Inside the Parti Québécois’ campaign, where smiles are in short supply

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Duchesne said, despite the criticism of Santé Québec which the PQ considers to be a bloated bureaucracy, she urged St-Pierre Plamondon to reconsider scrapping the recent structure if he forms power, arguing it would be “catastrophic” if he does.

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“You are entitled to your opinion, but obviously, you work for Santé Québec,” he said.

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St-Pierre Plamondon insisted his position on the matter would not change, leaving Duchesne scratching her head, wondering who she will be voting for in the upcoming election.

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Even when meeting stakeholders, the PQ leader struggles to turn on the charm.

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As he entered the room to meet with representatives of the Union des producteurs agricoles, the most influential agricultural lobby in the province, St-Pierre Plamondon shook a few hands before briskly addressing the others at the back of the room.

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“I won’t greet everyone individually because my time is limited. But I do greet you all,” he told them before taking place in the front of the room for his speech.

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St-Pierre Plamondon reiterated his opposition to the Quebec portion of the Alto high-speed rail project, which is exactly in line with the organization’s position. Everywhere in the building, posters read that the project is a “bad priority” for everyone to see.

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In front of a crowd that needed no convincing to oppose the Alto project, the PQ leader insisted that his party’s position was the right one all along and lambasted commentators who said he was shooting himself in the foot by opposing the project.

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But farmers had other questions for the aspiring premier. They asked about a variety of subjects, including agriculture in remote areas or mental health issues.

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At times, St-Pierre Plamondon seemed to take issue with some of the questioning, saying that he hadn’t arrived at the meeting “empty-handed” or that the PQ did not have as many resources as the other parties to come up with all their answers.

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St-Pierre Plamondon is fully aware that he is sometimes seen as angry or abrasive. But he thinks that characterization is unfair.

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In a recent podcast, the PQ leader attributed the disconnect to a cultural divide. His life has been heavily influenced by his travels in Denmark, where he moved at the age of 17 to live with a Lutheran family, and often refers to the Scandinavian way of life.

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“It’s true that, having travelled, I sometimes feel a bit out of sync,” he candidly admitted to host Marie-Claude Barrette on “Ouvre ton jeu en mode électoral.”

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Minutes after his curt exchange with Duchesne, the PQ leader’s team announced that he was pulling out the local debate in his riding of Camille-Laurin, in the east end of Montreal, Friday evening. “It’s not a local debate anymore,” they argued.

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The reason? Québec solidaire candidate René Gauvreau, who is running against St-Pierre Plamondon, had health issues so he had to be replaced with Alexandre Boulerice, who recently resigned as NDP MP to run for the provincial socialist party.

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In turn, the PQ sent Catherine Gentilcore, the energetic and bubbly PQ member of the National Assembly from Terrebonne who has been filling in for the party for various debates in the Montreal area since the start of the campaign.

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“It’s not an abnormal practice at all,” St-Pierre Plamondon said to justify his reaction.

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The community groups organizing the event put out a press release decrying St-Pierre Plamondon’s decision to pull out of the debate at the last moment and that it was a missed opportunity for voters who wanted to hear him about the riding’s local issues.

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Annick, a resident of the riding who was at the debate and declined to provide her last name, said she was disappointed to not see St-Pierre Plamondon that evening, but that Gentilcore did a good job filling in for the PQ leader.