OTTAWA – Quebec separatists don’t appear thrilled that Canadian pride and national unity seem to be suddenly surging in the face of U.S. trade threats.
“I can see that Canadian politicians are trying to seize this as an opportunity to do nation building,” Paul St-Pierre Plamondon said at a news conference Tuesday. But the leader of the Parti Québécois and his caucus of four MNAs seemed irritated by questions about the impact on their separatist project — and there were many questions on Tuesday and Wednesday.
Quebec journalists peppered the PQ with queries asking the party, which has been leading in provincial polls, if it was difficult to be a sovereigntist today with so much uncertainty over the future of every province’s economy, and amid an apparent outpouring of patriotism.
“If some of my opponents try to make people believe that our plan is to hold a referendum next week, it could create uncertainty, but that is not the case,” St-Pierre Plamondon said.
Canadians and Quebecers seem to be feeling a rush of national pride since U.S. President Donald Trump announced his intention to impose 25-per-cent tariffs this week on all Canadian imports — although he offered a last-minute reprieve Monday in exchange for Ottawa promising more action policing drugs and migrants at the border.
A poll by the Angus Reid Institute released Wednesday found that the percentage of Canadians saying they have a “deep emotional attachment” to the nation now stands at 59 per cent, up 10 points from December 2024.
The largest increase was among Quebecers, with 45 per cent now affirming their attachment, a huge jump from the 30 per cent who said so in December. The percentage of Quebecers who said they were proud to be Canadian also shot up, from 45 to 58 per cent.
“We are more aligned than ever. We are more united than ever,” said Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on Tuesday.
“We’ve collectively shown that when Canada’s interests are in danger, our political identity no longer matters. There is only one team, that is Team Canada.”
Patriotic stirrings aren’t surprising when there is an outside threat, said Daniel Béland, director of the McGill Institute for the Study of Canada.
“I think that when the country faces an attack like this, it brings people together, it creates a feeling of solidarity,” he said.
“This is bad news for the Parti Québécois, which is leading in the polls but still has in mind to hold a third referendum,” Béland said. “If suddenly, there are more Quebecers than before who say they are proud to be Canadian, this is not good news for a sovereigntist party.”
As uncertainty reigns across the country, Quebec’s legislature held an emergency debate earlier this week over the U.S. tariff threats.
The topic has monopolized debate in Quebec City for over a week now.
The PQ this week seemed to find itself on the wrong side of it when it tried to amend a motion from the Liberal party stating that “the Canadian economic market constitutes a major advantage for Quebec” as a way to diversify from reliance on the U.S.
The interim Liberal leader, Marc Tanguay, sounded like he couldn’t believe the PQ’s move.
“You have to be quite, with all due respect to my colleagues… disconnected!” he lashed out. “Do we need that, in Quebec, the separation of Quebec? Do we need better arguments to say that it is not good?” he added.
St-Pierre Plamondon insisted the Liberals were merely playing politics.
“If other politicians like (former premier) Jean Charest or Marc Tanguay try to exploit a situation like this to promote Canadian unity when we should be focusing on short-term solutions to protect our businesses, that’s their business,” said St-Pierre Plamondon.
However, his promise hasn’t changed: If his party forms government in the 2026 provincial election, it will hold a referendum on Quebec’s independence by 2030.
When the PQ’s most experienced MNA, Pascal Bérubé, was asked if he feared that the current climate could harm the sovereigntist project, he stood fast to his party’s position.
“Currently we are in Canada and our systems are interconnected with the same federal government, so it is in our interest that things go well everywhere,” he said.
Still, reporters kept pressing him.
“I mean, how many times do we get asked about this? We remain pro-independence in all circumstances,” Bérubé said.
But reporters demanded to know: Is he worried?
“The answer is no,” he replied.
National Post
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