Trump derails the Quebec campaign, but the PQ leader would rather not talk about that

MANSEAU, QC — Parti Québécois Leader Paul St-Pierre Plamondon would rather not talk about U.S. President Donald Trump — or his trade war with Canada.

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In fact, St-Pierre Plamondon has said he is uneasy with words of war to describe the tensions with the U.S. and instead refers to it as a “commercial conflict.” He insists that the job of an aspiring premier is to appease anxieties and not increase them.

The PQ leader would have much rather preferred spending the campaign reminding voters of the failings of the last eight years under the incumbent Coalition Avenir Québec and convince them that his party is the change Quebecers need.

That is one message he was trying to drive home during a wide-ranging interview with Radio-Canada on Wednesday night, the first national televised event of the campaign.

“I do not deny that one of the questions at the ballot box will be who has the best economic team and the most credible voice to handle the potential turbulence of the next three years,” he conceded after being asked a few questions about Trump.

“There will be another very important question at the ballot box: do we really want 12 years of (a CAQ government)?”

St-Pierre Plamondon is not one to be prone to big, emotional outbursts like Bernard Drainville, the CAQ minister who recently let out an “f-bomb” about Trump. The PQ leader told Radio-Canada he felt that kind of language was “vulgar” and unnecessary.

But he admitted he feels a “form of anger and indignation” regarding tariffs.

Asked by National Post to clarify what he is angry about and who that anger is directed to, he explained that his sentiment is directed at the counter-productive nature of the tariffs which hurt everyone involved, including Americans.

And he thinks Canada’s dollar-for-dollar response was not the way to go.

St-Pierre Plamondon, who was speaking at a dairy farm in Manseau, an hour south of Quebec City, said farmers will have to pay more for equipment from the U.S. because of the counter-tariffs put into place.

“Suggesting that we should just escalate towards an economy that is 60 times the size of the economy of Quebec is not being smart about it,” he said.

“The way I’ve done politics for the past six years — people are starting to get to know me — is to come up with clever solutions or responses to the situation, and the clever way to deal with it is specific and tailor-made counter tariffs,” he said.

“So, I share the indignation, but I think we need to be smart about it.”

St-Pierre Plamondon would have many reasons to be angry at Trump.

The PQ leader had tried to get ahead of the curve by vowing not to hold a third referendum for Quebec to separate from Canada as long as Trump remains in power to avoid having the issue “hijacked by the ups and downs of American politics.”

Trump’s second term is set to end in January 2029, so a potential referendum would be held in the second half of a PQ government — either later in 2029 or in 2030.

But the collapse of the trade talks between Canada and the U.S. only days before the start of the Quebec election campaign essentially derailed its start by propelling Prime Minister Mark Carney and Quebec Premier Christine Fréchette into the spotlight.

Fréchette has gained some ground in the polls, especially with older voters who are fearful of the tariff war, but her party’s numbers have so far stalled while the PQ remains firmly in first place.

St-Pierre Plamondon has accused Fréchette of using the Trump card to her advantage, while also criticizing her for standing by idly waiting for a call from Ottawa.

In a recent interview, Jonathan Valois, a former CAQ chief of staff and PQ member of the National Assembly, said St-Pierre Plamondon’s messaging was a little muddled.

He also questioned the idea of pushing back the referendum until after Trump is gone.

“If Trump is the symbol of why independence is becoming increasingly relevant, why send the message that the referendum will be held only once he is no longer around?”

Since the start of the campaign, the U.S. imposed additional 50 per cent tariffs, Canada retaliated with tariffs of its own and the U.S. is either banning or imposing more Canadian products. Carney has not yet said if Canada will be striking back yet again.

“It would be naive to say that it didn’t derail the campaign,” said former PQ minister Rémy Trudel of the escalation of the trade war with the Trump administration.

Trudel said he appreciates the signal sent by St-Pierre Plamondon that he intends to collaborate with Ottawa and the other provinces — whenever it is in Quebec’s interest, he specified — and the fact that he decided to to push the referendum to a later date.

“It is useless in the current context. The enemy is right in front of us,” Trudel said.

Still, St-Pierre Plamondon would not say if Trump has disrupted his campaign — and certainly does not want to delve into his personal feelings on the matter.

“It’s not about sentiment,” he said on Thursday. “It’s about doing the right thing, doing the right policy, defending Quebec. So, it’s a different style.”

He said that, as premier, he would be “reassuring” and put forward the best solutions to “deal with the situation intelligently.”

“I will not go into sentiments to try to raise the level of uncertainty or the feeling of discomfort in order maybe to try to gain political profit. I’m not like that.”

National Post
calevesque@postmedia.com

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