{"id":863985,"date":"2026-08-19T17:24:15","date_gmt":"2026-08-19T17:24:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/863985\/"},"modified":"2026-08-19T17:24:15","modified_gmt":"2026-08-19T17:24:15","slug":"will-the-pqs-trump-era-referendum-pause-work-with-voters","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/863985\/","title":{"rendered":"Will the PQ’s Trump-era referendum pause work with voters?"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Text<\/p>\n

Listen to this article<\/p>\n

Estimated 4 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

A referendum is coming \u2014 just not now.<\/p>\n

That was the message from Parti Qu\u00e9b\u00e9cois Leader Paul St-Pierre Plamondon during a round of media interviews on Tuesday.<\/p>\n

Just over a week before the start of Quebec\u2019s election campaign, St-Pierre Plamondon released a statement early in the day saying he would not hold a sovereignty referendum while U.S. President Donald Trump remains in office.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Trump\u2019s term ends on Jan. 20, 2029.<\/p>\n

That would leave St-Pierre Plamondon over a year and a half to hold a referendum before the end of his first mandate \u2014 assuming his party wins a majority in Quebec\u2019s Oct. 5 election.<\/p>\n

In an interview with CBC News, St-Pierre Plamondon said he is clarifying his party’s intentions ahead of the election campaign. The next government will be focused on “reversing problems” caused by the reigning Coalition Avenir Qu\u00e9bec (CAQ).<\/p>\n

“It’s not a pushback. We’ve been saying there would be a referendum within the first four years,” he said. “Now we are being more precise.”<\/p>\n

He said the situation with the U.S. has been influencing Canadian politics, starting with Mark Carney’s “elbows up” campaign \u2014 using fear to erase Justin Trudeau’s tenure from voters’ memories, he said. <\/p>\n

An attempt to ‘defuse the issue,’ pollster says<\/p>\n

St-Pierre Plamondon\u2019s announcement comes amid economic anxiety surrounding impending U.S. tariffs.<\/a> The last round of tariffs was a major blow to the Quebec economy.<\/p>\n

Philippe Fournier, a poll analyst, said much remains unclear ahead of the start of the provincial campaign, with the PQ holding a small lead over the Quebec Liberal Party in opinion polls.<\/p>\n

But one thing is clear: most voters don\u2019t want another referendum, at least not now.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was the best possible strategy to try to appease voters who are concerned about the uncertainty caused by the Trump administration, the tariffs, and just the global uncertainty,\u201d Fournier said of the PQ leader\u2019s announcement.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is an attempt by Mr. St-Pierre Plamondon to defuse this issue. I\u2019m not sure it will work.\u201d<\/p>\n

Opposition parties were quick to pounce on St-Pierre Plamondon\u2019s move.<\/p>\n

WATCH | More on PQ leader’s decision:\"\"<\/p>\n

PQ says no referendum until Trump leaves office<\/p>\n

Parti Qu\u00e9b\u00e9cois Leader Paul St-Pierre Plamondon says the party would call a referendum in its first possible mandate, but only after the U.S. president leaves office in January 2029.PQ leader slammed as ‘referendum weather vane’<\/p>\n

\u00c9ric Duhaime, leader of the Conservative Party of Quebec, which is opposed to another referendum, labelled St-Pierre Plamondon a \u201creferendum weather vane.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cHow can anyone trust someone who spent five years repeating that he would achieve independence at all costs, and then changes his mind one week before the election? If another protectionist government takes power in Washington, what will he do? Postpone his project yet again?\u201d Duhaime said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cQuebec does not have to have its political agenda dictated by the Americans.\u201d<\/p>\n

Quebec Liberal Party Leader Charles Milliard said the postponement indicates \u201cseparating Quebec from Canada is a weak option\u201d and that the PQ isn\u2019t being clear about its intentions.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a party that\u2019s saying yes and no at the same time,\u201d Milliard said.<\/p>\n

Christine Fr\u00e9chette, Quebec’s current premier and the leader of the Coalition Avenir Qu\u00e9bec, said the announcement was \u201cirresponsible\u201d given the looming tariffs.<\/p>\n

The PQ has been in power multiple times since the last, near-miss referendum in 1995, but has avoided putting the question to voters for a third time.<\/p>\n

St-Pierre Plamondon, however, maintains a PQ government would hold a referendum within its first mandate. <\/p>\n

He said nobody is disappointed with the timeline now that it is more precise. Now his party intends to a run a campaign that is “clear and solid on every topic.”<\/p>\n

Fournier said St-Pierre Plamondon\u2019s plan could appeal to \u201csoft nationalist voters who may not be keen on a referendum but want to see Fr\u00e9chette replaced.\u201d<\/p>\n

He added: \u201cThe question is, will it work? I\u2019m not sure about that.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Listen to this article Estimated 4 minutes The audio version of this article is generated by AI-based technology.…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":863986,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[49,48,44],"class_list":["post-863985","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-canada","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/863985","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=863985"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/863985\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/863986"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=863985"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=863985"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=863985"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}