St-Pierre Plamondon pushed back against suggestions that Carney’s popularity could hurt the separatist party’s chances
OTTAWA — The Bloc Québécois may have lost the federal byelection of Chicoutimi —Le Fjord to Mark Carney’s Liberals on Monday evening, but that is not a concern for the Bloc’s provincial cousin which will be facing the Quebec electorate in just over a month.
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Parti Québécois Leader Paul St-Pierre Plamondon was asked on the campaign trail on Tuesday how he interprets the results in Chicoutimi—Le Fjord, which saw Liberal candidate Daniel Gobeil celebrate a smashing win at 51.3 per cent while Bloc candidate Caroline Dubé got 32.9 per cent.
“There are no real parallels to be drawn between a riding at the federal level and the fundamental choice a people makes regarding a government for a four-year term at the Quebec level,” St-Pierre Plamondon said. “So, I don’t really have an interpretation.”
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Quebec Liberal Leader Charles Milliard said the PQ is happy to join forces with the Bloc when it suits them, and vice versa, but now is not one of these moments.
“They must have nice family gatherings,” Milliard said with a smirk.
The PQ is still in first position in Quebec, but the incumbent Coalition Avenir Québec (CAQ) has been creeping up in the polls, in part thanks to the trade war with the United States. The situation has also benefitted Carney judging by the byelection results.
St-Pierre Plamondon pushed back against suggestions that Carney’s popularity in Quebec could hurt the separatist party’s chances to form government on October 5.
The PQ leader said it is like comparing “apples and oranges.”
A federal Liberal source, speaking on a not-for-attribution basis to talk more freely, said Gobeil benefitted from the collapse of trade talks with the U.S. but he was also a known figure in the region, having been at the head of the biggest dairy lobby in the province.
