The Parti Québécois will tighten security at its political council over the weekend

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DRUMMONDVILLE – Faced with recent threats against its leader, the Parti Québécois has stepped up security for its two-day national council.

For the first time since the attacks on its leader Pauline Marois following the 2012 general election, 500 people attending the council were asked to go through metal detectors when they arrived at the hotel where the event was taking place.

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The decision was made in collaboration with the Sûreté du Quebec, which is responsible for the security of Quebec's elected officials, PQ communications director Laura Chouinard-Thuli told reporters.

He cited three factors: a general increase in threats against elected officials, a history of threats against the PQ, and a recent surge in public support for the party that targeted it.

There were no complaints from party members who briefly delayed the event, which is usually only for political events organized by the Avenir Quebec coalition, where the prime minister is present.

PQ leader Paul St-Pierre Plamondon told reporters after arriving at the council: “We're just doing what we have to do based on best practices.” “In an ideal world, I'd prefer that we don't have the security aspects, but if SQ thinks we need to do it, we want to be responsible for everything.”

In March, St. Pierre Plamondon confirmed that he had received threats against him and his family. A man in the Greater Montreal area was later arrested by the Sûreté du Québec for making threats against a member of the National Assembly.

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Liberal MNA Marwa Rizki is also a threat in 2022.

This week, the CAQ government introduced legislation to better protect Quebec politicians — MNAs, mayors and municipal councilors. Threatening politicians after the bill is passed could result in fines of up to $1,500.

The PQ leader's comments came during a two-day gathering of his party, which is leading in the polls. With the theme of the weekend being the housing crisis, delegates will begin debating a package of solutions to increase affordable housing and offer more protections for renters.

Speaking to reporters, St. Pierre Plamondon said he believes there is a direct link between the increase in the number of temporary immigrants in Quebec and the housing shortage.

He called on the CAQ government to take immediate action in the form of a ban on the number of temporary immigrants in categories that Quebec controls. It includes temporary workers and students.

St-Pierre Plamondon said there would be an exception for people such as temporary farm workers who apply for admission and are needed by agricultural producers.

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He noted that there were 80,000 temporary immigrants in Quebec in 2016, but that number has grown to 560,000 today.

“Can we let that get to 800,000?” he asked. “Not at all. Something must be done. It is not right that we can keep our hands crossed, but unfortunately that is what the CAQ is doing.

“There's an imbalance, it's divisive, and there are politicians in Quebec and Ottawa who think they're going to fix things by increasing these numbers.”

One of the resolutions being discussed says the PQ government, if elected, will fund 45,000 housing units over five years, including 10,000 student housing units.

The PQ government is committed to converting and selling vacant government buildings to build more housing. This will allow municipalities to adopt “incentive zoning” to develop more projects.

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