Former STM chairman Philippe Schnobb to run as PQ candidate in Manon Massé’s riding

Paul St-Pierre Plamondon has chosen Philippe Schnobb, former chairman of the board of the Société de transport de Montréal (STM), to represent the Parti Québécois (PQ) in the next general election in the riding of Sainte-Marie–Saint-Jacques.

Schnobb possesses the “qualifications” and “rigour” to advance the PQ on “social issues,” “public transit,” and to “serve the project of Quebec independence,” St-Pierre Plamondon summarized in response to a journalist’s question on Wednesday in Montreal.

The PQ leader introduced to the press the man he hopes will represent his party in the Sainte-Marie–Saint-Jacques riding.

“Brick by brick in the Montreal area, we will bring in quality candidates who will, I think, inspire people to come together instead of dividing themselves, to have a bit more ambition on these rather disheartening social issues,” said the PQ leader, referring in particular to the homelessness and housing crisis that are especially affecting this riding located in the city’s Centre-Sud district.

“I am very keen to meet with groups that help vulnerable people to see how we can help them, with funding, certainly, but also sometimes by simplifying the regulations that come from above,” said Schnobb, who has lived in the riding for 30 years.

A sovereigntist

This riding is currently represented by Québec solidaire MNA Manon Massé, but it was a PQ stronghold until 2014.

The PQ is counting on Massé’s announced departure from politics to win back the riding.

In a press scrum Wednesday morning at the National Assembly, the QS MNA wasted no time in attacking the PQ candidate who could threaten QS’s dominance in this riding.

She questioned his commitment to independence, given that he is running for a party whose main platform is sovereignty.

Massé pointed out that Schnobb had been a candidate for the municipal party of Denis Coderre, a former Liberal Party of Canada minister and ardent federalist.

“It’s just a question of his sovereigntist leanings. I don’t recall Philippe ever defending Quebec sovereignty,” Massé said.

When questioned about his candidate’s sovereigntist fervour, St-Pierre Plamondon replied that “we don’t have to answer that” because Schnobb “voted yes in 1980, then again in 1995, and there are witnesses who have attested that he is a sovereigntist. He himself told me so, so we can say things, but when they aren’t true, unfortunately, they’re of no use.”

The candidate added that he had “cried in 1980 watching the referendum results” and that he had “shuddered quietly in the RDI newsroom in 1995,” thus referring to his previous career as a journalist.

Increase funding for public transit

From 2013 to 2018, Schnobb was Chairman of the Board of Directors of the STM.

Asked to comment on the state of public transit in Quebec, he stated that “the entire funding model for public transit certainly needs to be reviewed.”

On the issue of mobility, Schnobb did not hesitate to criticize François Legault’s government.

“What I observed is that we had projects—it’s still called the sustainable mobility policy—but it never materialized,” whereas what’s needed is “a development vision for transportation, and also a vision for infrastructure maintenance.”

Issues related to the LGBTQ+ community

On his LinkedIn page, it states that since 2025, Schnobb has worked for the City of Montreal as coordinator of the working committee for the collective intervention strategy for the Village, a neighbourhood located in the Sainte-Marie-Saint-Jacques borough.

“I have worked in the governance of LGBTQ+ community organizations, which has allowed me to deepen my understanding of complex issues by meeting people who represent all parts of the acronym,” including “trans people whom I have met in recent years and whom I now consider friends,” explained Schnobb.

These encounters and this experience “give me a very concrete perspective on multiple and sometimes complex realities, and I know that on these issues, there is a humanism and openness within the Parti Québécois that has endured through all eras and is based on respect for the rights protected by the Charter, and that reassures me,” added the man who intends to be elected under the PQ banner.

Schnobb’s candidacy must be confirmed by a nomination in the riding.

–This report by La Presse Canadienne was translated by CityNews