Something more than just coffee is brewing at the Club Pays caf\u00e9 on Montreal\u2019s Plaza St-Hubert: Quebec\u2019s sovereignty movement.<\/p>\n
Up and running for nearly a year, the caf\u00e9 was opened by community group OUI Qu\u00e9bec, whose mission is to rally civil society around the independence movement in the province. The goal? To start friendly conversations about sovereignty among patrons and passersby while raising funds to support the independence project. The target audience? Anyone who is interested.<\/p>\n
\u201cNobody has to pass a test before coming in to prove they\u2019re a sovereignist or not,\u201d Alex Valiquette of OUI Qu\u00e9bec said in an interview in April, sitting at the back of the caf\u00e9, where the walls were adorned with \u201cOUI\u201d signage.<\/p>\n
\u201cOn the contrary, we\u2019re happy when people who aren\u2019t pro-independence come in, because it creates room for really meaningful conversations \u2014 something genuinely human. I think that\u2019s why we need places like this: to break down some of the ideas associated with independence.\u201d<\/p>\n
Club Pays is just one of the ways the latest wave of young sovereignists is promoting the idea of Quebec\u2019s independence outside of traditional politics. In music, online and over coffee, these Quebecers are simultaneously celebrating their identity and seeing independence as a means to build a better future amid growing global uncertainty \u2014 for everyone who lives in Quebec and identifies as a Quebecer.<\/p>\n
\u201cFor me, that\u2019s what Quebec independence is,\u201d Valiquette said. \u201cIt\u2019s the idea of a people taking charge of its future and deciding, together with everyone who lives in Quebec: What do we want to do together?\u201d<\/p>\n
Quebecers will be electing a new provincial government on Oct. 5. While the Parti Qu\u00e9b\u00e9cois \u2014 which is leading in the polls \u2014 promises to hold a referendum during a first mandate, some young sovereignists say they aren\u2019t necessarily in a hurry and that they don\u2019t see independence as a project stemming from one party specifically. Rather, they see it as a project that should involve all of civil society, pointing to the independence movement in Catalonia in Spain, where political parties followed the momentum rather than driving it.<\/p>\n
Independence would be \u201ca collective project that people can get involved in,\u201d Valiquette said, pointing out that OUI Qu\u00e9bec is a non-partisan, citizen-led group. \u201cMeet other people, feel heard, say \u2026 \u2018If we were to achieve independence, well, I would like this to change, that to change. This, we can improve.’\u201d<\/p>\n
![\"Young](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/9999-city-sovereignty_302638680.jpg\")
\u201cYoung people are finding their place in the world here in Quebec, creating culture, recognizing themselves in that culture and in the people who represent it,\u201d says Alex Valiquette, shown sitting in Club Pays. John Mahoney \/ Montreal Gazette<\/p>\n
That idea is shared by the Mouvement \u00e9tudiant independantiste (MEI), which promotes the independence project in colleges and universities. Co-spokesperson Catherine Lamoureux-Schmidt said there has been \u201ca great deal of momentum\u201d on campuses in Quebec since the MEI launched in 2024.<\/p>\n
Lamoureux-Schmidt described independence as \u201ca bit of an umbrella cause that encompasses \u2026 many other issues that affect us, especially as young people.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cEven if it is frightening, the future we see ahead of us is so uncertain right now that we believe it is more worthwhile to try this project than to remain in the status quo,\u201d she said. <\/p>\n
Often asked about polls on independence, Lamoureux-Schmidt said she wants Quebec youth to be able to speak for themselves. And that\u2019s exactly what they\u2019re doing: Rallying around the cause, displaying a renewed sense of pride in being Qu\u00e9b\u00e9cois both online and off.<\/p>\n
The satirical meme page @memesfruiter, with its 120,000-plus followers, pokes fun at Quebec while simultaneously promoting its culture and the sovereignty movement on Instagram, one of the main online spaces youth occupy. Vincent Houde, who created the page a decade ago, said he feels like it serves as a bridge for younger people.<\/p>\n
\u201cI always say (memes are) a very effective \u2026 tool for conveying an idea in a single image and eight words,\u201d he said. \u201cIt\u2019s also often compared to editorial cartoons in newspapers \u2014 it\u2019s a good way of getting a message across.\u201d <\/p>\n
