Paul St-Pierre Plamondon wants the Parti Qubcois to return to its Ren Lvesque roots

PaulSt-PierrePlamondon, a longshot in the leadership race, has tried to stress the "founding values" of theParti Qubcois during the campaign.

The 39-year-oldMontreal lawyer, educated atMcGilland Oxford universities,isbest known for his 2014 bookLesorphelinspolitiques, in which he made the case that youngQuebecersdon't see their values reflected in the current political landscape.

He spoke with CBC Montreal Daybreak host Mike Finnerty on Wednesday.

Two other candidates,Jean-FranoisLise and Alexandre Cloutier, have already been interviewed.

Martine Ouellet is set to speak with Finnerty on Thursday.

Here's an edited transcript of his conversation with Plamondon.

What's the role of the PQ?

I think the founding values of the PQ are very relevant today.This heritage of Ren Lvesquedriving out corruption and coming up with long-term projects to improve our society is very relevant.

But I think the PQ needs to reconnect with youth. The party needs to be more democratic, more open to diversity.

How do you explainthepopularity of Justin Trudeau in Quebec?

To look at politics only based on the popularity of one politician, it's short-term thinking.

I think structural problems are important, such as what's going to happen to the petroleum from Albertacoming through our territory, presentingrisks to the health of people.

There aremany issues that are more important than the current popularity of one politician.

Why are you in favour ofbanning the burka?

We need to prevent racism and discrimination, but there's also a notion of common citizenship.

As we see in Europe, certain parts of cities are not living with others and police can't do their job because they can't identify people.

Wearing aburka is not a religious right. It's not a religious obligation either.

Are you worried your positionis distracting from more important issues?

In the list of things to do in Quebec right now, it's not themost important topic.

I have a position on that topic because it's like any topic, we need to have a position on what is the best solution for society.

We need to be able to debate those issues, otherwise there's no freedom of expression.

Will you run for a National Assemblyseateven if you don't win the leadership?

Yes.

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