U.S. consul’s leaked text message reveals scheduled meeting with PQ leader was cancelled

Majority view

Multiple French-language reports, including La Presse and Le Devoir, report that U.S. officials said the Parti Québécois sought a meeting and that a planned Washington meeting did not occur after the PQ cancelled its trip. However, Paul St-Pierre Plamondon disputes that his party requested or scheduled a specific meeting. The narrower claim that a leaked consul text message itself revealed the cancellation is supported by reporting on correspondence cited by La Presse, but the characterization of the meeting as definitively scheduled is disputed.

Credible dissent

PQ leader Paul St-Pierre Plamondon and his spokesperson deny that the party requested or scheduled a specific meeting with the U.S. State Department, saying only that the possibility of a Washington trip was communicated to the consulate.