The Current - Meet the Gen Z Quebec separatists

Episode Date: June 24, 2026

As Quebec marks the Fete Nationale, we look at the new and very online generation of Quebecois independence activists. We speak to a 25-year-old Alex Valiquette about the explosion of pro-independence music and memes — and how the movement is reaching out to allophones and newcomers. Then, poll analyst Philippe Fournier gives a reality check about movement's strength among young people and the Quebec public at large — and how the Parti Quebecois promise to hold a referendum within four years could play into the upcoming fall election.

Look, there are days that I don't know how to make sense of the world, but I found that art and culture are the things that help me feel a little less alone. I'm Alameen Abdu Mahmoud and I host a show called Commotion and every day I do my best to keep you up to date on what's happening in pop culture. It is a lot, but I get by with a little help of my friends, of course. It's a little bit in the name, right? Ticketmaster. It's not ticket friend or whatever. Ticket helper. Ticket pal. You can find and follow Commotion on YouTube or wherever you get your podcasts. This is a CBC podcast. Hello, I'm Matt Galloway, and this is the current podcast.

At the Frankos de Morayal Festival earlier this month, the whole crowd was singing along with Arian Roy and Lou Adrian Cassidy. The song is called FI Aporte. It's an anthem about breaking away from codependency. Someone threw a Quebec flag on stage, and Ariane raised it high in the air, and as the song ended and the applause swelled, some people in the crowd began to shout. Le Quebec en paille. Quebec is a country. Both singers have declared their support for Quebec independence. They're part of a new Gen Z version of the Sovereignty Movement. And so is my first guest today. Alex Valiquette is with Wee, Quebec, nonpartisan civil society organization supporting sovereignty. Alex, good morning. Good morning. Thank you for having me. Thank you for being here. Today is Fet National in Quebec. And you through a huge party, what 12,000 people showed up in Park Lafaxia.

Fontaine last night in Montreal? Yes, and I must say 12,000 people with the majority of young Gen Z people in high school a lot. Yeah, pretty crazy. How would you describe the moment that the independence movement is having in your generation right now? Well, I think we're kind of like doing something that a lot of people have said that was impossible. For a long time, young people were the generation, the least interested in the... independence and something's something I've been changing in the last years. Poles have been changing and right now Gen Z is the generation the most leading for

independence in the polls in Quebec. So I think there's something quite exciting, a generation that's like taking this cause with its own codes, its own values as well. And that's something that we haven't seen in a long time in Quebec. What was the attraction for you to get involved in this? Well, for me, it started with a desire of social change. Of course, pride of being Quebecois and, you know, this feeling of being really different and this desire of existing like other countries, being known internationally for who we are,

and engage throughout this process with the Quebec population to create a new country, you know, the exciting part of it, the process part of it of building a new modern country with a new constitution that actually represents and that represents well Quebec. You know, it's interesting. Before the last federal election, we were in Quebec City speaking with young people there who were in support of independence. And one of the things that they said was that they felt their generation had been given a raw deal, housing and the job market and the state of the economy.

And the sense was that what you heard from people there is that they felt, you know, could we do better on our own in some ways? Is that kind of the appeal as well? I hear that a lot of course. I think that young people, you know, we've been raised at school with like with the fact that we don't have a clear future ahead of us with climate change, with the, as you said, with the rent and the impossibility for us to buy home and everything's expensive. So I think a lot of young people want to regain some kind of.

power and sovereignty I think represents that it's the idea to recuperate some form of power build your own future as something that's exciting as a social project I think that a lot of young people as well after the COVID crisis felt a lot of isolation and I think that's why as well independence comes back I think we need more community and that's that's the independence project and it's always been an important in the Independence Project, Quebequa culture, and right now new artists, as you said in the introduction, are taking discussion and reaffirming their pride of being Quebecois

and even seeing pride lead that their independents, you know. Does it help that, I mean, I remember speaking with people who were around during the 95 referendum, and they were scarred by the loss in 95. And I don't know when you were born, but a lot of the folks who weren't around then maybe don't carry that baggage. Does that matter as well?

