Christine Fréchette says voters don’t need to know whether she remains a sovereignist and still believes Quebec would be better off as an independent country in the long term.
“My personal position is not important,” the Coalition Avenir Québec leader and incumbent premier told reporters on Thursday. “My position is that this is not the time to start that process.”
Pressed on why voters don’t need to know her position on a major issue in Quebec politics, she replied: “Because I know Quebecers don’t want a referendum and neither do I.”
“I’m expressing the voice of Quebecers, you could say, and I’m on the same side as Quebecers.”
Fréchette has previously said she voted Yes in the 1995 referendum. Before joining the CAQ, she served as deputy chief of staff to Parti Québécois minister Jean-François Lisée.
“We’re a coalition that includes people who are more inclined toward sovereignty and others who are more inclined toward federalism,” Fréchette said Thursday of her current party.
“But we all agree that this is not the time to launch a referendum process.”
Her refusal to disclose her position on sovereignty prompted opponents to question her transparency.
“Obviously, it’s possible,” Parti Québécois Leader Paul St-Pierre Plamondon said when asked whether politicians can avoid revealing their views on sovereignty. “Is it honest and transparent? That’s another question.”
St-Pierre Plamondon said “the important question is whether we’re dealing with someone who is transparent and whose word is reliable.
“At the Parti Québécois, I don’t hide my record, I don’t hide that I’m a sovereignist, and I don’t hide my party’s name on my signs. We are authentic, transparent.
“If she’s not being transparent on a number of issues, it will be up to Quebecers to ask themselves: Who can we trust on Oct. 5?”
Liberal Leader Charles Milliard suggested Fréchette was concealing her views on sovereignty.
“You know very well that by not answering, it’s because she’d be more inclined to vote Yes,” he said.
“There is no such thing as personal in politics,” he said. “On a question as central as this one, if you want to lead Quebec, you should be able to state your position on Quebec’s future.”
Milliard added: “On that question, on the ballot of a future referendum, there’s no hedging and no ‘I’d rather not answer.’ It’s yes or no.”
Ruba Ghazal, co-spokesperson of the pro-sovereignty Québec solidaire party, said Fréchette should be able to answer questions about her position on sovereignty.
“To me, it was understood that Ms. Fréchette herself is a federalist,” Ghazal said.
“Whether Quebec should become an independent country or not is an important question. The fact that she is unable to say she is a federalist, given that that is what she is and what her party is, is surprising.”
Eric Duhaime, leader of the Conservative Party of Quebec, declined to answer when asked whether he is a sovereignist.
The former Parti Québécois and Bloc Québécois staffer instead stressed his opposition to a referendum.
“If we hold the balance of power, as the polls currently suggest, I guarantee we’ll do everything possible to block any attempt to hold a referendum on Quebec sovereignty during a first mandate,” he said.
St-Pierre Plamondon has said he would wait until after U.S. President Donald Trump leaves office before holding a referendum.
This week, he went further, saying a PQ government would pursue a referendum even if elected with only a minority mandate.
Fréchette said the PQ’s insistence on moving ahead with a referendum shows the party is out of touch. She pointed to polls suggesting about 70 per cent of Quebecers would vote No.
She said it’s “the worst time in the last 50 years” to pursue a referendum.
“We’re in the middle of a tariff war. We’re facing shots coming from all directions from our largest trading partner,” she said. Instead of a referendum, Quebec should “focus on preserving what we can and also on pivoting our economy.”
St-Pierre Plamondon said the PQ stands by its plan.
“For each of the Parti Québécois commitments in this campaign, whether minority or majority, we’re going to try to keep our commitments,” he said. “Otherwise, why are we in politics?”
He added that there “isn’t a single promise or commitment that we make during a campaign that we won’t try to advance and implement in government.”
Since becoming PQ leader six years ago, St-Pierre Plamondon has consistently advocated for sovereignty and promised a referendum in a first mandate.
Over that period, support for sovereignty has not increased, and some polls suggest it has declined.
Asked why he believes several years as premier would change the outcome of a referendum, St-Pierre Plamondon did not directly answer.
Instead, he said: “At the Parti Québécois, we take positions based on the public interest, the public good, and not according to fluctuations in polls.”
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