Ontario Premier Doug Ford trades barbs with Parti Québécois leader over sovereignty

SAINT-GEORGES – The leader of the Parti Québécois and Ontario Premier Doug Ford traded barbs Thursday after the latter dipped his toe in Quebec politics for a second straight day repeating that it would be a “disaster” for Canada if the sovereigntist party was elected.

Paul St-Pierre Plamondon criticized Ford, who for the past two days has been urging Quebecers to reject the PQ for the good of Canada.

St-Pierre Plamondon said he expected “fear campaigns” and “defamatory attacks against the party to scare everyone.”

“It’s a bit of a caricatural for the Premier of Ontario … and other premiers to arrive on the Quebec political scene to tell Quebecers how to vote in a climate of panic,” said St-Pierre Plamondon, whose party is riding high in the polls ahead of October’s provincial election.

The issue of unity was central during a meeting of premiers in Ottawa this week, with questions swirling about Quebec and Alberta sovereignty.

Ford stood by comments that he first made Wednesday, when he warned “it’d be a disaster for our country if the separatists got elected. It’s as simple as that. We have to be a united Canada right now.”

Other premiers also weighed in, albeit more diplomatically, stressing unity and partnership.

Ford emphasized Thursday that a unified Canada and Quebec is best for both. Ford said he did not regret using the word “disaster.”

“No, they’re separatists, he’s (St-Pierre Plamondon) going to call a referendum, if, God forbid, he gets elected,” Ford said. 

“Unacceptable, you’re so much stronger when you’re part of Canada.”

St-Pierre Plamondon, speaking in the Beauce region, south of Quebec City, sarcastically responded to Ford’s comment that he was “touched” that Ontario’s premier wanted to prioritize Quebec’s interests.

The PQ leader noted recent history when Ford tried to recruit doctors from Quebec as tense negotiations between doctors groups and the provincial government went off the rails. He also noted Ford’s ill-fated U.S. anti-tariff commercial last fall that drew the ire of the Trump administration and had an impact on Quebec.

Ultimately, the PQ leader found Ford’s intervention to be akin to “bad theatre.”

“Why would you intervene in Quebec and tell people how to vote and where is that going to lead?” St-Pierre Plamondon said. “And are people really in Quebec thinking it’s going to be a catastrophe and a disaster and  we need to fear the PQ because we’ve been over this so many times in our recent history.”

Quebec Premier François Legault said it’s up to Quebecers to decide on the province’s future, telling reporters in Ottawa on Thursday that a majority of Quebecers are opposed to separating and an even larger proportion don’t want a sovereignty referendum.

“I told the premiers of the various provinces and territories that it wasn’t a good idea (to interfere),” Legault said. Prime Minister Mark Carney also said it will ultimately be up to Quebecers to decide during the same news conference.

For his part, St-Pierre Plamondon says that a sovereign Quebec would maintain close ties with Canada.

“We will always have a dialogue about what we have in common and what we can move forward,” he said.

The PQ leader promises to hold a sovereignty referendum by 2030 if he wins the October provincial election.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Jan. 29, 2026.

— with files from Emilie Bergeron and Michel Saba in Ottawa.