Quebec separatist party wins election, vows to pursue independence referendum

[Financial News] The Parti Québécois (PQ), a Quebec separatist party, became the largest party in the provincial election in Quebec, Canada, where French speakers make up the majority of the population.
According to preliminary results during the count on the 5th (local time), the PQ, led by its leader Paul St-Pierre Plamondon (49), won 59 of the 127 seats in Quebec’s provincial legislature. That is five seats short of the 64 needed to form a majority government.
The Quebec Liberal Party, a federalist party opposed to separatism, came second with 40 seats.
Plamondon is therefore expected to become Quebec’s premier and lead a PQ-led minority government. He will have to work with other parties to secure legislative approval for bills, budgets and efforts to advance an independence referendum.
This will be the first time in more than a decade that the PQ has become the governing party in Quebec.
At a victory celebration in Montreal, Plamondon, a former lawyer, said French speakers had waged a “brave struggle” in “a part of the world where English speakers are expanding their dominance,” adding that this struggle “will find meaning when they win their own country.”
“We deserve it,” he said, stressing that a referendum would be an opportunity to determine Quebec’s future.
The PQ has pledged that, if it takes office, it will pursue a referendum during its four-year term asking whether Quebec should separate from Canada and become independent.
However, Plamondon has said that there must be “conditions in which people can calmly debate on the basis of sufficient information,” and that no referendum will be held while U.S. President Donald Trump is in office.
Quebec held referendums on whether to separate from Canada in 1980 and 1995, but both were defeated.
Recent polls put support for Quebec independence at only around 30%, and the PQ’s vote share in this election was a similar 28%.
Canada’s Prime Minister Mark Carney posted on X to congratulate Plamondon on his victory, writing, “Building a stronger Quebec is at the heart of our mission to build a stronger Canada.” He said he would work with him to support Quebec businesses and workers hit by U.S. tariffs.
Carney, who has emphasized national unity amid trade tensions with the United States, now faces the challenge of managing relations with the new provincial government, which is seeking greater Quebec control over language, culture, immigration and fiscal matters.


[email protected] Lee Seok-woo, International Affairs Specialist Reporter