OTTAWA — Paul St-Pierre Plamondon, leader of the Parti Québécois, expressed deep concern over the recent assassination of U.S. conservative activist Charlie Kirk at a university in Utah. Plamondon noted that the incident resonated with him personally, as he was involved in founding a group similar to Kirk's Turning Point USA in the 2000s.

In 2007, Plamondon, along with federal Industry Minister Melanie Joly and Stéphanie Raymond-Bougie, established Génération d’idées. This civic organization aimed to engage young adults aged 20 to 35 in political discussions through healthy debate. During his six years with the group, Plamondon moderated numerous discussions on college campuses and other venues across Quebec.

Reflecting on that time, he remarked, "I don’t think we could achieve today the culture of thinking and debating we had at Génération d’idées at the time, because it was a pre-social media period." He emphasized the significant impact of social media on public discourse, stating, "The impact of social media, and socialization through social media … is it allows people to distort reality to fit their ideology and, afterwards, people who don’t agree become enemies."

Plamondon made these comments while visiting Calgary, where he began a two-day trip with a speech at the University of Calgary’s School of Public Policy. He felt it was essential to address the violence in Utah during his remarks, saying, "It was important for me to mention that what happened to Utah was a stark reminder of how critical it was for me to be able to stand there at the University of Calgary and respectfully engage with a roomful of people who disagreed with me."

He also discussed the negative influence of social media on academic discourse, linking it to a decline in the pursuit of objective truth in some academic circles. "If you’re not looking for the truth anymore, because you think the truth doesn’t exist or doesn’t matter, you can’t be a civilized and respectful environment for debate; it just doesn’t match," he said.

Plamondon hopes that Kirk's assassination will serve as a wake-up call for both Canadians and Americans. "We need to acknowledge that there is a problem. And we need to acknowledge it right now, given what happened yesterday," he stated.

Part of Plamondon's visit to Alberta was to engage with differing viewpoints. He noted, "It struck me that Alberta is one of the most interesting places right now to answer questions about why Quebec’s sovereigntist movement is back and what we want. We might have differences as well, but that’s, in any case, very useful."