Quebec politics are a lot like pineapple on pizza—everyone has an opinion.
And on Wednesday, one of the richest people on the planet decided to share his.
Just two days after the Parti Québécois won Monday’s provincial election, Elon Musk took to X (a social media platform he owns) with a series of posts cheering on Quebec independence.
It started when Musk replied to a post from Polymarket, which said Quebec’s new premier had declared his dream of Québécois independence “will be realized one day.”
“Good. Quebec should separate,” he wrote.
He wasn’t done. Musk also replied “True” to a post from Rebel News founder Ezra Levant, which said Quebec had “just handed power to a party that wants out of Canada.” For the record, Levant’s post put the PQ at 56 seats. The party finished election night with 59, five short of a majority.
How we got here
On Monday, Quebecers elected a PQ minority government. It was a dramatic comeback for a party that won just three seats in 2022. Paul St-Pierre Plamondon will become the province’s next premier, and he closed his victory speech by telling supporters he wants to make Quebec a country.
He has promised to hold a third referendum on independence during his first term, but not until U.S. President Donald Trump leaves office. And on Tuesday, he said a referendum isn’t one of his immediate priorities. First up are a summit on homelessness, a salary freeze for elected officials and Crown corporation executives, and a new secretariat to review government spending.
Quebecers had thoughts
The replies filled up fast, and some sovereigntists weren’t exactly thrilled with their new celebrity endorsement.
“I don’t think his support helps the cause,” one user wrote in French.
“We don’t care about his opinion,” one user wrote. Another simply called it “bad news,” along with a meme suggesting Musk take his opinions to Mars.
And at least one person got creative, sharing an image of a cartoon Musk in front of a Patriotes flag.
Not everyone was against it, though. A few even thanked the 55-year-old for his support.
One user said Musk was “absolutely right,” calling it the biggest show of support for Quebec independence since former French President Charles de Gaulle proclaimed the phrase “Vive le Québec libre” back in 1967.
Over in the English-language replies, people seemed more interested in logistics.
“Would it still use the CAD?” one user asked.
Someone who claimed to from the Maritimes wondered aloud whether they’d be left out of the whole thing, while another suggested Newfoundland should be its own country too.
And one user offered him some relationship advice, telling Musk that just because he’s been through his share of breakups doesn’t mean his advice to everyone else should be to split up too. Provinces, they argued, can work through their differences.
This also isn’t the first time Musk has weighed in on Canada. He holds Canadian citizenship through his mother, and has posted about the country plenty of times before, often to the frustration of a lot of Canadians.
Whether his opinion moves the needle in Quebec is another question. Based on the replies, though, plenty of Canadians would rather he stay out of it.