PQ leader under fire for saying an independent Quebec would cut federal public service jobs

The leader of the Parti Québécois, Paul St-Pierre Plamondon, speaks at the National Assembly in Quebec City on Tuesday March 17, 2026. (The Canadian Press/Jacques Boissinot)

Paul St‑Pierre Plamondon is facing sharp criticism from other parties, both federalist and sovereigntist, after saying there would be cuts to federal public servants in an independent Quebec.

The Parti Québécois leader appeared Friday on Radio-Canada’s program La parole aux mordus de politique, where he spent an hour answering questions from viewers.

Responding to a question about the fate of federal public servants living in Gatineau in the event of independence, St-Pierre Plamondon said he wanted to be “very, very clear” that there would be cuts to federal public service jobs.

He promised “transition measures” for those who learn that their positions “cannot continue in an independent Quebec.”

The remarks drew swift reaction, including from Sol Zanetti, the spokesperson for Québec solidaire.

Zanetti said the loss of federal public service jobs in the event of a Yes vote would be “a terrible political choice and terribly bad for support for independence.”

“This is in total contradiction with the historic consensus of the independence movement,” he wrote Saturday in a Facebook post.

In 1995, then-premier Jacques Parizeau had promised to integrate all federal public servants living in Quebec into the civil service of a future state.

Zanetti referenced that position, saying a Québec solidaire government “would protect the jobs of all federal public servants, whether they live in Gatineau or elsewhere,” after independence.

André Fortin, the parliamentary leader of the Quebec Liberal Party, also argued in a video posted to Facebook that St-Pierre Plamondon’s stance differs from that of previous PQ leaders.

“In the past, PQ leaders have always proposed their referendum while assuring that the expertise of Quebecers working for the federal public service would be valued and that their jobs would be protected. That is no longer the case,” he wrote in the caption.

Fortin, who represents the riding of Pontiac, said the PQ leader’s position casts a “huge economic cloud over the Outaouais economy.”

Zanetti acknowledged that independence would generate savings by no longer paying federal public servants outside Quebec. But he noted the province would have to create ministries that do not currently exist.

“People who work for the federal public service and live in Quebec — we will need them. We will need their experience in the new Quebec public service,” he said.

In a video posted on Instagram, Suzanne Tremblay, the Coalition Avenir Québec MNA for Hull, said the job losses would come “during an already difficult period of economic uncertainty, given what we’re seeing with our neighbours to the south.”

St-Pierre Plamondon repeated his remarks Saturday, saying one goal of independence “is to get rid of the extra government that duplicates what we already do and wastes enormously.”

He argued the move would allow Quebec to properly fund public services and possibly reduce taxes.

“That necessarily means some federal public service positions would be eliminated,” he said in a statement sent to The Canadian Press.

— With files from Caroline Plante

This report by The Canadian Press was first published in French on March 21, 2026.