I was born in 2001, so six years after the referendum. So I think there's a really difference between the youth and their perception of the independence movement. Because for us, it's like sometimes it's almost like arrogant. It's like if this movement never existed before because we're kind of like reinventing it and bring it back. So there's this kind of arrogance towards the other generations that's really funny. But I think it's also what's different is that we don't have. this humiliation that our parents felt when they lost it. And this, you know, this feeling of losing your country,

of voting against your own independence as a nation. I think that's been something that was really humiliating for a lot of Quebecois in 1995. And I think we don't have this perception for us. Our perception in the youth is that we were so close to having it. So it's still possible to do it today and to do it as well. a new way, I would say. There's no surprise that one of the ways this is spreading is through music and online culture. So I want to play a little bit of music here.

We should probably just say just a warning to our audience. You're going to hear some distinctly Quebecua strong language. Have a listen to this. My flower preferrie. It's a flower de lice. Lace and palentee, I've done a frownice. There's things illegal. I'm for a flower de Liszt.

Jok Ket, Sto, Bar-Barmac, your voley, my fleur-de-lis. My flower-fifery, see, it's a fleur-leis. That's why don't you Like it's my Fras delis That's Incheon For a Quir de Lisz

That's a Kinse That's Like the Lour de L'E Like the night Like the night Dillow Fikos Forso I'm back

Like Like it's Mourche And now Kinge Coochie That's That'd like

Soh That's Sourte That's That's That song Yes Well, This song

Last year Had a Big Impe impact in the Gen Z because it went viral. Just to put you in context, Kinji took this song out on social media when he was 17 years old. So really, really young. Didn't even have the age to vote yet.

And it just exploded on social media. And it created a big trend, but also a big discussion. Because this song talks about, like, you know, the lyrics are not really profound. You know, it just says, my favorite flower. is La Flore de Lisz, which is like the symbol on Quebec's flag. For St. Valentine's, I gave her a floor de list. Illegal things, I would do it for the floor de list. And Jean Chetain is a beep, beep, because he stole my Florida list,

referring to, of course, the referendum in 95 and the loss of it. So it's like this song of kind of like bringing back the hype for independentism in Quebec. And yeah, it went pretty viral. viral as well internationally. Kenji has been touring in Europe in France since he's gone like two, three times and yeah, it's pretty crazy.

He played last year at the event that we were organized for the Saint-Jean, independent of St. Jean. It was crazy. I want to play one more song, and this is from one of the bands that played last night at your event. This is the Brown family and tomorrow night. It's correct to grow on tomorrow night.

It's correct to morer on night. The soli year back in the morning. So that's interesting, I'm a whole to cranname for a hundred likes, I croir on love and the money wreck for French, I work to try to work,

so that's interesting because there's a real blend of English and French in a way maybe that earlier generations might not have embraced. Tell me about that. Yes, well, for us,

you know, we're all young people that organize this event of La Saint-Jean that we've organized yesterday, or between like 25, 27 years old. And for us, It's always been important to show that you could be Quebecua and sing as a Quebecois and also sing for Quebec independence and sing in different languages. So even yesterday, we had Brown family, but we also had Talia Rosara, that's a Colombian-Chibecois, hyperpop singer that sings in Spanish and in French and embraces Quebecois culture and this independence project for us. I think we're trying to break the code, change the codes as well,

and show that we don't care to break them and that it's okay. Because sometimes, you know, older generations have this kind of, sometimes rigid view of what Quebec nationalism was in their time. And sometimes there's this like temptation for them to like tell us what to do young people and tell them, oh, if you're not speaking that way or not doing that, that's not good for Quebec's future, no, no, no. us were there just saying, yo, we're proud of being Quebec. We want Quebec to be a country and we're mobilizing youth for that. But we accept the fact that today we grew up in a really

