{"id":432823,"date":"2026-01-25T19:08:07","date_gmt":"2026-01-25T19:08:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/432823\/"},"modified":"2026-01-25T19:08:07","modified_gmt":"2026-01-25T19:08:07","slug":"push-for-quebec-independence-in-focus-at-pq-convention","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/432823\/","title":{"rendered":"Push for Quebec independence in focus at PQ convention"},"content":{"rendered":"

Open this photo in gallery:<\/a><\/p>\n

Parti Qu\u00e9b\u00e9cois Leader Paul St-Pierre Plamondon at the party’s convention in Saint-Hyacinthe, Que., on Friday.Christinne Muschi\/The Canadian Press<\/p>\n

The campaign for an independent Quebec is beginning to take shape at a Parti Qu\u00e9b\u00e9cois convention this weekend, ahead of a provincial election that will likely be fought over the prospect of a third referendum. <\/p>\n

Leader Paul St-Pierre Plamondon urged hundreds of party members assembled Friday evening in St-Hyacinthe, a small city east of Montreal, not to give into \u201cfear of the moment\u201d as they plan for another vote on independence. <\/p>\n

The PQ leader has promised to hold a referendum by 2030 if his party forms government in the next election, scheduled for October. <\/p>\n

Prime Minister Mark Carney has been the main target of sovereigntist leaders at the convention, following a speech he gave in Quebec City last week, in which he called for national unity. During the address, Mr. Carney invoked the Battle of the Plains of Abraham as the start of co-operation and partnership. <\/p>\n

The 1759 battle saw British forces defeat French troops, leading to the surrender of Quebec. During a fiery speech on Saturday, Bloc Qu\u00e9b\u00e9cois Leader Yves-Fran\u00e7ois Blanchet demanded an apology from the prime minister. <\/p>\n

\u201cAt this point, it is no longer ignorance, but a serious lack of respect for history, a serious lack of respect for the victims of English and Canadian repression,\u201d he said, to a standing ovation. <\/p>\n

Mr. St-Pierre Plamondon has promised to respond to Mr. Carney\u2019s speech \u201cpoint by point\u201d during his closing address on Sunday. <\/p>\n

Delegates will vote Sunday on a political program meant to serve as the basis for the PQ\u2019s election platform. It opens with an \u201cunambiguous\u201d pledge to hold a referendum in a first mandate. <\/p>\n

The PQ has been leading in the polls for more than two years, while the governing Coalition Avenir Qu\u00e9bec and the opposition Liberals are currently in the midst of leadership races. <\/p>\n

Over the weekend, CAQ ministers Bernard Drainville and Christine Fr\u00e9chette announced campaigns to replace Premier Fran\u00e7ois Legault, who announced his resignation earlier this month. <\/p>\n

During his speech on Friday, Mr. St-Pierre Plamondon urged party members to set aside any doubt about independence. <\/p>\n

\u201cLet us not be afraid, because fear has never been a good counsellor,\u201d he told the crowd Friday evening. <\/p>\n

Mr. St-Pierre Plamondon acknowledged what he called \u201can increasingly complex and not always reassuring geopolitical situation,\u201d arguing that it heightens the need for Quebec to be \u201cat the table\u201d as a sovereign nation. <\/p>\n

But Lynda Gauthier, a longtime sovereigntist who recently joined the party, admitted it\u2019s \u201ca little dizzying\u201d to contemplate a referendum on independence at this moment. \u201cWe need to be even more convinced and more convincing,\u201d she said. <\/p>\n

Party member Sylvain Castonguay said this is a \u201ccrucial period\u201d in Quebec\u2019s history, following the failure of independence campaigns in 1980 and 1995. <\/p>\n

\u201cThis is our last chance,\u201d he said. \u201cIf we say \u2018no\u2019 again, that will be the end.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Open this photo in gallery: Parti Qu\u00e9b\u00e9cois Leader Paul St-Pierre Plamondon at the party’s convention in Saint-Hyacinthe, Que.,…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":432824,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[22],"tags":[901,888,902,879,877,903,49,48,876,895,896,891,878,875,46,549,295,894,887,914,880,881,893,889,890,884,904,885,909,910,912,907,911,905,908,882,898,899,714,897,906,66,865,61,900,892,886,883,913],"class_list":{"0":"post-432823","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-environment","8":"tag-alberta","9":"tag-arts-news","10":"tag-bc","11":"tag-breaking-news","12":"tag-breaking-news-video","13":"tag-british-columbia","14":"tag-ca","15":"tag-canada","16":"tag-canada-news","17":"tag-canada-sports","18":"tag-canada-sports-news","19":"tag-canada-trafficcanada-weather","20":"tag-canadian-breaking-news","21":"tag-canadian-news","22":"tag-economy","23":"tag-education","24":"tag-environment","25":"tag-federal-government","26":"tag-foreign-news","27":"tag-globe-and-mail","28":"tag-globe-and-mail-breaking-news","29":"tag-globe-and-mail-canada-news","30":"tag-government","31":"tag-life-news","32":"tag-lifestyle","33":"tag-local-news","34":"tag-manitoba","35":"tag-national-news","36":"tag-new-brunswick","37":"tag-newfoundland-and-labrador","38":"tag-northwest-territories","39":"tag-nova-scotia","40":"tag-nunavut","41":"tag-ontario","42":"tag-pei","43":"tag-photos","44":"tag-political-news","45":"tag-political-opinion","46":"tag-politics","47":"tag-politics-news","48":"tag-quebec","49":"tag-science","50":"tag-sports-news","51":"tag-technology","52":"tag-travel","53":"tag-trudeau","54":"tag-us-news","55":"tag-world-news","56":"tag-yukon"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/432823","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=432823"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/432823\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/432824"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=432823"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=432823"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=432823"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}