Donald Trump, we know, poses an existential threat to Canada.
asserted
we → know → Canada
And Canada, proclaims Paul St-Pierre Plamondon, poses an existential threat to Quebec.
asserted
Plamondon → proclaim → Quebec
On Monday, Quebecers will go to the polls to elect a new provincial government.
asserted
Quebecers → go → government
They are, more than most of the rest of Canada, freaked out by the threat emanating from south of the border and supportive of Prime Minister Mark Carney’s efforts to counter it.
asserted
They → freak → it
Yet if the polling is accurate, it will be Plamondon and his Parti Québécois who take a seat at the Council of the Federation.
asserted
who → take → Federation
That’s bad news.
asserted
That → ’ → ?
I live in Quebec — I wasn’t born here, but it’s home.
asserted
it → live → Quebec
I’m well accustomed to hearing the rest of the country, which still makes too little effort to understand Quebec, sneer at la belle province’s obsession with language or culture, or panic that the sky is falling when the sovereigntists come near to power.
asserted
sovereigntists → ’m → power
PSPP, as he’s universally known in Quebec, has been balancing the real threat of Trump with the imagined threat of Carney so as to put the whole country, Quebec included, at risk.
asserted
Quebec → know → risk
He is a reactionary who has rebuilt the PQ into an anti-immigrant party obsessed with blaming religious minorities and refugees for all his nation’s ills — not unlike and Trump.
asserted
who → rebuild → Trump
He is dogmatic in believing another referendum must be held, although he doesn’t think it should even be necessary; he believes “Yes” actually won the 1995 referendum.
asserted
Yes → believe → referendum
The vote, he claims, was rigged by an unscrupulous federal government.
uncertain
he → claim → government
Most worrying, he has found Trump to be a useful foil in his quest to quit Canada.
asserted
Trump → find → Canada
Where Canada has been a “bad neighbour,” Plamondon has promised Quebec would “do better to demonstrate that we’re good partners to the United States, and we’ll be proactive on that idea.”
asserted
we → promise → idea
He even planned to visit Washington to “establish ties” with the Trump administration, though he later cancelled the trip.
asserted
he → plan → trip
Since then, the public mood has shifted, and Plamondon has turned like a weathervane.
asserted
Plamondon → shift → weathervane
He has vowed not to hold another independence referendum until Trump leaves the White House — but certainly before 2030, he promises.
asserted
he → vow → 2030
During the debates, when Plamondon declared he would “collaborate with Mark Carney and the other provinces.”
asserted
he → declare → Carney
That seemed to catch even the moderator off-guard.
asserted
That → seem → guard
Nobody is buying it, but no credible alternative has emerged.
asserted
alternative → buy → it
Fréchette, who hastily replaced her even more unpopular predecessor, has tried to fashion herself into the Québécoise Carney.
asserted
who → replace → Carney
It hasn’t really worked.
asserted
It → work → ?
In an act of apparent desperation, her party recently leaked details of a purported Republican plot to interfere in the election on the PQ’s behalf.
asserted
party → leak → behalf
It was a pathetic effort, as all she revealed was a single blog post from a pro-Trump think-tank.
asserted
she → reveal → tank
In doing this, however, Fréchette also let loose a quite different story — one that makes clear how much of a risk Plamondon is.
asserted
is → do → risk
Two well-placed sources, speaking to the Journal de Montréal, confirmed that the Trump administration had offered to negotiate a bilateral deal with Fréchette’s government earlier this year.
asserted
administration → place → government
The approach was meant to short-circuit Carney’s ongoing negotiations, the Journal reported.
asserted
Journal → mean → negotiations
Fréchette, thankfully, did not take the bait.
asserted
Fréchette → take → bait
Instead, her office contacted Ottawa to brief Carney on the effort.
asserted
office → contact → effort
Had Plamondon been premier, it’s hard to believe he would have done the same.
asserted
he → ’ → same
Even if Fréchette has been solid on this one file, her party, in power since 2018, has lost all credibility on everything else.
asserted
party → lose → everything
A quixotic effort to introduce private-sector competition to education has made everything worse and more expensive.
asserted
everything → introduce → education
That leaves three who don’t want to kneecap Canada to advance Quebec.
asserted
who → leave → Quebec
Éric Duhaime is a former right-wing shock jock who heads up a team of kooky candidates under the Conservative banner.
asserted
who → head → banner
But Quebecers have warmed up both to Duhaime himself and to his bumper-sticker plans: cut taxes, cut red tape, drill for gas, break off our dependence on the U.S.
asserted
Quebecers → warm → U.S.
“There’s a way to make gains inside Canada,” Duhaime said in the final election debate.
asserted
Duhaime → ’ → debate
Ruba Ghazal, co-spokesperson of the left-wing sovereigntist Québec solidaire, has sounded effortlessly sensible the entire election.
asserted
Ghazal → sound → sovereigntist
“Canada is an ally,” she says whenever she’s asked about the trade war.
asserted
she → say → war
She has pitched co-operation, not competition, even suggesting Quebec should be more proactive in helping Canada fight by taxing or cutting off electricity exports to the U.S.
Finally, there’s Captain Canada: Charles Milliard.
asserted
Canada → pitch → U.S.
He’s argued consistently that Quebec could get a lot more done through enthusiastic federalism.
uncertain
more → argue → federalism
…and 8 more, not listed.
The Aporia