diverse Quebec and we speak different languages. And we do believe that Quebec, French is still, of course, at the heart of this identity. But we could, you know, like have fun and break those codes. Even, you know, all our visuals for last St. Jean this year in the event that we're organized, we're in green. So we don't, you know, usually there's this classic blue, but us, we're just breaking the codes and we don't care, but, and we're still, you know, in favor of independence and more than any other groups in Quebec, I think, you know, in the youth. I have to let you go, but let me ask you two quick things. One is, I know that your organization is nonpartisan, but the PQ, the Parti-Kébecois has said that it will hold a referendum if it wins

the provincial election this fall. What does that tell you? Are you supportive of that? Well, I'm in support of an independentist government, hopefully. But, you know, us, the fact that we're nonpartisan is just another way of mobilizing for independence. You know, political parties can't throw a 12,000 Gen Z Independence Party in a park, you know. And that's the action that we Quebec believes, you know, building grassroots communities for independence, having this important discussions that we need to have. mobilizing artists, that's what we do. And we believe that the new independence wave for the next referendum needs to come more from civil society, civil society organizations, citizens, and

not only political parties. And we really believe in that. Just very briefly, what would you say, you're speaking to the rest of the country as well. So what would you say to people outside of Quebec about this moment? Because there are people, we've been talking about Alberta independence, and they would say, now is not the time to talk about this. You have a threat from the United States. You have a president who says he wants to take over this country. And if you, if you talk about breaking up the country, there will be consequences for Canada writ large. What would you say to people across the country? Well, first of all, I think it's, I've been like involved in an independence movement for a while and it's never been a good time. Like we have always been told it's not a good

time. It's not a good time. I think that, you know, we, first of all, we don't have to see Quebec independence as something that's like against Canada. And I really believe that, like the way I think that Canadians express their desire to remain Canadian and not become American, I think we really need to understand that from a Quebeco perspective as well, that it doesn't mean that we hate each other, that we, I think we will still travel and even stay good friends because Quebec and Canada does share a lot of common values. But I think that we need to accept democracy and accept that things could evolve. that Quebec and Canada could keep good relations, even if Quebec decides to become independent.

And I really believe in that. Alex, it's really good to talk to you, and I hope we have the chance to speak again. It's important to hear from you, given the size of the crowd last night, but also what you're pushing for. Thank you very much for being here. Thank you for having me.

Alex Valiquette is responsible for communications at We, Quebec. It's a nonpartisan civil society group promoting independence in Quebec. We'll be right back with more of the current podcast. Hello, I'm Emma from the Earth Rangers podcast. If you think that animals are amazing, then our podcast is the one for you. Join me as I travel the world to discover the wildest animal facts out there and solve nature's biggest mysteries. If you're a fan of animal expeditions like on PBS's Wildcrats and the BBC's Planet Earth,

or the mystery and intrigue of Carmen San Diego, then you'll love the Earth Rangers podcast. This is a journey you won't want to miss. Follow the Earth Rangers podcast on Apple Podcasts, and for more information, go to gzimshows.com. See you soon. Philippe J. Furnier is a political columnist for Laxuality. He's the creator and editor-in-chief of the poll aggregator websites, 338 Canada, and QC125.com.

He's in our Montreal studio. Philippe, good morning to you. Good morning, Mac. Thanks for having you. Thanks for being here. What do you make of the enthusiasm that Alex is talking about? They got 12,000 people out to a park last night. Young people talking about how they're...

they want to see Quebec become an independent nation? Well, here's what I would say. Of course, I'm a numbers guy, so I will not negate anything that Monsieur Valiquet just said here about the enthusiasm, because it is here. But when we look at the cold hard data and the numbers, we see that when the Partsique took a real hard hit in the 22 Quebec election, it just had over force. 14% of the vote. Back then, support for Quebec sovereignty was around 30% province-wide.

