Article content
DRUMMONDVILLE — Quebecers will have one “ultimate” chance to prevent their language and culture disappear by voting Yes in another independence referendum, sometime before 2030, the leader of Parti Québécois said Sunday.
Should the PQ take power in the 2026 general election, Paul St-Pierre Plamondon said the party will move rapidly to organize another referendum — the third in Quebec history — because in his view the conditions for Quebec to become an independent country have never been clearer or the path to statehood more obvious.
Article content
He called on Quebecers to think of their ancestors, even noting French Prime Minister Gabriel Attal this week himself said people who have predicted francophone culture would disappear in North America underestimated the resolve of Quebecers.
He said for too long the fear of losing another referendum or opening old wounds has been a paralyzing force in Quebec. He said Quebecers can be like Premier François Legault and put their heads in the sand over the way Quebec is treated in the federation or they can seize the moment.
He even invoked the Franklin D. Roosevelt’s famous “we have nothing to fear but fear itself” line as a way of shifting the onus to the people.
“One thing is certain,” St-Pierre Plamondon said in a passionate speech wrapping up a two-day party national council. “Our moment will arrive sooner than we think; meaning not at some long term idealized date, but in a few years, before the end of the decade.”
“Quebecers need to know our next rendezvous with history will probably be our ultimate chance to ensure the longevity of their language and culture.
“Our real adversary is the federal political regime which denies us and from now on is overtly and explicitly planning our decline.
“History is asking us the question, our destiny is calling.”
More to come
Share this article in your social network