St-Pierre Plamondon Sworn In as Quebec Premier, Returning Parti Quebecois to Power

Paul St-Pierre Plamondon was sworn in Wednesday as Quebec’s 34th premier, returning the Parti Quebecois to power for the first time in more than a decade, two days after Albertans voted heavily against beginning the process toward an independence vote of their own.

The sovereigntist party won 59 seats in the October 5 election, five short of the 64 needed for a majority in the National Assembly. For the first time in Quebec’s history, the lieutenant-governor did not preside over the swearing-in. She watched from her office instead, at St-Pierre Plamondon’s request, CBC News reported. The party’s elected members took an oath of allegiance to the people of Quebec rather than the King last week.

The cabinet

St-Pierre Plamondon named Nicolas Marceau finance minister, a post he held in the last Parti Quebecois government from 2012 to 2014. Catherine Gentilcore takes immigration, which CBC described as one area where the new government is expected to clash with Ottawa; the party has promised to sharply cut the number of permanent immigrants Quebec takes each year.

Pascal Paradis, who lost his own seat in the election, was given a role as a diplomat and chief negotiator, responsible for negotiations with the United States and for relations with Indigenous communities, according to CBC. Dieudonne Ella Oyono becomes minister of international relations, the Francophonie and foreign trade. Treasury Board President Alain Therrien’s first task, the premier said, will be a bill to freeze the salaries of members of the legislature and ministers until the budget is balanced.

The referendum question

St-Pierre Plamondon has pledged to hold an independence referendum in his first term, but has said it will not happen while President Donald Trump remains in office, Global News reported. “We’ve got time and we’ve got plenty of urgencies and problems to solve,” he said after the election.

A Leger poll for Le Journal de Montreal, taken after the election, found that 20 percent of respondents favor the party holding a referendum during its first mandate. The same poll found the party would have won 35 percent of the vote, enough for a majority, without its referendum promise, compared with the 28 percent it received.

Prime Minister Mark Carney, who spoke with St-Pierre Plamondon after the election, urged him to focus on immediate problems. “This is not a time to wait for something a few years down the road,” Carney said. “It’s a time to act.”

The new premier takes office with his party’s central promise, a third referendum, set aside for now, and with Alberta’s answer two days old.