, you would have the chance to know excellent duly elected deputies. »
The CAQ deputy for Bécancour, Donald Martel, for his part wrote that “humility and modesty are two qualities to never forget in politics.”
He notably recalled that the leader of the PQ had been narrowly elected in 2022 in the riding of Camille-Laurin, due to the withdrawal of the Quebec Solidaire candidate who had been seen stealing PQ leaflets.
PQ MP Pascal Bérubé defended his leader.
“The CAQ deputies who attack the leader of the Parti Québécois as a group by giving him lessons in modesty should remember that they voted for a 30% salary increase,” he warned, in recalling that his leader refused the increase and instead gave it to community organizations.
-“Erased” deputies without the right to speak
On Wednesday evening, after the publication of the article reporting Mr. St-Pierre Plamondon’s speech to his activists in Terrebonne, the leader’s entourage assured that his remarks were not intended to make fun of the lack of notoriety CAQ elected officials, but rather to emphasize the fact that they are “erased” and that “they did not have the right to speak”.
Mr. St-Pierre Plamondon was speaking to his supporters as part of the complementary election in Terrebonne, which will be called in the coming weeks.
Alongside his candidate, Catherine Gentilcore, he said that he wanted to highlight the “contrast” between his candidate and the elected representatives of the CAQ.
PHOTO DOMINICK GRAVEL, ARCHIVES LA PRESSE
Catherine Gentilcore and Paul St-Pierre Plamondon in Terrebonne, January 22, 2025
A fifth PQ MP could thus counterbalance the 86 elected officials of the Coalition Avenir Québec (CAQ).
Rather than adding an 87e member of the CAQ caucus, the addition of a fifth member to the PQ caucus would change the lives of the elected representatives of the small political party, argued Mr. St-Pierre Plamondon.
The seat of this constituency in the northern crown of the metropolis has been vacant since the resignation of CAQ minister Pierre Fitzgibbon last August.
In order to mark the occasion and campaign, the PQ therefore decided to hold its preparatory meeting on Wednesday and Thursday in Terrebonne in preparation for the return of parliament next week.
In an evening speech in front of just under a hundred supporters gathered in a restaurant, Mr. St-Pierre Plamondon deplored that the minister resigned before the end of his mandate, claiming that he lacked motivation.
According to polls, the PQ would have a good chance of winning in Terrebonne, which has already been one of its strongholds, until the election of Pierre Fitzgibbon in 2018, re-elected in 2022.
Remember that the government has six months after the departure of an MP to call a complementary election.
Alex Gagné would be the CAQ candidate, according to Quebecor media reports. Virginie Bouchard wears the colors of the Liberal Party and Nadia Poirier wears those of Québec solidaire.
Between 1976 and 2018, the PQ lost Terrebonne only once, to Mario Dumont’s Action Démocratique du Québec in 2007. The Adequist reign was, however, short-lived, since the PQ regained the riding in 2008.
