Lucien Bouchard urges Parti Québécois leader to reconsider promise to hold referendum

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This article was published 21/08/2025 (219 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

MONTREAL – Former Quebec premier Lucien Bouchard is advising the leader of the Parti Québécois to “re-examine” his promise to hold a sovereignty referendum in his first mandate if he becomes premier.

The former Bloc Québécois leader and Parti Québécois premier made the comments in a pair of interviews on Radio-Canada on Wednesday.

On air with Midi Info host Alec Castonguay, Bouchard said he doesn’t want to “hurt” PQ Leader Paul St-Pierre Plamondon, “but I think he will have to seriously reflect before maintaining his commitment to hold a referendum.”

St-Pierre Plamondon and the PQ have been riding high in the polls, with the leader promising to hold a referendum on sovereignty by 2030 if the party wins the general election scheduled for October 2026.

But Bouchard suggested it could be difficult for the PQ to be elected if a referendum becomes the central campaign issue, adding that such a framing would be a “gift” to the Quebec Liberals, who are staunch federalists.

“From memory, there aren’t a lot of Quebec political formations from the Parti Québécois who have been re-elected with the promise of holding a referendum, because it becomes an election issue,” Bouchard said. “The Liberals fuel themselves on that.”

He also says the failed referendums in 1980 and 1995 led to painful setbacks for the sovereignty movement. St-Pierre Plamondon, he added, should consider whether the population is ready for a referendum and whether there’s a reasonable chance the “yes” side would win.

Bouchard founded the Bloc Québécois with a handful of Conservative and Liberal Quebec MPs in 1991. He became leader of the Official Opposition when the Bloc took 54 seats in the 1993 election, and was a leader of the pro-sovereignty side in the 1995 referendum.

He subsequently took over the Parti Québécois, and served as premier from 1996 to 2001.

Currently, he is representing Quebec’s specialist physicians in their negotiations with the province on salaries and working conditions, and was giving interviews in that capacity when he was asked to comment on the possibility of a third referendum.

In a separate interview on Wednesday, Bouchard told Radio-Canada TV host Patrice Roy, “I have confidence in (St-Pierre Plamondon’s) judgment to re-examine the (referendum) question and to make a decision in the public interest.” 

Recent polls have suggested St-Pierre Plamondon’s Parti Québécois would form government if an election were held today, and the party has won the past three byelections, most recently in the Arthabaska riding earlier this month. A spokesperson for St-Pierre Plamondon said the PQ leader was not available for interviews.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Aug. 21, 2025.