By Geneviève Bouchard
QUEBEC CITY — Premier Paul St-Pierre Plamondon has put a minister in charge of Quebec independence and promised a leaner government, as his Parti Québécois minority prepares for the National Assembly to return Nov. 17.
St-Pierre Plamondon was sworn in Wednesday as Quebec’s 34th premier, bringing the sovereigntist party back to power for the first time in more than a decade. He named 22 ministers, nine women and 14 men including himself, and kept the homelessness portfolio for himself, The Canadian Press reported. The previous Coalition Avenir Québec government had 28 ministers.
A first without the lieutenant-governor
At St-Pierre Plamondon’s request, Lieutenant-Governor Manon Jeannotte did not attend the ceremony, a first in Quebec’s history. The government’s general secretary presided, and Jeannotte signed the appointment documents at her office afterward.
“Look at the quality of my team. We were only three (legislature members) last election,” St-Pierre Plamondon said. “We must never, ever accept being told that everything is lost or that we aren’t good enough.”
Independence, after ‘housekeeping’
Catherine Gentilcore, first elected in a 2025 byelection, is immigration minister and minister responsible for Quebec independence. The PQ has said it will hold a referendum on sovereignty only after U.S. President Donald Trump leaves office, which CBC noted means not before 2029.
“Quebec’s independence is an ambitious and demanding undertaking,” the premier told his ministers. “We must restore Quebecers’ desire to dream and take initiative.”
In the meantime, St-Pierre Plamondon has promised to cut bureaucracy and balance the budget, as the province’s fiscal plan requires by 2030, to freeze legislators’ salaries until it does, and move quickly on emergency funding for homelessness and food banks.
Key portfolios
Justice Minister Marie-Claude Sarrazin, a prosecutor during the inquiry into the SAAQclic online platform, also holds secularism, the fight against racism, relations with English-speaking Quebecers, LGBTQ+ issues and access to information. Health Minister Marie-Karlynn Laflamme is tasked with dismantling Santé Québec, the Crown corporation created in 2023 to run the health network. Simon-Pierre Savard-Tremblay is minister responsible for relations with First Nations, Inuit and Métis.
The PQ was criticized during the campaign by Indigenous leaders after St-Pierre Plamondon said a provisional constitution for a sovereign Quebec would not require First Nations’ consent, CBC reported.
The premier grew emotional introducing veteran MNA Pascal Bérubé as culture minister. “He’s someone who can hang in there when the wind blows hard,” he said in French.
The PQ won 59 seats in the Oct. 5 election, five short of a majority, and the party was shut out in Quebec City itself. Recounts are underway in two ridings.
Why it matters south of the border
Quebec shares a border with New York and is a major trading partner for the state. A sovereigntist government in Quebec City adds a new voice to Canada’s response to U.S. tariffs, even as the referendum question waits.
The Buffalo Chronicle has requested comment from the premier’s office on whether the new government will name a minister or representative for relations with the United States.
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