The Parti Québécois leadership race has received little attention so far, stuck between COVID-19 and summer fun.
This is not for lack of trying, on the part of the candidates. The hyperactive Paul St-Pierre Plamondon multiplies the proposals, Frédéric Bastien flirts with controversy, and Sylvain Gaudreault places himself in the posture of the experienced leader who moderates the ardor of his pursuers. It is only Guy Nantel who has been remarkably discreet since the start of the pandemic. Yet something else was expected from him.
The Segma Research survey obtained The newspaper confirms this portrait. With 30% support among members of the Parti Québécois, Sylvain Gaudreault is in the lead, with the support of older activists and regions, where the PQ is still strong. At 20%, Paul St-Pierre Plamondon bites among young people and in the metropolitan area, where the PQ needs to be reborn. Nantel and Bastien bring up the rear, with 15% and 10% downforce respectively.
Umbrella
The race is tighter than you think. The members who support the three candidates in the tail seem to want to break with a certain political correctness reproached to the leadership of the PQ in recent years. The debate on immigration thresholds illustrates this: while Gaudreault proposes to entrust experts with the mandate to fix them, a position that was that of Jean-François Lisée, St-Pierre Plamondon and Bastien want to decide.
During possible second and third counts, it is risky for Gaudreault that the winning coalition does not form under his umbrella.
The challenge for all these beautiful people remains the same and is illustrated in the interest, to say the least, limited to the race so far apart from the active members of the PQ. In a context where the CAQ is casting a wider net than ever in the nationalist electorate, we must show how René Lévesque’s party can still be relevant.
It is not won, and for that, it will take daring. Candidates who demonstrate this will be rewarded.
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