Show Notes
om Mulcair didn’t hold back in his scorching Corner Booth debut. The former Quebec Liberal MNA and leader of the federal NDP joined to hosts Bill Brownstein and Aaron Rand at Snowdon Deli to dish on a number of hot button political issues — everything from Canada’s dealings with U.S. President Donald Trump to Quebec Premier François Legault’s fate. The longtime Outremont MP also pulled no punches on the current Montreal mayoral race. He talked about the “orange cone mentality” at City Hall and the closing of Camillien-Houde Way as a “form of political corruption.” He had sharp words for candidates Luc Rabouin and Craig Sauvé, even calling the former “ one of the worst politicians I’ve ever met.” But he saved some of his best barbs for the current premier and the person best positioned to unseat him in the 2026 provincial election, PQ leader Paul St-Pierre Plamondon. “Legault is finished. Let’s not kid ourselves about that,” he said. “But I’m not convinced the CAQ is a spent force.” Even though Plamondon currently enjoys a healthy lead in the polls, Mulcair can see it all crumble if the PQ’s calls for another referendum grow louder. “If you want to run the government, we might actually vote for you and give you that possibility. But if you tell us that once you get in, you’re going to start taking taxpayer money to try to set up the winning conditions for a referendum to break up one of the most successful countries in the world and pull Quebec out of Canada, we’re going defeat you,” Mulcair said. He also offered a warning to Pablo Rodriguez, current leader of the Quebec Liberals, saying “he’s walking right into a trap with Bill 21,” the CAQ’s secularism bill that bars teachers, lawyers, police officers and more from wearing religious symbols. Mulcair added the provincial Liberals remain “in deep trouble outside of Montreal.” But the seasoned politician and regular contributor to The Gazette’s opinion page was effusive in his praise of one politician in particular. Watch this week’s episode to find out who it is.
More from The Corner Booth
After the Parti Québécois won a minority government on Monday with only 28 per cent of the popular vote, some political commentators have downplayed the chances of a sovereignty referendum in Quebec.
The Quebec election is officially in the books, with Paul St-Pierre Plamondon’s Parti Québécois winning a minority government. In this special election recap episode of The Corner Booth, former NDP leader Tom Mulcair joined hosts Bill Brownstein and Aaron Rand at Snowdon Deli to share his thoughts the rise of the Quebec Conservatives, the wipeout of the CAQ and what he thinks PSPP’s first 100 days in office might look like.
Audio-only: Stéphane Dion calls Monday’s provincial election a “double election” for Quebecers. The former federal Liberal leader, who drafted the Clarity Act in response to the 1995 Quebec referendum, establishing the conditions under which the government of Canada would enter into negotiations if a province voted to secede, joined hosts Bill Brownstein and Aaron Rand for a special edition of The Corner Booth at Temple Emanu-El-Beth Sholom in Westmount to explain why.
The latest polls say Paul St-Pierre Plamondon’s Parti Québécois is potentially on the cusp of winning a majority government in Monday’s provincial election. Should the PQ be held to a minority, all eyes will be on the other main sovereignist party — Québec solidaire — and whether they’ll work with or against Plamondon’s goal of holding a referendum. The way party co-leader Ruba Ghazal described it to hosts Bill Brownstein and Aaron Rand on the latest episode of The Corner Booth at Snowdon Deli, Québec solidaire’s vision of an independent Quebec is quite a bit different from the PQ’s.
The Quebec election campaign is in the final stretch. Right now, it’s looking like the Parti Québécois are on the cusp of a majority government. For Quebec Liberal leader Charles Milliard, that means his final days on the trail will be spent reminding the 70 per cent of voters who don’t currently want a referendum that his party could be the federalist alternative with the CAQ in a free-fall. He joined hosts Bill Brownstein and Aaron Rand on the latest episode of The Corner Booth at Snowdon Deli to explain why the Quebec Liberals are "the most rational people in town.”