Quebec Premier François Legault openly promotes Pierre Poilievre’s Conservative Party of Canada (CPC).
This is what the parliamentary leader of Québec solidaire (QS), Gabriel Nadeau-Dubois, denounced on Tuesday in a press scrum at the National Assembly.
He called Mr. Legault a “super volunteer” for the CPC, noting that the Quebec premier relayed an election-themed message from Mr. Poilievre’s Quebec advisor, Vincent Desmarais, on his X account on Saturday.
Last Thursday, Mr. Legault criticized the Bloc Québécois for supporting Justin Trudeau’s Liberal government. A “staggering” support for the CPC, according to Mr. Nadeau-Dubois.
The message relayed by Mr. Legault on Saturday reads as follows: “In 2008, the Bloc preferred to be an accomplice of a centralizing and Trudeauist party rather than defend the interests of Quebec. Today, history is repeating itself.”
Seizing the opportunity, Mr. Poilievre declared in the House of Commons on Tuesday that “the premier of Quebec says that the Quebec nation does not want to show confidence in this government.” [Trudeau] “.
NDP leader Jagmeet Singh also took the opportunity to once again call Mr. Legault a “conservative prime minister” who “privatizes our health care system,” as he had already done last February.
“When did François Legault receive this mandate from Quebecers?” asked Mr. Nadeau-Dubois. “When did they vote for François Legault to openly promote a party in which a third of the members are against the right to abortion?”
Access to abortion and the Quebec tramway
The QS co-spokesperson recalled that in June 2023, Conservative MP Jeremy Patzer travelled to Florida to give a speech at the congress of a creationist and anti-abortion church.
Since becoming a member of parliament, Pierre Poilievre has himself voted four times for motions or bills that directly threatened women’s right to abortion, according to QS.
“It’s not a joke“This is serious. Do we want this man to be Prime Minister of Canada?” Mr. Nadeau-Dubois asked.
“François Legault, what he did last week was a huge slap in the face to this politician. I think that it does not represent the values of the vast majority of Quebecers, and François Legault must correct his course.”
According to him, the mandate of the Premier of Quebec is not to become “Pierre Poilievre’s chief volunteer”, but “to make our health system work, our education system, to take care of the cost of living and then to take care of housing”.
“Let François Legault do that and then stop campaigning for Pierre Poilievre,” he insisted.
Furthermore, QS MP Etienne Grandmont argued that the CCP’s coming to power could spell the death knell for the Quebec tramway project.
“Pierre Poilievre said he wouldn’t put a cent into the tramway project,” he stressed. “Does the Premier of Quebec endorse that? Does he think the federal government shouldn’t put a cent into it, or does he really want the tramway to happen?”
The tramway project must go ahead, added the interim leader of the Quebec Liberal Party, Marc Tanguay.
“Clearly, he is pointing to support, which he has not yet confirmed, but formal support for the Conservative Party, which, for us, is not acceptable. It is not up to the Premier of Quebec to make federal politics,” declared Mr. Tanguay.
Legault persists and signs
During a heated exchange with Mr. Nadeau-Dubois in the Salon Rouge, Mr. Legault once again criticized Justin Trudeau’s Liberals, who, according to him, form the “most centralizing government in the history of Canada.”
He said the federal government must cut the number of temporary immigrants in half. “It’s unacceptable to send us 600,000 immigrants. We can’t do it anymore,” he said.