“To the sovereigntists, I say this: your obsession with holding and winning a referendum harms the progressive cause and feels like psychological harassment to a majority of the population.
asserted
obsession → say → population
Many voters share my view.”
asserted
voters → share → view
These words may seem like they would come out of the mouth of a federalist politician in Quebec, but they were written by Parti Québécois Leader Paul St-Pierre Plamondon in his book Les Orphelins politiques (The Political Orphans) published in 2014.
Twelve years later, St-Pierre Plamondon has become the leader of the sovereignty movement in Quebec, promising to hold the referendum that he once deplored.
Should he become premier on Oct. 5, that is exactly what he plans to do, according to current and former PQ colleagues and even one of his detractors.
St-Pierre Plamondon has pulled off a stunning political metamorphosis.
uncertain
Plamondon → seem → metamorphosis
He claims to have voted “Yes” in the 1995 referendum when he turned 18 but decamped to federalist circles when he attended law school at McGill University and when he was a young lawyer.
uncertain
he → claim → University
In fact, the PQ leader was friends with Sacha Trudeau and even attended his wedding in 2009.
asserted
leader → attend → 2009
St-Pierre Plamondon also co-founded Génération d’idées, a think tank dedicated to young people aged 20 to 35, with now Industry Minister Mélanie Joly.
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- → co → Joly
St-Pierre Plamondon also donated $2,300 to the Liberal Party of Canada between 2004 and 2008, when working as a junior lawyer at the Montreal firm Stikeman Elliott.
asserted
Plamondon → donate → firm
Asked by National Post if he was once a federalist, the PQ leader replied: “Yes, I guess you can say that.”
asserted
you → ask → that
But he added it is not an anomaly for leaders of the sovereigntist party to have a change of heart.
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leaders → add → heart
PQ founder René Lévesque was once a federalist, as was Jacques Parizeau, he said.
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he → say → ?
Both men still ended up becoming the face of the 1980 and 1995 referendums.
asserted
men → end → referendums
“Our greatest leaders have all been (federalists),” said Claude Villeneuve, a former speechwriter for the last PQ premier, Pauline Marois, and who is now running as a candidate for St-Pierre Plamondon’s team in Quebec City.
asserted
who → say → City
Like Lévesque and Parizeau, the PQ leader experienced a “rupture” with federalism, said Villeneuve.
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Villeneuve → experience → federalism
St-Pierre Plamondon has claimed it was his work at Stikeman for Groupe Polygone — one of the firms involved in what came to be known as the sponsorship scandal — that helped revive the sovereigntist political convictions he had as a young adult.
asserted
he → claim → adult
Frédéric Bérard, a constitutional lawyer who is one of St-Pierre Plamondon’s fiercest critics, was working at the firm at the time.
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who → work → time
He said the math does not add up.
asserted
math → say → ?
He noted that St-Pierre Plamondon donated to the federal Liberals until 2008, years after the start of the Gomery Inquiry.
“
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Plamondon → note → Inquiry
It’s funny, actually.
asserted
It → ’ → ?
The sovereigntists I know don’t donate money to the Liberal Party of Canada.
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I → know → Canada
It’s crazy like that,” Bérard said.
asserted
Bérard → ’ → that
It is unclear what led to the falling out between St-Pierre Plamondon and Joly, although one rumour is that Joly accepted an invitation to go to one of Quebec’s biggest talk shows in 2008 to talk about Génération d’idées without first informing her co-founder.
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Joly → lead → founder
Joly did not respond to a request for comment for this article, nor did Sacha Trudeau.
asserted
Trudeau → respond → article
As a “political orphan” circa 2014, St-Pierre Plamondon spent his time lambasting the traditional political parties in Quebec that, according to him, had nothing new to offer.
uncertain
that → spend → nothing
He was critical of the PQ for its “obsession” about holding another referendum, which he said alienated many progressives in the province, and said many Quebecers, allergic to corruption and cronyism, wanted nothing to do with the Quebec Liberals.
So, it was a surprise to many when, in 2016, St-Pierre Plamondon decided to first run for the leadership of the PQ.
asserted
Plamondon → hold → PQ
“The orphan-in-chief has found himself a foster family,” wrote at the time Vincent Marissal, then a columnist at La Presse.
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Marissal → find → Presse
In this leadership bid, the young politician described himself as a “disappointed federalist.”
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politician → describe → federalist
He proposed to hold a third referendum only in a second mandate, and only if 20 per cent of the population of Quebec signed a register demanding it.
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cent → propose → it
St-Pierre Plamondon ended the race with seven per cent of the vote, which was considered a fair result for a political rookie who was a relatively unknown figure.
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who → end → rookie
The winner of the 2016 PQ leadership race, Jean-François Lisée, decided to task the young recruit with holding consultations on the state of the party.
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winner → decide → party
St-Pierre Plamondon took that task to heart, criss-crossing the province, and delivering his report in 2017.
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Plamondon → take → 2017
“Osez repenser le PQ” (“Dare to Rethink the PQ”) was a scathing assessment of the party that was too old and too white.
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that → dare → party
The internal reaction to the report was terrible, to say the least
asserted
reaction → say → report
its author reportedly got a dressing-down from the PQ caucus.
After failing to win a seat in the 2018 election, St-Pierre Plamondon left the political scene to go back to practicing law in a small firm in the Outaouais region.
Louis Lyonnais was part of a small group of supporters who would drive to St-Pierre Plamondon’s home in Buckingham, Quebec, to try to convince him to consider running again to become PQ leader.
uncertain
who → get → him
Lisée had resigned the night of the election.
asserted
Lisée → resign → election
“He didn’t say yes right away, but the idea simmered,” said Lyonnais.
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Lyonnais → say → ?
“Finally, we convinced him.”
asserted
we → convince → him
St-Pierre Plamondon ran for leader a second time.
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Plamondon → run → leader
But this time, he would promise to hold a referendum in a first mandate.
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he → promise → mandate
And he hasn’t changed his mind since.
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he → change → mind
He published another book, “Rebâtir le camp du OUI” (“Rebuilding the Yes camp”) during that race in which he explained that Quebec separating from the rest of Canada in a first mandate is “a matter of linguistic and cultural survival for Quebec.”
asserted
separating → publish → Quebec
…and 25 more, not listed.
The Aporia
