The PQ won't be able to advance its agenda without cross-party support. Will anyone answer the call?

Quebec's new premier, Paul-Saint-Pierre Plamondon, says despite having a minority government, he wants to get things done. There's a responsibility to be coherent and to go forward with what you actually promised. I mean, otherwise, what's the point? But to achieve anything, PSPP is going to need to find common ground with other parties. It's massively in the incoming government's interest to conciliate, compromise and play nice with opposition parties in the short to medium term, because otherwise they're not going to have a governing record to run on when there is inevitably another government or sorry, another election in a year and a half to two years. And they're not going to be able to make it past the spring if they can't pass a budget. So the PQ has a list of things it wants to get done in its first hundred days. and for each thing on the list, it needs the support of at least one other party. So how do things line up? Let's start with something everyone agrees on, tackling homelessness and the housing crisis. PSPP wants to hold a summit on the issue and says he'll invest a billion dollars to try to halve the number of people living in the streets within five years. They might quibble over some of the details, but all parties generally agree on this one. Next on the list, reducing the size of government. The PQ wants to cut the bureaucracy and increase efficiency to save money, all without cutting public services. On that, PSPP can count on the unqualified support of the Conservative Party of Quebec. The Quebec Liberal Party is generally okay with that too, but wants to make sure that services are maintained and job cuts are limited. The PQ won't get support on this one from Quebec Solidaire, which says it wants to be a safeguard against austerity. Something that goes hand-in-hand with shrinking government is PSPP's promise to freeze salaries of MNAs and cabinet ministers, as well as his own. He says he wants to set an example. The Conservatives and Quebec Solidaire are okay with that. The Liberals say they'll wait and have a look at the proposed legislation before deciding. Next, immigration. The PQ wants to reduce the number of permanent immigrants coming to Quebec per year to 35,000, saying that's more in line with what the province can afford to welcome. The Conservative Party of Quebec supports this one, but the PQ will get static on this from the Liberals and Quebec Solidaire. Both say the province needs more immigrants to address the labor shortage. Finally, an issue that doesn't really affect people day to day, but has big symbolic value. getting rid of the lieutenant governor. PSPP wants Quebec to cut ties with the British monarchy, saying the crown has no place in Quebec's democracy. Quebec Solidaire is totally okay with this one. The Liberals and the Conservative Party say they both support this generally, but maybe it shouldn't be a priority right now. There are other things too, but these are the main ones. And based on these, the PQ will probably be able to maintain a certain stability. But Gill says larger battles are yet to come. We're kind of in an interregnum right now, in the sense that minority governments are exceedingly rare in Quebec history, and we've just come to the end of eight years of dominance by a party that has now been wiped out. So to some extent, you know, the chips haven't quite fallen in a definitive way yet. He says while parties may be able to find compromise on some of these issues now, Eventually, things will come to a head. PSPP wants to hold a referendum on Quebec independence, but not until Donald Trump is out of office south of the border. This government likely won't last that long. So Gill says independence will likely be the ballot box question in the next election. And he says then this brief era of compromise will be over.