Parti Québécois Leader Paul St-Pierre Plamondon speaks at a press conference on Nov. 25, 2025. Members of the PQ will gather this weekend at a convention in St-Hyacinthe, Que.Jacques Boissinot/The Canadian Press
On the heels of Prime Minister Mark Carney’s call for unity in Quebec City on Thursday, the Parti Québécois is laying out a roadmap ahead of the coming provincial election with a promise of a referendum at its heart.
Members of the sovereigntist party will gather this weekend at a convention in St-Hyacinthe, a small city east of Montreal, to vote on the party’s “national project” – a suite of policies that opens with an “unambiguous” promise to hold a third referendum on independence.
On Friday, Leader Paul St-Pierre Plamondon is also expected to unveil the latest instalment of his vision for a sovereign Quebec, this one related to Quebec citizenship. He has previously revealed plans for an independent Quebec to have its own currency.
The convention is taking place as a growing Alberta independence movement presents another challenge to Canadian unity, and amid threats from the United States. On Friday, U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent commented on the possibility of a referendum in Alberta, saying the province should be allowed to join the United States.
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Mr. St-Pierre Plamondon has never wavered from his pledge to hold a referendum by 2030, despite low support for independence in the province and in an uncertain geopolitical context. Now, with his party’s two main rivals in search of new leaders, he is presenting the Parti Québécois as a government-in-waiting.
The PQ Leader took aim at Mr. Carney on Thursday, after the Prime Minister invoked the Battle of the Plains of Abraham as the moment when Canadians began to choose “building together over pulling apart.” The 1759 battle at Quebec City saw British forces defeat French troops, leading to the surrender of Quebec to the British.
In a social-media post, Mr. St-Pierre Plamondon accused Mr. Carney of “falsifying our history.” He promised to respond to Mr. Carney’s speech “point by point” on Sunday during the convention.
Party members will vote this weekend on the “national project,” a 42-page document that sets out the priorities of a PQ government. It says that Quebec’s situation within Canada has deteriorated since the previous referendum, held in 1995.
“The country in which the people of Quebec can exist fully will be their own,” it says.
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The document’s policies aim to boost Quebec’s autonomy even before a vote on independence. The party is proposing to “reindustrialize” the economy by identifying imports that could be manufactured in Quebec, and to adopt a “buy Quebec” policy.
The PQ has promised to slash immigration, including by placing a moratorium on new economic immigrants. Instead, the party is proposing to select new permanent residents from among the temporary foreign workers and international students already in the province.
The document also says the party would push for automation in sectors of the economy that experience labour shortages.
Premier François Legault announced his resignation last week, kicking off a leadership race for the Coalition Avenir Québec. The Quebec Liberals are also in search of a new leader after former federal cabinet minister Pablo Rodriguez stepped down from the post in December amid a campaign-financing scandal.
The PQ has been leading in the polls for more than two years, despite having won just three seats in the past election, in 2022. It has since won three by-elections. Earlier this week, Mr. St-Pierre Plamondon announced the party’s first candidate for this year’s election, scheduled for October.
With reports from The Canadian Press