On day 7 of the election campaign, the leader of the Conservative Party of Quebec (PCQ) Éric Duhaime wanted to make a “show of force” by addressing hundreds of excited activists, Saturday, in Victoriaville.
The aspiring prime minister told the crowd that his presence in front of them was neither “a coincidence” nor “an accident”. “It’s because there are people like you and me who didn’t agree with the way we were managed [durant la pandémie de COVID-19] and the way the government has put its nose in our homes,” explained Éric Duhaime, at the Complexe Évasion restaurant.
If the PCQ is the party “of discontent”, it is the CAQ that created this dissatisfaction, launched the conservative leader. In the parking lot, supporters seated in the back of a pickup truck cheered vigorously.
Mr. Duhaime has also invited the “CAQus”, “betrayed” by the party of François Legault, to join him. But he made no secret of also wanting to recruit disappointed Liberals, Solidarity and PQ members. In the crowd, a man waved a Quebec flag.
None of the political parties present in the National Assembly during the pandemic “Has played its role of representing the world”, asserted Éric Duhaime, under the gaze of nodding activists.
However, he reiterated that “changing Quebec” must be done peacefully, by voting on October 3. On Thursday, the liberal candidate Marwah Rizqy criticized Mr. Duhaime for poisoning the political climate by cultivating “the grumbling” of the population. On Wednesday, she revealed that she had received death threats.
Former PQ and former CAQ
Beer in hand, Patrick Bégin tells the To have to being an ex-PQ member turned Conservative. “I think we have more serious problems than Quebec’s sovereignty.” The man dressed in a leather jacket fears the return of health measures the day after the elections, if the caquistes win.
According to Mr. Bégin, the leader of the PCQ “has the wind in his sails”. He says he came to encourage the Conservative candidate in his constituency, Arthabaska, Tarek Henoud. The latter ended his speech in front of the crowd by saying that he did not want to “be a politician”, but rather “to be at the service of [sa] population. »
According to the latest projections from Qc125, the riding of Arthabaska would remain in the hands of the CAQ. The outgoing deputy Éric Lefebvre would enjoy a good head start (61% of the vote) ahead of Mr. Henoud (16%).
Standing near the stage, Line Francoeur awaits the arrival of the Conservative leader, with a smile on her face. It is to be “free at home” that she will choose the PCQ on October 3, she says, using the party’s slogan. In 2018, her vote for the CAQ was “a big mistake”, she says, disappointed. “If François Legault is re-elected, it is sure that we will fall back into the same business [avec les mesures sanitaires]. »
After starting the day in Mauricie, Éric Duhaime ended his tour in Centre-du-Québec. It was in this region, in Drummondville, that he unveiled his electoral platform in mid-August.
The Conservative leader repeated on Saturday the promises made during the week, namely the third link that would pass through Île d’Orléans, the exploitation of Quebec hydrocarbons, tax cuts, opening up to private health, competition between types of daycare centers and the end of the SAQ’s monopoly on the sale of alcohol.