Quebec separatists won the provincial elections on Monday, according to preliminary estimates reported by several media outlets. They will form the next government in the French-speaking Canadian province, having pledged to hold a new referendum on independence.
Their return to power poses a major challenge to Prime Minister Marc Carney, who is facing a trade dispute with Washington and other separatist movements in the oil-rich province of Alberta.
The province of Quebec, with its 9 million inhabitants and broad powers, voted on Monday to elect its 127 provincial representatives.
In a move that was a key campaign issue, the separatist Parti Québécois pledged to hold a new referendum on the province's independence.
However, its leader, Paul St-Pierre Plamondon, a 49-year-old lawyer, explained that he would wait until Donald Trump's term ends in January 2029 to hold the referendum because the current escalation in the trade dispute between the United States and Canada does not provide "a calm climate for thinking about our future."
If held, this would be the third referendum in Quebec, following those of 1980 and 1995.
Plamondon also pledged to "abolish the monarchy" in Quebec, meaning to cut funding to the British Crown representative in the province, even though her role, particularly in enacting Quebec's laws, is enshrined in the Canadian Constitution.
Canada is a member of the Commonwealth, and its head of state is King Charles III. The pro-independence leader denounced the referendum as a "money-splitting farce" and indicated his desire to use those resources to reduce homelessness.
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