No referendum with Trump around, says PQ ahead of October election

Hayley Carolan · CBC News

· Posted: Aug 18, 2026 4:00 AM EDT | Last Updated: August 18

The Parti Québécois will not hold a referendum as long as U.S. President Donald Trump remains in power, party leader Paul St-Pierre Plamondon announced Tuesday morning.

In a news release, St-Pierre Plamondon said he wants to avoid having the issue "hijacked by the ups and downs of American politics."

"An issue as crucial as the political future of Quebec requires conditions that allow for an informed and calm debate," the PQ leader said.

He said the next government will be faced with "more than enough challenges" without calling a referendum.

"So I decided to completely defuse the argument that this would be the worst time to think about our future because of Trump, by ruling out the possibility of holding a referendum by the end of his second term," St-Pierre Plamondon explained.

Trump's second term is set to end on Jan. 20, 2029.

St-Pierre Plamondon said that, if elected, he would still consult Quebecers on the issue of independence during his first mandate, but only after Trump leaves office.

The announcement comes just over a week ahead of the official launch of the Quebec provincial election campaign. Voters are scheduled to head to the polls on Oct. 5.

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Across the country, Canadians are waiting to hear what comes of last-minute negotiations to avoid a fresh batch of American tariffs expected to take effect this week.

Prime Minister Mark Carney said the discussions are "delicate" and "intense." He plans to speak to his American counterpart before the Wednesday deadline to broker a mutually agreeable deal.

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'A party that’s saying yes and no at the same time'

The separatist leader has promised to hold a referendum in his first mandate, and while anglophone voters have largely supported Liberals in the past, St-Pierre Plamondon has been making an appeal to them in recent weeks.

In a recent poll published by Angus Reid and surveying just over 900 people, only 15 per cent of respondents said they would "definitely vote to leave" if a referendum were held today.

An additional 11 per cent responded they would "lean toward voting to leave."

Speaking of the PQ’s announcement in an interview Tuesday morning, Quebec Liberal Party Leader Charles Milliard said the postponement “tells me that the option of separating Quebec from Canada is a weak option.”

He says this announcement is an attempt to manipulate public opinion.

“It’s a party that’s saying yes and no at the same time.”

Milliard points out that the MAGA movement is larger than Trump, and saying that "everything will be all right" when Trump leaves in 2029 is "quite naïve."

Christine Fréchette, Quebec's premier and leader of the Coalition Avenir Québec, said St-Pierre Plamondon's plan to hold the referendum later in his mandate "spreads that thick layer of uncertainty over four years rather than concentrating it at the beginning of a PQ term.”

She also called the announcement "irresponsible" on the eve of the highest American tariffs imposed on Canada to date, saying Quebec needs stability.

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Éric Duhaime, leader of the Conservative Party of Quebec, wonders what will happen with the PQ if another "protectionist administration" comes to power in the U.S.

“How can you trust someone who spent five years saying he’d push for independence no matter what, only to change his mind a week before the election?" he said.

Regardless, the PQ is ahead in the polls.

According to political aggregator 338Canada, the Parti Québécois holds a lead in overall voting intentions, placing them ahead of the Quebec Liberal Party and the governing Coalition Avenir Québec.

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