In announcing he will run in the current provincial election, business leader Pierre Karl Péladeau said he is dedicated to making the French-speaking province of Quebec a country. Péladeau will campaign under the Parti Quebecois banner, a political party dedicated to separating Quebec from the rest of Canada.
Wooing business, alienating unions
The party is traditionally left of centre with strong union support. In attracting Péladeau, it sought to improve its standing with business. It may have done so, but the province’s largest union, the FTQ, immediately called his candidacy “a catastrophe” for working men and women, noting Péladeau was linked with 14 lockouts during labour disputes at various companies he controls.
Concerns about media independence
Péladeau pledged the media outlets he controls would maintain their editorial independence during the current election campaign. He said he had resigned his various board directorships.
“Seismic shock”
“Péladeau’s election bid theatens to shake Canada” proclaimed a headline in The Globe and Mail newspaper, going on to call “the superstar” candidacy a “seismic shock” that “threatens to rock the Canadian government and possibly the entire country.
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