Paul St-Pierre Plamondon

Paul St-Pierre Plamondon (French: [pɔl sɛ̃ pjɛʁ plamɔ̃dɔ̃]; often identified by his initials: PSPP; born February 17, 1977) is a Canadian lawyer, television columnist, and politician.

Paul St-Pierre Plamondon
St-Pierre Plamondon in 2021.
Leader of the Parti Québécois
Assumed office
October 9, 2020
Preceded byPascal Bérubé (interim)
Member of the National Assembly
for Camille-Laurin
Assumed office
October 3, 2022
Preceded byRichard Campeau
Personal details
Born (1977-02-17) February 17, 1977 (age 47)
Trois-Rivières, Quebec
NationalityCanadian
Political partyParti Québécois (provincial)
Bloc Québécois (federal)
SpouseAlexandra Tremblay
Alma materMcGill University
Lund University
Oxford University
ProfessionLawyer, entrepreneur, columnist, author

He has been the leader of the Parti Québécois since October 9, 2020. He represents Camille-Laurin in the National Assembly of Quebec.

Education

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Paul St-Pierre Plamondon began his college studies at Collège André-Grasset and graduated in 1997.

He holds a BA in Civil and Common Law from McGill University (2001), an MBA from Oxford University (2006), and a Certificate in International Law from Lund University (2001).[1]

Early career

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In 2003, he was a volunteer prosecutor for the Permanent Assembly of Human Rights in Sucre, Bolivia. In 2005, he worked with the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) in Belgium. St-Pierre Plamondon was also a lawyer in the litigation department of Stikeman Elliott, a national law firm.[2]

In 2009, he joined the Delegatus law firm as vice-president and shareholder of the study.[3] Recognized for his social involvement, St-Pierre Plamondon was awarded the title of Lawyer of the Year in 2010, in the pro bono category, at the annual conference of the Young Bar of Montreal to celebrate the "leaders of tomorrow".[4]

Social and political engagement

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In 2007, he co-founded Génération d'idées, a nonprofit thinking group whose mission is to engage young people from 20 to 35 in public debate by inviting them to express themselves on social themes in the various platforms of Génération d'idées.

In 2009, with the aim of promoting Génération d'idées and to sound out the opinion of Québec's Generation Y, Paul St-Pierre Plamondon visited 19 Québec cities in 63 days and gathered the thoughts of 500 young people. Following that exercise, he published the essay Des jeunes et l'avenir du Québec: les rêveries d'un promeneur solitaire.[5][6]

In 2011, he began as co-host of the radio show Génératrice on Radio-Canada’s Première Chaîne. In October 2011, the Génération d’idées group planted more than 250 brooms in front of the National Assembly in Québec City[7] and stepped up public interventions to call for a public inquiry into the construction industry in Québec.[8] Paul St-Pierre Plamondon’s interventions in favour of this commission of inquiry led Radio-Canada to request that he be removed from the program as a co-host.[9]

In 2012, he defended students on walkout in front of the courts[10] and participated in the demonstration of lawyers against Bill 78 (now Bill 12). In September 2013, he resigned as president of Génération d’idées. In February 2014, he became a journalist for Les Affaires newspaper.

In October 2014, he published a second essay entitled Les Orphelins politiques: plaidoyer pour un renouveau du paysage politique québécois, in which he advocated for the emergence of a new movement that would fill the void felt by several political orphans.

He is the author of several open letters and media interventions on various current issues, including politics.

Parti Québécois (2016–present)

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In 2016, he was a candidate in the 2016 Parti Québécois leadership race, finishing fourth with 6.84% support. One of his main commitments during this race was to reconnect the party with all Québécois people.

On October 23, 2016, the leader of the Parti Québécois, Jean-François Lisée, announced the appointment of Paul St-Pierre Plamondon to the position of Special Advisor to the leader of the Parti Québécois, after he had joined the Party.[11] Under the project “Dare to rethink the PQ”, Paul St-Pierre Plamondon’s mandate included consulting the people of Québec on the renewal of the Party and drafting, at the end of this process, a report and recommendations on the relaunch of the Parti Québécois.[12] The open consultation was particularly aimed at the business community, particularly entrepreneurs and other professionals, members of Québec’s diversity and those under the age of 40. After 162 consultations with more than 3,600 people, it tabled a report with 156 recommendations in April 2017.[13] At the PQ National Congress in September 2017, 44 recommendations were accepted by the PQ National Executive Council.[14] The majority of the other recommendations will finally be adopted at the extraordinary Parti Québécois convention in Trois-Rivières in November 2019.

