From One Separatist to Another: Félicitations, Québec
The Parti Québécois is back in power in Quebec City. From Alberta's independence movement to Quebec's sovereigntists: well played, and welcome back to the conversation.
By Jason LaFace | Alberta Radio
Monday, October 5, 2026
Félicitations, Québec.
I don't say that often about an election east of Ontario, but tonight it's earned. From one separatist to another: well done.
The Parti Québécois will form a minority government. At last count the PQ was leading or elected in 59 of the National Assembly's 127 seats, five short of the 64 needed for a majority. The Liberals had 40, Éric Duhaime's Conservatives 19 and Québec solidaire nine. The Coalition Avenir Québec, which governed for eight years, was shut out completely. Its leader, Christine Fréchette, was defeated in Trois-Rivières.
Paul St-Pierre Plamondon, 49, will be Quebec's next premier. Four years ago his party won three seats. Three. Tonight it's the government, built on an idea polite Canadian company would rather not discuss: Quebecers should decide their own future.
A movement that refused to die
"There is a new chapter in our nation that is starting over the next few years," St-Pierre Plamondon told a boisterous crowd in Montreal, where supporters chanted "Le Québec, un pays!"
He didn't hide the dream, either. "Je continue à rêver et à visualiser ce pays," he said. I continue to dream of and visualize this country. "On n'oubliera pas de consulter les Québécois sur leur avenir." We won't forget to consult Quebecers on their future.
Here's what Alberta should respect. The PQ didn't win by apologizing. It won by staying in the fight long after the experts called it finished, and by refusing to accept that independence had been settled forever by somebody else.
Be honest about the referendum
Let's not oversell it. St-Pierre Plamondon has promised a referendum, but not while Donald Trump is in the White House, which puts it after January 2029, and a minority needs votes from other parties. The Liberals and Conservatives say they'll fight a sovereignty vote. Liberal leader Charles Milliard says he'll work with the new government on files like health care, but "jamais" (never) on a referendum. Québec solidaire, also sovereigntist, could hold the balance of power.
The mandate is thin, too. Radio-Canada had the PQ at just under 28 per cent of the popular vote at last count, which it says is the lowest score ever for a party taking power in Quebec. That's a win, and it's a government. It is not yet a country.
One more thing conservatives out west should notice: Duhaime's Conservatives are in the Assembly, promising to be a "guard dog" for taxpayers. He's vowed to try to block a referendum, but a province that elects sovereigntists and a small-government caucus on the same night is tearing up the old script.
Same instinct, different engines
Quebec's movement and Alberta's are cousins, not twins.
Quebec's is built on language, culture and nationhood: a French-speaking people who see themselves as a nation and want a state to protect that. You can see it in the PQ platform: extending Bill 101 to CEGEPs, tougher French requirements for work permits, a Quebec citizenship ceremony.
Alberta's runs on a different engine. It's about energy, money and freedom: who controls our resources, who writes the rules for our industries, and how much of our paycheque leaves the province and never comes back. We aren't protecting a language. We're protecting the right to run our own affairs.
I'll be straight with you. A libertarian out here isn't going to love every page of the PQ playbook. Language rules that limit where a student can go to college are not my idea of freedom. But that's Quebec's call, made by Quebecers. That's the whole point.
What unites us is simple: decisions about a people's future belong to that people, not to whoever runs Ottawa this decade. St-Pierre Plamondon said it during the campaign, quoting Jacques Parizeau: "Don't be afraid of your democracy, of going to the polls, of reflecting on our future." Albertans can say amen to that.
What it means for Canada
Ottawa now has a sovereigntist government in Quebec City and a referendum in Alberta two weeks from tonight. Prime Minister Mark Carney congratulated St-Pierre Plamondon on X, writing that "building a stronger Québec is core to our mission of building a stronger Canada." Fair enough. But federalists can't pretend the unity file is closed anymore. It's open on two fronts.
What it means for Alberta on October 19
Be clear on what our ballot is. Albertans will answer 10 questions. Question 10 asks whether Alberta should remain a province of Canada, or whether the government should begin the legal process under the Constitution to hold a binding referendum on separation. It's a mandate question, not a declaration.
Albertans are taking it seriously. Elections Alberta has approved and mailed more than 652,000 special ballots, and says turnout could be as high as 85 per cent.
If you're voting by mail, Canada Post recommends sending your package by October 9 so it reaches Elections Alberta by 5 p.m. on October 16. Advance voting runs October 13 to 17. Referendum day is October 19.
Quebec just reminded the country that a movement can be written off, mocked and lectured, and still win. The lesson for Alberta isn't to copy Quebec. It's to show up.
So to Premier-designate St-Pierre Plamondon, and to every Quebecer who chanted "Le Québec, un pays!" tonight: félicitations. You did it your way. In two weeks, Alberta gets to do it ours.
Stay with Alberta Radio for the news and the commentary Ottawa would rather you skipped. Visit www.albertaradio.ca.
Source: Os1ris News Aggregation
