‘Apples and oranges’: PQ leader not concerned with Bloc loss in federal byelection

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.

Or, at least, that’s what Parti Québécois Leader Paul St-Pierre Plamondon claims.

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.”

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.

The source seemingly agreed with St-Pierre Plamondon that the results in the federal byelection would not necessarily be replicated during the Quebec election.

The Saguenay—Lac-Saint-Jean region, north of Quebec City, holds a high proportion of “pragmatic separatists” who still intend to vote PQ at the provincial level but are prepared to support Carney at the federal level while Quebec is still a part of Canada.

A Bloc source agreed that the byelection results would have been vastly different if Carney had made concessions to the Trump administration on issues like supply management.

“It would have changed everything,” they said.

The Canada-U.S. relationship could still fluctuate in the next few weeks, and the political predictions in Quebec with it. Canada is expected to impose counter-tariffs on its biggest trading partner in a week, which could lead to further trade retaliation.

For Quebec, that could mean more companies closing doors and more job losses.

If the PQ forms government, St-Pierre Plamondon vowed to build a relationship with Carney based on “respect that we don’t have at the moment.” That means not waiting near the phone for Ottawa to update Quebec on the ongoing trade talks, he said.

St-Pierre Plamondon accused the federal government of not having properly consulted Quebec whilst negotiating with the U.S. on decisions that could have negatively impacted its businesses and workers. “I don’t consider that normal,” he said.

A Quebec source had confirmed to the National Post during the trade negotiations with the U.S. that Ottawa was not sharing specific details with provinces, only offering general information on what was happening at the negotiating table.

Once a deal was almost final, Carney briefed his provincial counterparts and reportedly asked them to consider bringing back U.S. alcohol on their shelves. Quebec Premier Christine Fréchette said she asked for further information before taking a final position.

Talks between Canada and the U.S. fell apart on August 21. Carney said the U.S. “asked too much and offered too little,” and asked his negotiators to come back to Ottawa.

The U.S. has since imposed 50 per cent tariffs on billions of Canadian products.

Carney has vowed to strike back with “dollar-for-dollar” retaliation, something that Fréchette said on Tuesday would be “problematic” for Quebec. She said her government has conveyed to Ottawa they would prefer “targeted” measures.

“We want to protect workers and businesses across Quebec, and we must not let these retaliatory tariffs add to the pressure,” she told reporters on the campaign trail.

Fréchette refused to go more into detail on which retaliatory tariffs she considers would hurt industries her province.

National Post calevesque@postmedia.com