PQ calling on other parties to support Conservatives, restore democratic balance
The Parti Québécois (PQ) has agreed to the three demands made by Conservative Party of Quebec (PCQ) leader Éric Duhaime, who is seeking access to the national assembly for his party.
In the last general election, the Conservative Party won the support of 530,786 voters and 12.91 per cent of all valid ballots, according to Elections Quebec, but did not get any of its candidates elected.
Québec solidaire (QS) received 15.43 per cent of the vote and had 11 candidates elected. The PQ, which has three MNAs, received 14.61 per cent of the vote, while the Quebec Liberal Party (PLQ), with 14.37 per cent of the vote, elected 21 of its candidates.
Since the Conservatives have no MNAs, Duhaime wrote a letter asking that his party be allowed to hold news conferences at the national assembly, have access to an office, and have access to in-camera sessions.
In a news release supporting the Conservative demands, PQ leader Paul St-Pierre Plamondon wrote that if a party gets 13 per cent of the vote, it deserves to have at least one forum to be heard in the national assembly. He added that the Conservative Party's demands cost nothing in public funds.
St-Pierre Plamondon feels that the current voting system has caused an unprecedented distortion in the composition of the national assembly, and everything must be done to restore some democratic balance.
He criticized the fact that some political parties have recently shown little appetite for a real democratic rebalancing. The PLQ, the CAQ and QS have only sought to reform the method of allocating resources because it benefits them, according to him.
He is calling on the other leaders, Premier François Legault of the Coalition Avenir Québec (CAQ), Gabriel Nadeau-Dubois of QS and Marc Tanguay of the PLQ, to support the Conservative Party's demands.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published in French on Nov. 28, 2022.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
'They needed people inside Air Canada:' Police announce arrests in Pearson gold heist
Police say one former and one current employee of Air Canada are among the nine suspects that are facing charges in connection with the gold heist at Pearson International Airport last year.
Why drivers in Eastern Canada could see big gas price spikes, and other Canadians won't
Drivers in Eastern Canada face a big increase in gas prices because of various factors, especially the higher cost of the summer blend, industry analysts say.
Customers disappointed after email listing $60K Tim Hortons prize sent in error
Several Tim Horton’s customers are feeling great disappointment after being told by the company that an email stating they won a boat worth nearly $60,000 was sent in error.
Toronto Raptors player Jontay Porter banned from NBA
Toronto Raptors player Jontay Porter has been handed a lifetime ban from The National Basketball Association (NBA) following an investigation which found he disclosed confidential information to sports bettors, the league says.
House admonishes ArriveCan contractor in rare parliamentary show of power
MPs enacted an extraordinary, rarely used parliamentary power on Wednesday, summonsing an ArriveCan contractor to appear before the House of Commons where he was admonished publicly and forced to provide answers to the questions MPs said he'd previously evaded.
Woman who pressured boyfriend to kill his ex in 2000s granted absences from prison
A woman who pressured her boyfriend into killing his teenage ex more than a decade ago will be allowed to leave prison for weeks at a time.
Trump lawyers say Stormy Daniels refused subpoena outside a Brooklyn bar, papers left 'at her feet'
Donald Trump's legal team says it tried serving Stormy Daniels a subpoena as she arrived for an event at a bar in Brooklyn last month, but the porn actor, who is expected to be a witness at the former president's criminal trial, refused to take it and walked away.
Attempt to have murder charge quashed against alleged serial killer dismissed by judge
A motion filed by the man accused of killing four Indigenous women in Winnipeg to have one of those murder charges quashed has been dismissed by the judge – weeks before the start of his trial.
Government proposes new policy for federally regulated employees to disconnect from work
In their 2024 budget, the federal government wants to amend the Canada Labour Code, so employers in federally regulated sectors will eliminate work-related communication with employees outside of scheduled hours. If implemented, this would affect roughly 500,000 employees across the country.