As the candidate for the Parti Québécois in the county of Prévost in the 2018 Quebec general election,[15] Paul St-Pierre Plamondon faced former Quebec Liberal Party minister Marguerite Blais, who now represented the Coalition Avenir Québec. During this local election campaign, St-Pierre Plamondon prioritized the environment, the quality of public services and support for families.[16] Presented as a star contestant,[17] he was defeated by Marguerite Blais.[18]

On January 28, 2020, he officially announced his candidacy for the leadership of the Parti Québécois. Its slogan—OUI—announces a positive and unifying campaign, firmly focused on independence and the celebration of Québec in 2020. Contrary to its constitutional position of 2016, it now promises a popular consultation on independence in a first mandate. As part of this leadership race, he will publish his third essay Rebâtir le camp du OUI where he presents his game plan to revive the Parti Québécois and the idea of sovereignty. He won the leadership race on October 9, 2020 with 56% of the vote in the third round.

In early 2022, he announced that he would be a candidate in the riding of Camille-Laurin, in Montreal. MNA Richard Campeau, of the Coalition Avenir Québec, had been the sitting MNA since the last elections in 2018. He won the riding on election night, and his party won a total of 3 seats, down from the last legislature.

During the 2022 Quebec general election, he and Gabriel Nadeau-Dubois from Québec solidaire faced some controversy for their use of the word nègre while they discussed academic freedom in schools and universities during a televised debate.[19]

After the March 2023 election, He broke a record for PQ vote of confidences with 98.51% support.[20][21][22] On October 2, 2023 the PQ won its 4th seat with its win in the 2023 Jean-Talon provincial by-election, with Pascal Paradis being elected MNA.[23]

Personal life

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St-Pierre Plamondon lives with his wife on Île d'Orléans, near Quebec City. They have three children.[24]

Electoral record

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2022 Quebec general election: Camille-Laurin
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Parti Québécois Paul St-Pierre Plamondon 11,959 41.68 +15.67
Coalition Avenir Québec Richard Campeau 9,165 31.94 +4.37
Liberal Christina Eyangos 4,724 12.85 -6.03
Conservative Christos Karteris 1,869 6.51
Green Bourama Keita 641 2.23
Climat Québec Jean-Pierre Émand 241 0.84
Démocratie directe Grace St-Gelais 49 0.17
Équipe Autonomiste Charles Mc Nicoll 42 0.15
Total valid votes 28,690 91.32
Total rejected ballots 2,728 8.68
Turnout 31,418 63.45
Eligible voters 49,518
2020 Parti Québécois leadership election results by round[25]
Candidate 1st round 2nd round 3rd round
Votes cast % Votes cast % Votes cast %
  Paul St-Pierre Plamondon 9,042 35.44% 10,554 41.59% 13,530 56.02%
  Sylvain Gaudreault 8,415 32.98% 8,906 35.09% 10,621 43.98%
  Guy Nantel 5,499 21.55% 5,917 23.32% Eliminated
  Frédéric Bastien 2,559 10.03% Eliminated
Total 25,515 100% 25,377 100% 24,151 100%
2018 Quebec general election: Prévost
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Coalition Avenir Québec Marguerite Blais 14,876 47.03
Parti Québécois Paul St-Pierre Plamondon 7,739 24.47
Québec solidaire Lucie Mayer 4,414 13.96
Liberal Naömie Goyette 4,063 12.85
Conservative Malcolm Mulcahy 303 0.96
Parti libre Michel Leclerc 235 0.74
Total valid votes 31,630 98.51
Total rejected ballots 477 1.49
Turnout 32,107 70.80
Eligible voters 45,347
2016 Parti Québécois leadership election results by round[26]
Candidate 1st round 2nd round
Votes cast % Votes cast %
  Jean-François Lisée 25,936 47.03% 27,801 50.63%
  Alexandre Cloutier 16,357 29.66% 17,403 31.70%
  Martine Ouellet 9,077 16.46% 9,702 17.67%
  Paul St-Pierre Plamondon 3,772 6.84% Eliminated
Total 55,142 100% 54,906 100%

