![\"Text](\"https:\/\/www.cbc.ca\/a\/assets\/texttospeech.svg\")
<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
Listen to this article<\/p>\n
Estimated 3 minutes<\/p>\n
The audio version of this article is generated by AI-based technology. Mispronunciations can occur. We are working with our partners to continually review and improve the results.<\/p>\n
Quebec independence would yield $13 billion to $16 billion in administrative savings by eliminating or merging most of the roughly 230 federal agencies operating in the province, Parti Qu\u00e9b\u00e9cois (PQ) Leader Paul St-Pierre Plamondon announced Tuesday.<\/p>\n
Presenting the final chapters of his party’s 524-page Blue Book on sovereignty, St-Pierre Plamondon framed the plan as the most significant administrative overhaul in Quebec’s history.<\/p>\n
“This will be the biggest exercise in [reducing bureaucracy] and fighting waste in our history,” St-Pierre Plamondon told reporters, adding that ministries currently duplicated at the federal and provincial levels \u2014 such as health, environment and immigration \u2014 would be streamlined.\u00a0<\/p>\n
“Never in Quebec’s history has there been such serious and detailed work on our independence,” he said.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Gradually unveiled in 2025, the 500-plus-page Blue Book outlines the blueprint for a Quebec independent from Ottawa. St-Pierre Plamondon calls it the launch pad for a public dialogue, with updated versions slated for release ahead of a first-term sovereignty referendum, should the PQ win power.<\/p>\n
Under the PQ plan, federal civil servants in Quebec who are not integrated into the provincial public service within two years would receive six to eight months of severance pay.<\/p>\n
First Nations, Labrador<\/p>\n
The Blue Book also addresses Indigenous relations, though a dedicated chapter on First Nations is not scheduled for release until this summer.<\/p>\n
While a document was delivered to the chief of the Assembly of First Nations Quebec-Labrador, several chiefs said they have other priorities. Some of them have already said that sovereignty cannot happen without the consent of First Nations and their people, who have territorial claims.<\/p>\n
The Blue Book also reopens the thorny question of Labrador, which London’s Privy Council awarded to Newfoundland in 1927.\u00a0<\/p>\n
To “right this wrong,” the authors suggest seeking a political settlement or financial compensation from Ottawa as part of broader secession negotiations.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The plan also calls for a negotiated maritime border with Canada based on the international principle of equidistance to secure an exclusive resource-exploitation zone.<\/p>\n
Liberals will ‘take the time’ to read it, leader says<\/p>\n
Charles Milliard, leader of the Quebec Liberals, said on Tuesday that his party would analyze the document seriously before commenting further.\u00a0<\/p>\n
“They took the trouble to write it; we will take the time to read it,” said Milliard.<\/p>\n
However, he said the document confirms that sovereignty remains the PQ’s sole priority for the upcoming election. <\/p>\n
“This choice \u2014 which does not align with the will of a vast majority of Quebecers \u2014 belongs to them and will be subjected to voters’ judgment.”<\/p>\n
Other provincial parties did not immediately comment on the proposal.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Listen to this article Estimated 3 minutes The audio version of this article is generated by AI-based technology.…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":758641,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[22],"tags":[49,48,295,66],"class_list":["post-758640","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-environment","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-environment","tag-science"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/758640","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=758640"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/758640\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/758641"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=758640"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=758640"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=758640"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}