Former PQ leader Pierre Karl Péladeau, left, celebrates with Marc Bourcier, his replacement for the riding of Saint-Jérôme, Que., in 2016.Ryan Remiorz/The Canadian Press
When Quebecor boss Pierre Karl Péladeau was in politics, he was criticized because he refused to take his hands off the business. Now that he is back in business, he cannot seem to stay out of politics lately.
The Quebec media magnate known as PKP stayed in the shadows for more than a year after he quit as Parti Québécois leader in May, 2016, but he has jumped firmly back into the spotlight now.
The Quebecor president and chief executive has taken to social media, where he fires up the PQ's separatist base and throws flaming darts at federal and provincial Liberals, journalists and rival media owners. His role has invited comparison to U.S. President Donald Trump – another CEO-politician who uses social media to attack opponents and excite partisans.
Mr. Péladeau's re-emergence has taken place during an election year in which the party he took by storm and led in a tumultuous 25-month political career is in third place in polls. Pundits and even former members are questioning whether it will survive.
PKP's political activity has boosted speculation he may return to electoral politics – suspicion he fed in September when he showed up at a PQ convention and said "only God knows" if he might try politics again.
While some of the political attacks have involved company interests, some are far from Mr. Péladeau's primary professional responsibility – to Quebecor business operations and the company's shareholders, who saw their stock price rise about 40 per cent during his time out of the political fray.
"When you buy shares, you're buying PKP to some degree," said Karl Moore, a management and leadership professor at McGill University. "You recognize he is a former politician, a partisan, a separatist, who might go back into politics. You know what you're buying into. And this social-media stuff just seems to be the way we've gone in a Trump world."
As recently as last spring and summer, Mr. Péladeau's Twitter account was primarily used to promote charitable endeavours and company activities. He often shared photos of himself out with his new date, Quebec actress Lucie Laurier. (His breakup with TV producer Julie Snyder and the care of their two school-aged children were the reasons he left politics.)
While about half of Mr. Péladeau's more recent social-media contributions promote Quebecor, others took aim at provincial Liberal handling of corruption, public transit, the health system, Bombardier and Hydro-Québec. Others dealt with topics that appeal to Quebec nationalists.
He cheered on the Catalan independence movement, applauded the legacies of former premier René Lévesque and ex-Bloc Québécois leader Gilles Duceppe, and blasted spending on governors-general, past and present. He praised one columnist for calling former governor-general Michaëlle Jean a parasite.
Many times, he mixed the corporate and partisan. Mr. Péladeau is against the federal government's Netflix deal, particularly the decision not to make the streaming service pay the same sales taxes that Quebecor remits. He could not resist direct partisan shots at Prime Minister Justin Trudeau along the way.
"There's more to politics than taking seflies!" he wrote. (In the past two months, Mr. Trudeau's twitter account has indeed posted about 80 images of himself. Mr. Péladeau's featured 59.)
Mr. Péladeau complained often about the $10-million loan the province gave to rival newspaper chain Groupe Capitales Médias headed by former federal Liberal cabinet minister Martin Cauchon.
He laced the critique with suggestions of conspiracy among Mr. Cauchon, Premier Philippe Couillard and the Desmarais family, which controls the newspaper La Presse and is associated with Liberal politics.
Political scientist Bruce Hicks said he is not surprised Mr. Péladeau is back in the political fray.
"In Quebec, we seem to have a sad tradition, especially with the PQ, where former leaders stick their noses into party politics," Dr. Hicks said. "It's a movement that's ideologically driven, and their motivation is Quebec independence, so many former leaders feel an obligation to speak out.
"And sometimes it's just sour grapes."
La Presse columnist Yves Boisvert questioned Mr. Péladeau's political role and criticized him pointedly for the broadside attacks on journalists in a column under the headline: "PKP, leader of the Opposition."
Mr. Péladeau doubled down in response, using a tone the U.S. President has employed to criticize the media, writing Mr. Boisvert "is paid by the Desmarais family to write in a money-losing media outlet that's sole mission is to maintain their political influence."
Mr. Péladeau and his company have often denied that their news operations are influenced by the CEO's politics. Mr. Péladeau's questioning of Netflix policy and media subsidies make a point, but adding partisan politics and attacking media rivals undermines everyone, including his own organizations, said Florian Sauvageau, professor emeritus of information studies at Laval University.
"We risk finding ourselves in the same situation as the United States, where partisans identify with a specific media outlet. As it is, a lot of Liberals no longer believe the Journal de Québec or the Journal de Montréal, believing they have become political adversaries," Dr. Sauvageau said. "A lot of pro-independence Quebeckers believe La Presse is a federalist newspaper. We risk becoming like the United States, where Republicans believe Fox News and Democrats put their faith in The New York Times and Washington Post."
Les Perreaux