Quebec separatists won’t hold independence referendum until Trump leaves office

Any vote on Quebec’s independence from Canada will be delayed until Donald Trump is no longer U.S. president, the province's separatist party leader said Tuesday.

Parti Québécois leader Paul St-Pierre Plamondon, whose currently out-of-power party could win Quebec’s next election mandated by Oct. 5, said that a PQ government would still hold a referendum during its initial term — though not prior to Jan. 20, 2029, when Trump’s term concludes.

He stated that a decision as critical as Quebec's future demands calm and clear discussion.

"It must not be hijacked by the upheavals of American politics, nor by the outbursts of an unpredictable president, nor by fear campaigns," St-Pierre Plamondon said.

Quebec’s identity has been contentious since the 1760s, when the British completed their takeover of what was then called New France (Jeff McIntosh/The Canadian Press)

"This unpredictability of the American administration will harm our process as well as the quality of the debate on our future as a nation."

Trump's trade tariffs and ongoing suggestions of Canada becoming the 51st U.S. state have complicated the separatist agenda in Quebec, boosting Canadian national pride and convincing some French-speaking residents that remaining in Canada offers greater security.

Secessionist feeling has also emerged in Alberta, where voters will decide Oct. 19 whether the province should take steps toward holding a binding vote on leaving Canada.

Independence referendums face an uphill struggle in both Quebec and Alberta, as Trump’s tariffs and 51st-state remarks strengthen the case for staying within Canada.

Voters in Quebec have twice rejected independence, most recently by a remarkably narrow margin in 1995.

Quebec, which is roughly 80% French-speaking, already retains substantial autonomy. The province of 9.1 million gathers its own income tax, maintains immigration policies favoring French speakers, and enforces laws prioritizing French over English.

Created in the 1960s under René Lévesque, the Parti Québécois has long aimed to transform Quebec into a sovereign nation.

The Parti Québécois has led Quebec on several occasions without staging a referendum, including during its most recent government from 2012 to 2014.

Quebec’s national identity has remained contentious since the 1760s, following the British conquest of what was then called New France.