EDMONTON — Alberta Prosperity Project CEO Mitch Sylvestre says the Alberta independence movement has an unlikely ally after the Parti Québécois secured a minority government following the province's general election."I think that, having met Mr. Plamondon before he became premier, you know, I'm very optimistic that Alberta will be able to work with Quebec moving forward on lots of stuff because I think they line up with us in a lot of ways," Sylvestre said during an interview with the Western Standard on Tuesday..Paul St-Pierre Plamondon and the PQ prevailed in Monday's Quebec election with 59 seats, giving the pro-sovereigntist party a minority government. The Quebec Liberal Party will form the official opposition with 40 seats, while the Conservatives won 19.The PQ's victory is significant, as it puts the province on course for a sovereignty referendum for the first time since 1995 and the third time overall. The party ran on a mandate for Quebec sovereignty and on protecting the French language and culture.Some, including Sylvestre, think the PQ resides on the opposite end of the political spectrum from Alberta conservatism. However, the APP CEO said his understanding changed after he met with Plamondon in Calgary a few months ago.Sylvestre said Plamondon told him that the federal government is unnecessary, a comment that has stuck with him since their meeting. He also said the movement was farther along the path to independence than the PQ leader initially thought.."It started out as an hour-long meeting and ended up being a 4.5- to 5-hour meeting, and we found out that we have almost everything in common," Sylvestre said. "To tell you the honest truth, it was absolutely amazing. They thought we were far-right rednecks, to coin a phrase, and we thought they were lefties."So, as a consequence of that, we found out how much we actually have in common. The only thing that we actually disagreed on was a pipeline to Quebec. Other than that, we agreed on everything."Premiers have accused nationalist leaders of treason, hurled insults at Alberta independence supporters, and called on Premier Danielle Smith to shut down the Oct. 19 referendum. Sylvestre thinks Plamondon will be a friendly voice for the movement and might even help if asked."Without question," Sylvestre said. "There's no doubt in my mind about that. We've talked about that. There's no doubt in my mind about that.".Quebec's sovereignty referendum comes with questions, as the party's minority government risks being toppled if it cannot get at least one or two other parties to support holding one. Plamondon also intends to delay a referendum until after U.S. President Donald Trump leaves office.Additionally, the PQ's victory does not mean a majority of Quebecers support sovereignty, as the party collected 28% of the popular vote."I mean, you can spin that any way you want, but here's the thing: they're in power now, and their mandate is for Quebec independence," Sylvestre said..Beyond having an independence ally in government across the country, Sylvestre said the PQ's victory sets up a potential domino effect that could benefit Alberta. He thinks political power would "dramatically" shift to Western Canada if Quebec left. In a world where both Alberta and Quebec leave Canada, Sylvestre theorized that every province could become an independent nation joined together under a union."Ideally, that sounds great," Sylvestre said. "And the other thing it would do, it would force a lot of these provinces to actually develop their resources and the wealth that they actually have, and as a consequence of that, they could become absolutely more independent.""As we're in Alberta here, we're actually set to develop ours if we could, and become one of the wealthiest places in the world."