References

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  1. ^ Porter, Isabelle (June 4, 2012). "Point chaud - "Le point limite est atteint"". Le Devoir (in Canadian French). Archived from the original on December 3, 2023. Retrieved October 10, 2020.
  2. ^ "Il quitte Stikeman pour changer le monde" (in Canadian French). February 5, 2009. Archived from the original on October 13, 2020. Retrieved October 10, 2020.
  3. ^ La Presse (http://affaires.lapresse.ca/dossiers/affaires-juridiques/200904/16/01-847004-paul-st-pierre-plamondon-chez-delegatus.php Archived March 3, 2016, at the Wayback Machine), consulted on December 28, 2012
  4. ^ "AJBM 2010: Et les gagnants sont..." (in Canadian French). November 19, 2010. Archived from the original on December 30, 2010. Retrieved October 10, 2020.
  5. ^ Tremblay, Bertrand (June 7, 2010). "L'avenir du Québec". Le Quotidien (in Canadian French). Archived from the original on March 3, 2016. Retrieved June 21, 2024.
  6. ^ Cornellier, Louis (May 15, 2010). "Essais québécois - Contre le décrochage politique des jeunes". Le Devoir (in Canadian French). Retrieved June 21, 2024.
  7. ^ Ratthé, Pascal (October 18, 2011). "Opération Balai face au Parlement". Le Soleil (in Canadian French). Archived from the original on March 5, 2016. Retrieved June 21, 2024.
  8. ^ St-Pierre Plamondon, Paul; Charest, Olivier (October 18, 2011). "Enquête sur le milieu de la construction - L'attrape huis clos". Le Devoir (in Canadian French). Retrieved June 21, 2024.
  9. ^ Robitaille, Antoine (October 19, 2011). ""Opération Balais" devant l'Assemblée nationale". Le Devoir (in Canadian French). Retrieved June 21, 2024.
  10. ^ Touzin, Caroline. "Manifestation étudiante: la demande d'injonction de l'UdeM est rejetée". La Presse (in Canadian French). Retrieved June 21, 2024.
  11. ^ Bergeron, Émilie (October 23, 2016). "Paul St-Pierre Plamondon nommé conseiller spécial au PQ". Le Soleil (in Canadian French). Retrieved July 2, 2024.
  12. ^ Grégoire, Yanick (October 23, 2016). "Osez repenser le PQ : Paul St-Pierre Plamondon nommé conseiller spécial du chef". Newswire.ca (in Canadian French). Retrieved July 2, 2024.
  13. ^ Paul St-Pierre Plamondon (May 1, 2017). "Osez repenser le PQ: le changement est en marche". Le Devoir (in Canadian French). Retrieved July 2, 2024.
  14. ^ "Que reste-t-il du rapport " Oser repenser le PQ "?". Radio-Canada (in Canadian French). September 14, 2017. Retrieved July 2, 2024.
  15. ^ "Paul St-Pierre Plamondon remporte l'investiture du PQ dans Prévost". La Presse (in Canadian French). April 21, 2018. Retrieved July 3, 2024.
  16. ^ "Paul St-Pierre Plamondon fait de l'environnement sa première priorité". Journal Le Nord (in Canadian French). September 18, 2018. Archived from the original on March 7, 2022. Retrieved July 3, 2024.
  17. ^ "Candidats-vedettes: quatre luttes à surveiller". Le Journal de Montréal (in Canadian French). October 1, 2018. Retrieved July 3, 2024.
  18. ^ "Marguerite Blais gagnante dans Prévost". Accès Laurentides (in Canadian French). October 2, 2018. Archived from the original on June 26, 2020. Retrieved July 3, 2024.
  19. ^ "Why using the N-word was a tactic during the Quebec leaders' debate". Archived from the original on July 14, 2023. Retrieved December 3, 2023.
  20. ^ "PQ leader gets 98% approval in vote of confidence". CBC News. March 12, 2023. Archived from the original on May 26, 2023.
  21. ^ "PQ leader Paul St-Pierre Plamondon breaks record for confidence vote". Archived from the original on March 14, 2023. Retrieved December 3, 2023.
  22. ^ "PQ leader Paul St-Pierre Plamondon wins record 98.51% of delegate support in vote of confidence - Montreal | Globalnews.ca". Archived from the original on March 19, 2023. Retrieved December 3, 2023.
  23. ^ "Parti Québécois wins by-election in Jean-Talon, Quebec - Montreal | Globalnews.ca". Global News. Archived from the original on October 3, 2023. Retrieved October 3, 2023.
  24. ^ "PSPP et sa conjointe accueillent leur 3e enfant". Le Journal de Québec (in Canadian French). July 3, 2023. Archived from the original on July 3, 2023. Retrieved September 4, 2024.
  25. ^ "The Parti Québécois has a new leader!" (in Canadian French). October 9, 2020. Archived from the original on October 10, 2020. Retrieved October 10, 2020.
  26. ^ "Jean-François Lisée squeaks to victory in Parti Québécois leadership race". October 7, 2016. Archived from the original on October 9, 2016. Retrieved October 10, 2020.