The PQ attacks Minister Lacombe on UNESCO

Party Quebec leader Paul St-Pierre Plamondon accuses the Minister of Culture, Mathieu Lacombe, of “lack of coherence and courage”, who slipped during an interview in duty Quebec should ideally be a full member of UNESCO, before specifying that he had no intention of doing battle with it.

“He wants it, he dreams about it, and right after that, he takes the trouble to say that he’s not going to lead this fight, that he’s going to leave Canada to decide on Quebec within its delegation. It’s all Caquisme spat out!” said Paul St-Pierre Plamondon.

The separatist leader believes that Quebec will never be able to secure its seat within UNESCO (the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization) as long as it is not an independent country.

To claim otherwise is to feed false hopes, believes the Parti Québécois leader. “Essentially,” he argues, “the Minister touts the benefits of being a landlord, but at the same time is adamant about remaining a tenant within Canada.”

It is scheduled that the Minister of Culture will fly on Monday evening to Paris, where he will deliver a speech at UNESCO headquarters calling for the defense of cultural specificities in the face of Americanization. Asked before his departure about Quebec’s status in UNESCO, Mathieu Lacombe conceded that Quebec would, in an ideal world, be a full member of this international organization. “I can only hope that is the case,” he said.

However, he did not intend to ask Ottawa for a separate seat in UNESCO, he was careful to point out then. Minister Lacombe says he is very satisfied with the space Canada is leaving Quebec within its delegation: “I feel Ottawa respects our independence.” [à l’UNESCO], even if we don’t always agree. I don’t feel like Ottawa is over our shoulder to watch what we do. »

QS abound for independence

In 2006, the governments of Jean Charest and Stephen Harper reached an agreement regarding the representation of Quebec in UNESCO. From then on, the province can appoint its own delegate general, who is part of the Canadian delegation.

Unlike the Organization Internationale de la Francophonie (OIF), Quebec does not have its own delegation within UNESCO. With the exception of Palestine, only independent states have membership.

Paul Saint-Pierre Plamondon is not the only one who raised contradictions in the minister’s comments to duty.

Also in Quebec Solidere, we also took advantage of this interview to recall the party’s independence stance. “There is only one way to get a seat at UNESCO without Ottawa always looking over our shoulder: independence,” Tacherou MP Etienne Grandmont wrote on Twitter.

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