Quebec Premier Paul St-Pierre Plamondon said he is not bound to vote the same way as Canada in the election for secretary-general of the Francophonie.
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Quebec Premier Paul St-Pierre Plamondon suggested he was prepared to vote differently from Canada in the election for secretary-general of the Francophonie during his first international outing since winning last month’s provincial election.
St-Pierre Plamondon is in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, to attend a summit of the international organization of French-speaking states and governments, and the election for the next secretary-general is set for Monday.
Quebec, Canada and New Brunswick all have the right to vote in Monday’s election.
Louise Mushikiwabo of Rwanda is seeking a third term as head of the organization, running against Juliana Amato Lumumba of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Dacian Ciolos of Romania, and Coumba Bâ of Mauritania.
St-Pierre Plamondon said he has not said who he will support, and he added that he would not necessarily align with Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney or New Brunswick Premier Susan Holt. “We’re not bound by another candidate’s vote,” he said.
He said discussions among member states are ongoing.
Mushikiwabo has said she wants support from Quebec, saying she maintains “very good relations” with the province, while her deputy is Quebec native Caroline St-Hilaire, whose position is also at stake.
The topic may be on the agenda as St-Pierre Plamondon and Carney are scheduled to have their first in-person meeting on Sunday.
On Saturday, St-Pierre Plamondon said he was optimistic about the discussions despite his criticism of Ottawa, adding that “We’re preparing an (economic) update, so there will be important discussions on that.”
St-Pierre Plamondon began his day by addressing a roundtable of Quebec entrepreneurs in Cambodia, encouraging them to use the Francophonie to pursue trade opportunities, and later spoke at another entrepreneurs’ gathering where he said Quebec has been a full member of the Francophonie for over 50 years.
He also said the organization is “an example of how we can exercise our sovereignty at the international level.”
While Quebec’s international relations minister has said the province would not be raising independence in Cambodia, St-Pierre Plamondon said his sovereigntist government is prompting interest from other states, describing “several hallway conversations” in which people were curious because the Parti Québécois is involved.
He said independence is discussed “informally.”
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