And today, the Parts-Kewa is the favorite to win the election in three months. It is leading in the polls that has been leading in the polls for over three years. And support for independence is still hovering in the low 30s. So support for the PQ and support for independence has not been necessarily correlated. So I would say to that that enthusiasm towards sovereignty is back on a table, but their movement has not grown in size in the last few years. What do you make of who is part of the movement? Alex was talking about how the movements is trying to be much more inclusive in many ways

and drew a line between his generation, perhaps earlier generations. Well, this is an interesting point and strategy. Obviously, I think this is the way to go. If Quebec sovereigns want to win the next referendum, they would have to reach out to the multicultural community. throughout Quebec. This is the way to do it. Which is a big change. I mean, if you think of 95 and Jacques Perrazo, after the referendum results coming in, blaming, as he said, money and the ethnic vote.

Yeah. The problem is that when we look at, again, the cold, hard numbers, we see that if you're not Francophone Quebec, the odds are, you are not sovereignists. And so these artists that are included in this movement, I think is a great news for the sovereignty movement. But again, it's not a sign necessarily of growth. It is a sign of diversity, which I think would be positive. But I haven't seen in the numbers like the growth that they claim to have so far at least. You know, when we were Quebec City during the federal election last year, there were all of these by Canadian signs around town,

which I think surprised a lot of people. Would a poll say broadly about support for federalism versus sovereignty in the general electric in Quebec? kind of hinted at this, but is there the room for growth or is that fixed those numbers? There's definitely room for growth. Again, if we go back and I know 1995 is starting to be pretty distant in the past, right? I'm in my late 40s and I didn't vote in 95 because I wasn't 18 yet. But so when we, again, when we look at the numbers and we see that the sovereignty movement hits a wall if it reaches closest to 40% in a poll.

The no side or the federalist side or the, I would rather say, the non-sovereignty side, because I don't think many Quebecers identify as federalist. But the non-sovereignty side is not organized right now because sovereignty has not been on the table. It has not been an election issue in many years. The Parts Quebecois has not won a majority government in this century. And so I think it's pretty distant. And Monsieur Valiquette, would he referred to, he was born in. in 2001, I heard.

And so he's never lived through a majority government of the Parts Quebecua. He saw the winning days of Bernhardy. And so what I see when I see these sovereign-ist campuses, when I see these organization on campuses in Segeeps and University, I see the sovereignty camp getting ready for a new round of constitutional battles and perhaps a new referendum. But again, when we look at the progression of numbers, right now, we had a Leje poll that was released last week and it was 70% against sovereignty and 30% in favor. That's not close.

30% is still a lot of people, 9 million Quebecers, 30% in favor of sovereignty, but that's not close to what they need to be competitive. We're just about out of time. Yesterday we saw the leader of the Part of the Quebecois repeat his pledge to hold a referendum on separation. You could have, the election in Quebec this fall could very well overlap with the referendum or at the very least the referendum on the referendum that Alberta is holding in October. What do you think, just briefly, what do you think that's going to be like?

Well, we've never had a referendum on secession during the age of social media. And so I think it will be a very interesting experiment to see how much foreign influence gets into the discussion. We know that they are U.S. agents. and working online to destabilize Canada. And I think the Alberta situation in Quebec situation are entirely different in that respect. Monsieur Valiquette hinted to it in Quebec, support for sovereignty permeates civil society. It's in unions.

It's in environmentalists. It's in many parties, many political parties. Whereas in Alberta, it's just conservative. So it's a completely different dynamic. but it will be quite the interesting experiment to watch this fall because it will also overlap with the Quebec campaign. We will talk again, I'm sure, as that campaign gets closer, in the meantime, Philippe, it's really good to have you here.

Thank you very much. Mercié, beaucoup, and a bonnetse, at all the Francophone in Canada. Thank you. Philippe J. Fournier is a political columnist for Lactuality and creator of the poll aggregate websites, 338 Canada, and QC-125.com. He was in our Montreal studio.

Your thoughts on this? if you remember 95 or you don't, and you're watching this unfold right now. You can email us, the current, at cbc.ca. You've been listening to the current podcast. My name's Matt Galloway. Thanks for listening.

I'll talk to you soon. For more CBC podcasts, go to cbc.ca slash podcasts.