Asked if he has noticed any changes among his audience since 2016, Houde said he felt like there was a slump when it came to the love of Quebec culture, particularly where music is concerned, but that it\u2019s reversing.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere are lots of young artists with more current sounds who are also promoting French-language music and Quebec culture,\u201d said Houde, using the example of 18-year-old sovereignist rapper Kinji00 \u2014 born in Portugal but raised in Quebec \u2014 who calls himself the CEO of the new wave of sovereignty in his song Cayo Perico. <\/p>\n
\u201cOn TikTok, we see young people who are 16, 17, 18 years old posting videos of their outfits to songs by Marie-Mai, Les Trois Accords and so on,\u201d Houde said. \u201cWe wouldn\u2019t have seen that in 2019. It\u2019s as if that has also given people a certain uniqueness \u2014 feeling like they\u2019re promoting their culture, that they love Quebec.\u201d<\/p>\n
I also think there’s an important inclusive discourse among young people that we carry naturally.<\/p>\n
\t\t\t\t\t\t\tAlex Valiquette
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tOUI Qu\u00e9bec<\/p>\n
At a show in St-Hyacinthe on Sept. 11, Kinji00\u2019s set opened with a string of audio clips including Jacques Parizeau\u2019s \u201cNous voulons un pays et nous l\u2019aurons\u201d and Ren\u00e9 L\u00e9vesque\u2019s \u201c\u00c0 la prochaine fois,\u201d before he and his brother, LB66, came out under blue lights to a modest but unfailingly enthusiastic crowd of youth.<\/p>\n
A testament to the uniqueness of the new wave, their songs include the occasional line in English. In the show opener R\u00e9volution pas tranquille, they rapped: \u201cConnect\u00e9 au Qu\u00e9bec, c\u2019est mon r\u00e9seau \/ Encore trop jeune, jamais pay\u00e9 d\u2019imp\u00f4ts \/ Mon \u00e9l\u00e9ment, tu sais que c\u2019est l\u2019hydro \/ Oui je go up, et je keep \u00e7a on the low.\u201d<\/p>\n
![\"Two](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/9999-city-sovereignty_305151091.jpg\")
Sovereignist rapper Kinji00, right, and his brother, LB66, perform at Le Zaricot in St-Hyacinthe on Sept. 11, 2026. Tim Snow \/ Montreal Gazette<\/p>\n
In the music video for the song Faded \u00e0 mon show, Kinji00 designs a $20 bill, choosing longtime Qu\u00e9bec solidaire MNA and former party co-spokesperson Manon Mass\u00e9 as the face. Mass\u00e9 took the stage<\/a> with Kinji00 at his Francos show in Montreal over the summer, sporting a baseball cap on backward, shouting \u201cVive le Qu\u00e9bec libre!\u201d to a cheering crowd of thousands.<\/p>\n \u201cWhat struck me that evening was seeing the diversity of the young people in the crowd, people from all backgrounds,\u201d Mass\u00e9, who is not running for re-election, said in an interview with The Gazette. \u201cI think Kinji has that particular quality himself, being an immigrant. It sends the message that sovereignty can and must be achieved with young Quebecers of all origins.\u201d<\/p>\n She called young sovereignists an \u201cextremely enthusiastic group who have Quebec tattooed on their hearts.\u201d<\/p>\n While polls may suggest support for Quebec\u2019s independence is at a low, Valiquette of OUI Qu\u00e9bec pointed out earlier this year that they typically revolve around whether one would vote yes or no if a referendum were called immediately.<\/p>\n But \u201cthere is no project right now,\u201d he said. \u201cThere is not something clear. People are not informed. Before a referendum, there will be citizen information sessions across Quebec; there will be debates. We will be able to debate these issues. Not just \u2018referendum or not.\u2019 The referendum is the culmination. It is a process.\u201d<\/p>\n Like Houde, Valiquette feels young people are rediscovering a sense of pride in being Qu\u00e9b\u00e9cois.<\/p>\n \u201cYoung people are finding their place in the world here in Quebec, creating culture, recognizing themselves in that culture and in the people who represent it,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n \u201cI also think there\u2019s an important inclusive discourse among young people that we carry naturally, because we grew up in a very diverse environment. For us, that\u2019s the Quebec we\u2019ve always known. I think there\u2019s something powerful in that, and I think it\u2019s only going to grow stronger as this generation increasingly takes its place \u2014 alongside the generations that came before it.\u201d<\/p>\n kthomas@postmedia.com<\/a><\/p>\n \t\tEditor\u2019s Picks\t<\/p>\n \t\t![\"Grafitti](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/0922-city-sovereignty_305267305.jpg\")
Some young sovereignists say they aren\u2019t necessarily in a hurry and that they don\u2019t see independence as a project stemming from one party specifically. Tim Snow \/ Montreal Gazette<\/p>\n