Parti québécois leadership candidate Paul St-Pierre Plamondon wants to make Quebec identity “contagious and inviting” by revising his party’s controversial Charter of Values — under a different name.
Even naming the bill “Charter of Values” excluded people straightaway, he explained in an interview with the Presse canadienne.
“The name of my bill will be ‘Bill on the religious neutrality of the State and some of its agents.’ The most neutral, the most banal possible, so that no one feels excluded by what we call Quebec values,” he explained.
On Thursday, St-Pierre Plamondon presented his proposals for a revised Charter of Values, Quebec identity and the welcoming of immigrants in Quebec.
In a video explaining his proposals, the candidate said he wants “to give a follow-up to the notion of neutrality of the state,” but by adopting an approach based on dialogue, “where we don’t look to exclude people or to make them lose their jobs.”
The former PQ government tabled the charter, which would have barred all public sector workers from wearing religious symbols, in 2013.
Since that time, former members of the Marois government — including ex-ministers and leadership candidates Alexandre Cloutier and Jean-François Lisée — have distanced themselves from the charter.
“The best source of integration is employment. The last thing that we should do is drive people away from certain jobs,” St-Pierre Plamondon said.
“I will make a firm commitment that nobody will lose their job in this process. … People have to understand that we are in solution mode and not in the mode of ‘take it or leave it,'” he added.
The candidate didn’t mince words on his party’s role in the charter episode. “On sensitive topics … the Parti Québécois must act in a thoughtful, calm, and nuanced way. Sadly, in the last election, in my opinion, we tried to exploit the debate on neutrality in particular by talking about Quebec values, and by referring to ‘us versus them’,” he said.
St-Pierre Plamondon said if chosen as PQ leader, he would address the numerous integration problems faced by immigrants and ethnic communities. Measures would include combatting racial profiling and job discrimination and introducing mandatory French lessons for immigrants.
“The Liberals aren’t going to help new Québécois. They let them down except for a certain kind of vote-catching,” he said.
St-Pierre Plamondon also wants the PQ to open the party’s doors to ethnic communities, which would lead to a return of “political clubs” — including the well-known SPQ Libre — that were booted from the party in 2011 under Pauline Marois’s leadership.
He also promised to run a certain number of candidates from ethnic communities in potentially winnable ridings.
“I propose a proactive approach rather than leaving these questions to chance. It would do some good to the Parti Québécois and to Quebec democracy,” he said.
