St-Pierre Plamondon offers to debate with Poilievre his vision for Quebec

The leader of the Parti Québécois, Paul St-Pierre Plamondon, believes it is time for him and federal Conservative leader Pierre Poilievre to dot the i’s and cross the t’s. He invites Mr. Poilievre to meet him in person to discuss the place that Quebec’s priorities would occupy in a possible conservative government in Ottawa.

The two politicians exchanged long messages on social networks on Wednesday, following an outing made last week by Mr. St-Pierre Plamondon to the National Assembly.

The PQ leader had notably argued that the interests of Quebec would not be better served under a Poilievre government than under the current government of Justin Trudeau, believing that the problem is the Canadian regime itself.

Mr. Poilievre then turned to the social network

“Under Stephen Harper, Quebec was respected, immigration was under control and the federal government meddled in its affairs. My government will adopt responsible federalism by following these principles. Quebecers will be winners,” he said.

But Mr. St-Pierre Plamondon, in his own message on X in the afternoon, maintained his point of view.

“The truth is that the [Parti conservateur] de Poilievre will be in no way different from all federal governments since 1867, which impose decisions on us that are contrary to our interests,” he argued.

In order to test the seriousness of the federal Conservative leader, Mr. St-Pierre Plamondon invited him to speak publicly, in French and in English, on a series of issues dear to Quebec, such as federal spending power in the fields. jurisdiction of Quebec, the challenge to Law 21 on state secularism, immigration powers and health transfers, among others.

“I also offer to debate it, in person, in order to get to the bottom of these fundamental questions,” wrote Mr. St-Pierre Plamondon to the attention of the man who hopes to take power in the next federal election. .

According to the team of the PQ leader, MM. St-Pierre Plamondon and Poilievre never met.

Not one region more than another

During his outing last week, Paul St-Pierre Plamondon argued that Mr. Poilievre “plays politics based on his base, which is in Western Canada, and the vote in Ontario, which he must win if he wants to become prime minister.”

“He does not need Quebec to win and therefore he will not consider our interests and concerns. It will appear in his campaign, but it will especially appear once he is in power,” insisted the PQ leader.

In his message, Mr. Poilievre promised that this would not be the case.

Mr. Poilievre instead accused the PQ leader of being “afraid that a conservative government would respect the autonomy of Quebec, because that would harm [ses] arguments in favor of sovereignty.

Last week, Mr. St-Pierre Plamondon said that Mr. Poilievre despises the Quebec independence movement. “Clearly, he has no consideration for this movement, no understanding of why this movement has existed for decades. »

Immigration, pipeline et tramway

Mr. Poilievre also responded to criticism from Mr. St-Pierre Plamondon on various issues.

On the subject of Roxham Road, the PQ leader mentioned that Mr. Poilievre only began to be interested in it once the subject attracted attention elsewhere in Canada. The Conservative leader recalls that he put pressure on the Trudeau government so that this access route was closed during his leadership race.

Mr. St-Pierre Plamondon warned that a possible Conservative government in Ottawa “will continue to finance absolutely horrible projects, like the pipeline in the West.” Once again, Mr. Poilievre offers a different vision.

“Since May 2018, I have opposed federal subsidies for the Trans Mountain pipeline, and my position has never changed. These projects must be financed by private companies, not with Canadians’ money. »

On these two subjects, Mr. St-Pierre Plamondon showed himself to be dissatisfied with Mr. Poilievre’s answers on Wednesday afternoon.

“The emergency only appeared when Ontario started to have a problem,” insisted the PQ leader about Mr. Poilievre’s calls to close Roxham Road.

Regarding the Quebec tramway, which Mr. Poilievre undertakes not to finance, Mr. St-Pierre Plamondon submits that this creates instability in the provincial capital. In response, the Conservative leader reiterates that he prefers to focus on the third Quebec-Lévis link.

The Federal Parliament is prorogued until March 24. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has promised to resign once the person who will succeed him as leader of the Liberal Party has been chosen, which must be done on March 9.

Since the three main opposition parties have promised to overthrow the Liberal government at the first opportunity, federal elections could take place as soon as the spring. The Conservatives are ahead in national polls.