Quebec Referendum: QS co-spokesperson Sol Zanetti urges Ottawa to ‘stay out of it’
Posted December 4, 2025 4:33 pm.
Last Updated December 4, 2025 4:38 pm.
As the federal government begins to consider the upcoming referendum on sovereignty, pro-independence parties in the National Assembly have urged it to play by the rules, with Québec solidaire co-spokesperson Sol Zanetti going so far as to tell Ottawa to “stay out of it.”
Radio-Canada revealed on Thursday that the Carney government had begun discussions on how to respond to the Parti Québécois (PQ) platform in anticipation of a possible referendum. The public broadcaster cites an anonymous source who explains that Ottawa does not want to be caught off guard in the event of a PQ victory in the 2026 election.
When asked about the issue, the PQ and Québec solidaire said they hoped the government would behave better than it did in 1995, when consultations left a bitter taste in the mouths of the sovereigntist movement, particularly with regard to federal government spending.
“The Canadian government seems to think it’s its business. We’re going to look into that, because we know that last time, the No camp cheated outside Quebec,” Zanetti thundered at a press briefing on Thursday morning.
“We will defend Quebec. This consultation concerns only Quebecers, it is none of your business, stay on your side, and we will check up on you,” he added.
For its part, the PQ considered it “normal” for the federal government to prepare, but urged it to act “according to the rules,” given that this is a “democratic exercise.”
“We are also preparing, but unlike them, we are going to do it properly,” said PQ MNA Alex Boissonneault. “If the past is any indication of the future, it won’t be proper in Ottawa.”
The Quebec Liberal Party (PLQ) believes that the federal government is not doing anything wrong by preparing for this possibility.
PLQ MNA André Morin considers it “perfectly logical and normal” to develop a counterweight to the sovereignist movement in anticipation of a referendum.
In a press scrum later, PLQ leader Pablo Rodriguez refused to discuss the possibility of a future referendum because his job, he said, is to win the next election to avoid that avenue.
–This report by La Presse Canadienne was translated by CityNews
