'Ranged attitude': Other parties condemn PQ's referendum speech

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QUEBEC — The province's other political parties say they don't share Parti Québécois leader Paul St-Pierre Plamondon's pessimism about Quebec's future.

Liberals accuse St-Pierre Plamondon of fearmongering and using divisive tactics similar to former PQ leader Jacques Parizeau, who famously argued that the 1995 referendum was lost because of “money and ethnic votes”.

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But on Tuesday, St-Pierre Plamondon showed no signs of backing down from the controversial comments he made at the PQ national council on Saturday. After saying over the weekend that Canada wants to “erase” Quebec, he went further and said the country has a colonial history of assimilation, where francophones have been deported, executed and even denied the right to a French education.

Quebecers need to be reminded of that, he said, adding that he was just saying it that way.

However, other parties disagreed with his vague assessment.

“We have not resigned like Mr. Saint-Pierre Plamondon and we are taking concrete steps to move Quebec forward (within Canada),” Simon Jolin-Barret, head of the Avenir Quebec coalition, told reporters.

“We are protecting the interests of Quebec and we are making real gains.”

Jolin-Barrett cited Quebec's passage of Bill 96 revising the Charter of the French language, the inclusion of Quebec nationality in the Canadian Constitution and ongoing negotiations with Ottawa to reduce the number of temporary immigrants as examples of what Quebec can do now. language and culture.

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“The PQ's approach is to wait for the big day (of independence) before acting,” Jolin-Barrett told reporters at the legislature. “It's unfortunate because we have to protect Quebecers every day to make sure that the state of Quebec fully occupies all its areas of jurisdiction.”

He says the CAQ is well aware of the threat it poses to the French language and culture.

“We're in a situation where we have to be vigilant, and that's what the Quebec government is doing,” he said. “We defend (Quebec) every day. We are in a situation where we have to fight for our daily life.

“This is something that Quebecers understand very well, which is why Quebecers are proud of Bill 96 and Bill 21 (on state secularism) because we are protecting their values. We have always said that we do not ask anyone for the right to live.”

Jolin-Barret was responding to St-Pierre Plamondon's speech at the closing of the PQ's two-day national council in Drummondville on Sunday.

The PQ leader said Quebec's adversary is clear: The federal government, which denies Quebec's existence, “openly and clearly plans our downfall from now on.”

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According to him, the only option is another independence referendum before 2030. He said it would be Quebec's “last” chance to prevent its language and culture from disappearing.

But on Tuesday, other parties criticized St-Pierre Plamondon's approach.

Another leader of the pro-independence party, Gabrielle Nadeau-Dubois of Quebec, warned St-Pierre Plamondon not to use fear to advance the cause.

Nadeau-Dubois told reporters at a press conference: “Resentment, fear, disaster – I don't think that's the way we reach young people, and that's one of our main challenges as a movement.”

“I don't remember a PQ leader speaking so conservatively,” he added. “It's an attitude full of resentment.”

Interim Liberal leader Marc Tanguay said he found the speech “radical and disconnected from the priorities of Quebecers and disconnected from reality.”

He said St-Pierre Plamondon had in no way indicated that the federal government was actively plotting Quebec's downfall.

Tanguay added his biggest fear: St-Pierre Plamondon and Prime Minister François Legault may now embark on a “personality enhancement” campaign to see who can scare Quebeckers the most for electoral reasons.

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“They are planting the seeds,” Tanguay said. “It reminds me of Jacques Parizeau's 'we', his 'ethnic voices.' Saint-Pierre Plamondon was terrified. He wants to divide us like Francois Lego.'

But the PQ leader, who arrived later to meet with reporters, said he had no plans to retract or retract his statements.

“I'm not afraid, I'm fact-checking,” defender St-Pierre Plamondon told reporters. “What I say will really be verified.

“I want to add what I consider to be an insulting charge against Quebec (comments),” he said. “I include the long history of Quebec in Canada and the tragic history of Francophones and First Nations under the early colonial regime. It all adds up.”

St-Pierre Plamondon said Quebecers should know that their rights have been violated recently, aside from Pierre Trudeau's repatriation of the Constitution in 1982. He said historically francophones in Canada “experienced exile, executions and saw their right to a French education denied.”

“Canada's history is a history of assimilation. The French were assimilated in all Canadian provinces. Statistics Canada says the French language is in decline, and this is consistent with a lack of cooperation from the federal government regarding culture, immigration and official languages.

“This is intentional and Justin Trudeau continues the work of his father, Pierre Elliott Trudeau. It's clear. So, no, I'm not changing my notes. I think it is.'

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