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MANSEAU, QC — Parti Québécois Leader Paul St-Pierre Plamondon would rather not talk about U.S. President Donald Trump — or his trade war with Canada.
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In fact, St-Pierre Plamondon has said he is uneasy with words of war to describe the tensions with the U.S. and instead refers to it as a “commercial conflict.” He insists that the job of an aspiring premier is to appease anxieties and not increase them.
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The PQ leader would have much rather preferred spending the campaign reminding voters of the failings of the last eight years under the incumbent Coalition Avenir Québec and convince them that his party is the change Quebecers need.
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That is one message he was trying to drive home during a wide-ranging interview with Radio-Canada on Wednesday night, the first national televised event of the campaign.
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“I do not deny that one of the questions at the ballot box will be who has the best economic team and the most credible voice to handle the potential turbulence of the next three years,” he conceded after being asked a few questions about Trump.
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“There will be another very important question at the ballot box: do we really want 12 years of (a CAQ government)?”
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St-Pierre Plamondon is not one to be prone to big, emotional outbursts like Bernard Drainville, the CAQ minister who recently let out an “f-bomb” about Trump. The PQ leader told Radio-Canada he felt that kind of language was “vulgar” and unnecessary.
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But he admitted he feels a “form of anger and indignation” regarding tariffs.
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Asked by National Post to clarify what he is angry about and who that anger is directed to, he explained that his sentiment is directed at the counter-productive nature of the tariffs which hurt everyone involved, including Americans.
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And he thinks Canada’s dollar-for-dollar response was not the way to go.
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St-Pierre Plamondon, who was speaking at a dairy farm in Manseau, an hour south of Quebec City, said farmers will have to pay more for equipment from the U.S. because of the counter-tariffs put into place.
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“Suggesting that we should just escalate towards an economy that is 60 times the size of the economy of Quebec is not being smart about it,” he said.
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“The way I’ve done politics for the past six years — people are starting to get to know me — is to come up with clever solutions or responses to the situation, and the clever way to deal with it is specific and tailor-made counter tariffs,” he said.
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“So, I share the indignation, but I think we need to be smart about it.”
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St-Pierre Plamondon would have many reasons to be angry at Trump.
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The PQ leader had tried to get ahead of the curve by vowing not to hold a third referendum for Quebec to separate from Canada as long as Trump remains in power to avoid having the issue “hijacked by the ups and downs of American politics.”