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Quebec Premier Paul St-Pierre Plamondon is sworn in at the legislature in Quebec City on Wednesday. His first cabinet appointment was a minister responsible for Quebec independence.Jacques Boissinot/The Canadian Press
Paul St-Pierre Plamondon was sworn in on Wednesday as Quebec’s 34th premier at the head of a minority Parti Québécois government that includes a minister responsible for charting a path toward the province’s independence.
The new Premier has promised to hold a third referendum on secession, though he has said it will not take place before U.S. President Donald Trump leaves the White House in 2029. With just 60 out of 127 seats in the National Assembly, his government may not outlast Mr. Trump’s term in office.
Still, Mr. St-Pierre Plamondon highlighted his commitment to sovereignty as he unveiled his 23-member cabinet in Quebec City on Wednesday, ushering in a new government and the possibility of a more fractious relationship with Ottawa.
“The people of Quebec have made their decision,” he said. “They chose to entrust a sovereigntist party with the mandate to form government.”
Mr. St-Pierre Plamondon led his party to victory during Quebec’s Oct. 5 election, but has ended up four seats shy of the 64 he needed for a majority. With most Quebeckers opposed to the idea of a referendum, he won just 28 per cent of the vote, the lowest share of any government in Quebec’s history.
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Mr. St-Pierre Plamondon’s first cabinet appointment was a minister responsible for Quebec independence. He has chosen Catherine Gentilcore, who was first elected to the National Assembly in a 2025 by-election, for the role. She was also named deputy premier and House leader.
The new minister will be responsible for ensuring the debate on Quebec’s independence “is based on facts, the public interest, and our desire to see Quebec have the best possible future,” the Premier said.
Ms. Gentilcore has also been named Immigration Minister and is tasked with making substantial cuts to the province’s immigration levels.
During the ceremony, Mr. St-Pierre Plamondon pointed to areas of friction with the federal government, which he accused of an “abuse of power.”
He said Ottawa’s recent decision to impose dollar-for-dollar countertariffs on the United States “and to exclude Quebec from trade negotiations showed a lack of consideration for Quebec and our interests.”
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Mr. St-Pierre Plamondon congratulates Catherine Gentilcore as she is sworn in at the legislature.Jacques Boissinot/The Canadian Press
Louis Aucoin, a communications strategist and former Bloc Québécois staffer, said Mr. St-Pierre Plamondon is sending a signal to Ottawa by making the same minister responsible for both independence and immigration, a file that has long been a source of tension between the two levels of government.
He also pointed to the nomination of former prosecutor Marie-Claude Sarrazin to multiple portfolios, including justice, secularism and Canadian intergovernmental affairs – a notable combination of files as the Supreme Court of Canada prepares a highly anticipated decision on Quebec’s controversial secularism law, Bill 21.
“If I were in the federal government, I would hear the message that working with this government is going to be difficult,” Mr. Aucoin said.
Mr. St-Pierre Plamondon has indicated sovereignty is not one of his early priorities, and that he will focus on more urgent issues first, such as tackling the cost of living and cutting government waste. He named himself minister responsible for the fight against homelessness.
The PQ cabinet is smaller than the 29-member Coalition Avenir Québec cabinet that preceded it – the smallest in nearly two decades, the Premier said. He has pledged to reduce government spending and improve efficiency.
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Though his caucus includes many political newcomers, several high-profile portfolios went to more experienced legislators. The new Finance Minister is Nicolas Marceau, who occupied the same role under the previous PQ government, elected in 2012.
Marie-Karlynn Laflamme, who won a by-election earlier this year, is Quebec’s new Health Minister, and has been tasked with abolishing Santé Québec, a Crown corporation created by the previous government to operate Quebec’s health care network.
Mr. St-Pierre Plamondon named newly elected MNA and former party president Dieudonné Ella Oyono as his Minister of International Relations, describing him as one of the most “pro-independence activists” he had met in his time with the PQ.
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Mr. St-Pierre Plamondon is joined by his kids and life partner Alexandra Tremblay as he walks in to be sworn in at the legislature.Jacques Boissinot/The Canadian Press
Earlier this week, the PQ announced that Pascal Paradis, a former MNA who lost his Quebec City seat on Oct. 5, would become the province’s “chief negotiator,” focused on the trade dispute with the U.S. The party said Mr. Paradis, the former executive director of Lawyers Without Borders Canada, would work closely with the province’s International Relations Minister “to restore Quebec’s strong voice and real influence on the international stage.”
This is the province’s first Parti Québécois government since former premier Pauline Marois’s minority government was defeated in 2014. On Wednesday, Ms. Marois told reporters in Quebec City that it wasn’t easy to run a government without a majority of seats in the National Assembly.
“What I found hardest were the roadblocks,” she said.
The PQ won 59 seats on Oct. 5, but a judicial recount on Wednesday found the party had won a 60th riding previously claimed by the Liberals.
Quebec’s Lieutenant-Governor was absent from the ceremony following a request from Mr. St-Pierre Plamondon, who has promised to abolish the monarchy in Quebec, raising the threat of a constitutional battle.