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As the 21st Canada-EU summit is set to open Thursday in Montreal, the standoff between Prime Minister Mark Carney and Quebec Premier Paul St-Pierre Plamondon has culminated in the premier officially withdrawing his personal attendance.
While St-Pierre Plamondon had insisted on addressing international delegates, Carney denied him speaking time.
In an open letter to delegation members published late Wednesday afternoon, the premier confirmed he will not attend the summit, but will instead send Quebec’s chief diplomat, Pascal Paradis, to represent him during the summit’s activities.
“You can be assured that the interests of Quebec will continue to be adequately represented while taking into account yours and the history that unites us,” he wrote.
In the letter, the premier warned that negotiating major agreements without Quebec’s participation or consent carries “foreseeable risks and pitfalls,” particularly when the topics touch on exclusive provincial jurisdictions like health care, education and natural resources.
Disagreement with Carney
The disagreement has made headlines since Tuesday, as St-Pierre Plamondon accused the federal government of attempting to muzzle him.
Carney countered by saying that the premier had chosen to leave an empty chair “yet again” — alluding to St-Pierre Plamondon’s absence from Monday’s meeting between Canada’s premiers and Indigenous leaders.
Arriving at the National Assembly in Quebec City on Wednesday morning for a private meeting with Quebec Conservative Leader Éric Duhaime, the new premier urged Carney to reverse his decision.
“It’s never too late to do the right thing,” St-Pierre Plamondon said.
To bolster his case in recent days, the Parti Québécois leader leaned on the Gérin-Lajoie doctrine, which asserts Quebec’s right to defend its provincial jurisdictions and interests on the international stage.
Earlier on Wednesday, he added that Quebec’s negative trade balance with the European Union makes it vital for the province to have a seat at the table to correct course.
St-Pierre Plamondon noted that while he is seeking a “productive relationship” with the federal government, it must also be based on mutual respect.
“However, it is disrespectful not to give a place to the Quebec premier at an event in Quebec where Quebec’s economic interests are being negotiated,” St-Pierre Plamondon added.
Offer to welcome EU president
Carney told reporters in Ottawa on Wednesday that his office offered St-Pierre Plamondon the honour of welcoming the president of the European Commission to Montreal, and that he hopes the Quebec premier will reconsider his decision to sit out the event.
“I myself invited him to dinner, at my table, with [the president],” Carney said. “In my view, this is a great opportunity, a very useful opportunity to have conversations and build relationships for him with the president of the European Union.”
However, in the letter, St-Pierre Plamondon requests a separate, future bilateral meeting with European leadership in a “more opportune context.”
In an X post Wednesday evening, he said inviting the premier to sit and not speak is akin to “asking Quebec to fall into line” and become spectators.
“As premier, I will always refuse to have Quebec reduced to the role of spectator when it comes to representing and protecting the economic and political interests of Quebecers,” St-Pierre Plamondon said.
Meanwhile in Quebec City, Duhaime took aim at federal Industry Minister Mélanie Joly’s argument that “geopolitics is under federal jurisdiction” — a comment she made to justify Carney’s decision not to allow the Quebec premier to make a speech at the event.
“I read the Constitution three times yesterday before going to bed, and I haven’t seen that anywhere,” Duhaime said, criticizing the Carney government’s “dominant” and “toxic” federalism.
However, speaking before the premier’s letter was released, Duhaime noted St-Pierre Plamondon should still participate in the event in order to advance Quebecers’ interests.
“You never win by leaving an empty chair and sulking in a corner,” Duhaime said.