In St-Pierre Plamondon's view, the government is unfairly favouring the other opposition parties over his own.
"Québec solidaire increased their budget by almost $1 million, even though they only have one more MNA. They got all their demands. The Liberals will operate on no less than $4.5 million budget, while they have fewer votes than the Parti Québécois," the PQ leader lamented in a Sunday interview with The Canadian Press.
The PQ, on the other hand, will have to make do with an annual budget of $570,000.
"When we have such a marked and clear intransigence towards the Parti Québécois -- and that the treatment is so differentiated between the parties -- what we must conclude is that the CAQ fears the Parti Québécois, fears the obvious rise of the Parti Québécois," St-Pierre Plamondon argued.
Two days before the next parliamentary session begins, St-Pierre Plamondon still hasn't revealed his strategy regarding his party members' inability to sit in the Quebec legislature.
They risk immediate expulsion if they defy the Canadian Constitution by making an appearance.
St-Pierre Plamondon said that no scenario is excluded regarding how the three PQ members will behave in parliament as of Tuesday.
The current mandate, which began on Oct. 3, is off to a slow start for the PQ as it attempts to secure an adequate operating budget and minimal speaking time, while also campaigning to make the oath to the British monarchy optional.
UNELECTED CO-SPOKESPERSONS
Given the small number of elected PQ members, St-Pierre Plamondon announced Sunday that his party would recruit 10 to 15 former candidates with expertise in given sectors to act as occasional PQ opposition co-spokespersons on certain issues.
The co-spokespersons, who would not be paid, would attend caucus meetings and represent the PQ at some events.
Their precise mandate and the terms of their roles have yet to be defined.
Meanwhile, the PQ is launching a social fundraising campaign to raise $120,000 by Christmas to hire two employees.
St-Pierre Plamondon said the PQ is embracing "the spirit of innovation" to address the lack of means at its disposal.
Although the PQ claimed an annual operating budget of $800,000 (not including the remuneration of constituency staff), it was initially offered $495,000. On Friday, the party settled for $570,000 -- a far cry from its original goal.
In regards to speaking time, the PQ opposition wanted a guarantee that it could ask one of the nine questions granted to the opposition each day.
However, the party was offered the right to ask five questions for every two-week cycle of 100 questions, eventually settling for seven questions per cycle.
The PQ also hoped to represent itself in the Office of the National Assembly, which is responsible for managing disputes between parliamentarians and making decisions about the assembly's operation. He was refused, instead granted "observer" status, meaning he won't have the right to speak.
Normally, to obtain full recognition in the House, the rules of the National Assembly require a parliamentary group have at least 12 elected members or 20 per cent of the popular vote.
The PQ only elected three MNAs, but still received 14.6 per cent of the popular vote, which it argues should allow it to claim some form of recognition.
The Quebec Liberal Party is the official opposition, with 14.3 per cent of the vote and 21 (now 19) MNAs; Québec solidaire elected 11 MNAs with 15.4 per cent of the vote; and the CAQ won 41 per cent of the vote and 90 seats.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published in French on Nov. 27, 2022.
Cape Breton University has more than doubled in size by enrolling thousands of international students, and critics say the campus and community weren't ready. Watch the documentary 'Cash Cow' on CTV W5, Saturday at 7 p.m.
In a choice forced upon them by the Canadian government, four mothers have made the agonizing decision to forfeit an opportunity to repatriate their children from open air prisons in northeast Syria.
Statistics Canada has released its new report about the Canadians level of confidence in Canada’s institutions, finding that recent immigrants are more likely to express confidence in the media and parliament.
A new Canadian study of 4.8 million people says a daily alcoholic drink isn't likely to send anyone to an early grave, nor will it offer any of the health benefits touted by previous studies, even if it is organic red wine.
Lawyers representing Toronto MP Han Dong served Global News with a libel notice on Friday over reports that alleged he spoke to a Chinese diplomat in February 2021 about delaying the release of the two Michaels, and that he was a 'witting affiliate' of Chinese interference networks – allegations that Dong denies.
A recent report from Royal LePage is predicting a drop in prices for Canadian cabins and cottages this year as demand softens from economic uncertainty and low housing stock.
Interim RCMP commissioner Michael Duheme says he would support the Criminal Code changes recommended in the Mass Casualty Commission report to implement stricter gun laws.
The leader of Ontario's new democrats says she's removed long-time party member Michael Mantha from caucus amid an independent investigation into alleged workplace misconduct.
In one day, Ontario midwife Manavi Handa saw three patients who will have to pay thousands of dollars to be able to schedule a C-section beginning on Sunday.
After the RCMP commissioner admitted he didn't read the Mass Casualty Commission’s final recommendations, family members of those killed in the April 2020 tragedy say they have doubts the force will change.
A doctor named in a lawsuit after a Nova Scotia woman died in hospital following a long wait to see a physician has denied allegations from the family that he failed in his duties.
Saturday morning has been filled with mainly sunny skies. However, clouds will be drifting in across the region beginning Saturday afternoon, bringing with them a chance of showers.
London police responded to Dundas Street, just west of William Street around 6:30 p.m. Friday evening for a reported shooting. According to police, one person is in custody.
A U.S. citizen charged with threatening death or bodily harm to Justin Trudeau made a virtual court appearance from a London jail Friday. Jeremy Joseph, 40 — who is living in Sarnia, Ont. — was arrested on Feb. 4, 2023 after Sarnia police were notified of emails containing threats.
A northern Ontario man has been banned from licenced hunting and fined $5,000 after pleading guilty to having more than six times the legal limit of grouse and obstructing conservation officers.
Cape Breton University has more than doubled in size by enrolling thousands of international students, and critics say the campus and community weren't ready. Watch the documentary 'Cash Cow' on CTV W5, Saturday at 7 p.m.
Ontario's guns and gangs team says with the help of police in Sudbury and Durham, it has disrupted a large drug trafficking operation, seizing 2.7 kilograms of cocaine and arresting six.
Officials in Vancouver said they plan to meet with the artist and volunteers who are keeping vigil on a children's shoe memorial on the steps of the city's art gallery in an effort to end the tribute to children who didn't return from residential schools.
Windsor city council will debate the 2023 budget on Monday, and ratepayers are looking at a much higher than normal property tax increase, but not if some councillors get their way.
By day’s end Friday, the COVID-19 assessment clinic at Windsor Regional Hospital (WRH) will close, more than three years after opening at the height of the pandemic.
The sale has started of former Saskatchewan government liquor store buildings. The province got out of liquor retailing earlier this month and is disposing of all assets.
In an attempt to take pressure off hospital emergency rooms, the Saskatchewan government will offer a bump in pay for family doctors who work later hours.
Police say the bodies of eight migrants have been retrieved from the waters off the Mohawk Territory of Akwesasne, straddling the Canada - U.S. border. The people whose bodies were recovered Thursday and Friday consisted of two families of Romanian and Indian origins who were likely trying to enter the U.S. illegally, police said Friday.
In an attempt to take pressure off hospital emergency rooms, the Saskatchewan government will offer a bump in pay for family doctors who work later hours.
Kevin Garinger says it feels like the passage of time is inexplicable. The five years since a deadly bus crash changed his city, his hockey team and his life sometimes feel like a lifetime. Other times it feels like yesterday.
