Parti Québécois leader Paul St-Pierre Plamondon, whose promise to hold a third referendum on Quebec’s secession from Canada “before the decade is out” has been a defining feature of his leadership, has evidently seen the same polls as the rest of us in recent months.
The PQ leader announced on social media that an eventual PQ government would not hold a referendum as long as Donald Trump remains president of the United States. St-Pierre Plamondon had hinted at such a possibility last February after the PQ’s by-election victory in Chicoutimi, but that commitment has now been made explicitly and officially.
This could be about Trump. Or you could point to three consecutive Quebec polls released in early August that measured support for sovereignty at near historic lows.
Read the full column here.
Just a note on the Pallas question ostensibly on whether or not to hold a referendum:
“The leader of the Parti Québécois, Paul St-Pierre Plamondon, has stated that if the PQ wins the next election, his government would hold a referendum on sovereignty during its first term. To what extent are you favourable or unfavourable to this idea?”
To my eye, the question wasn't clear on which "idea" was being polled: "holding a referendum" or "sovereignty". I expect most respondents would have seen it as a question on holding a referendum at all, but I suspect some responded based on whether sovereignty itself is a good idea.