Separatists won provincial elections in Quebec on Monday (October 5, 2026), with a promise to hold a vote on leaving Canada after U.S. President Donald Trump leaves office, testing Prime Minister Mark Carney’s message of national unity.
The results make PQ leader Paul Saint-Pierre Plamondon, a 49-year-old lawyer known by his initials as PSPP, Quebec’s next premier. The Prime Minister is popular in Quebec, and the separatist win was not seen as a repudiation of his stance toward Mr. Trump, whose trade war and annexation threats have infuriated Canadians. Instead, the PQ’s rise after more than a decade in opposition has been tied to frustration over affordability and an enduring desire to protect the French language in an increasingly anglophone country. The PQ has backed immigration cuts, particularly for non-French speakers. Canada is part of the British Commonwealth. King Charles III, Canada’s head of state, is represented in Ottawa by the governor general. Lieutenant governors represent the monarchy in the provinces, including Quebec.
At a jubilant victory party in Montreal, his supporters chanted a famous separatist slogan declaring that “Quebec is a country”. That shouldn’t be “hijacked by the theatrics of an unpredictable president,” he added, ruling out a referendum until at least 2029. Lydie Periard, a 22-year-old student, said she was “very worried” by the PQ’s victory, condemning what she termed the party’s “populist” stance on immigration. PSPP has said his government could cut off funds for the lieutenant governor, calling it a “masquerade that wastes money.”
