The era of bipartisanship in Quebec is over, according to three political party leaders, who blame Québec solidaire (QS) co-spokesperson Gabriel Nadeau-Dubois for saying that the election campaign has become a two-way fight. “For a young politician, he does a lot of old politics,” complained Dominique Anglade on Sunday.
The leader of the Liberal Party of Quebec (PLQ) reacted to remarks made the evening before by “GND” in Estrie. “Sherbrooke, we are in a two-way fight, just as I think that the campaign in Quebec is more and more a two-way fight,” he said in front of a crowd gathered at the Granada theater.
“It is not up to our opponents to define who will be chosen by Quebecers,” replied M.me Anglade in the morning, from Shawinigan.
According to the latest Léger national poll, the PLQ is one percentage point ahead of QS in voting intentions. On Friday, passing through the riding of Saint-Henri–Sainte-Anne — that of Mme Anglade -, “GND” had invited the disappointed liberals to join the solidarity camp. “Dominique Anglade has not been an effective official opposition leader in the past four years,” he repeated.
On Sunday, the leader of the Parti Québécois (PQ), Paul St-Pierre Plamondon, also attacked the political style of the former student leader. “I find that it has little consideration for the citizens, he said to Jonquière. In fact, it’s a five-way fight. The real independence party is the PQ, he added.
“We will not carry out attacks where we treat a politician as a ‘Harper’”, underlined Mr. St-Pierre Plamondon. On Saturday, Mr. Nadeau-Dubois attacked the “strategy” used by the Coalition avenir Québec (CAQ) which distributed leaflets denigrating the “orange tax” of QS – its tax on millionaires. ” [M. Legault] decided to turn to a strategy popularized by Stephen Harper, negative publicity,” he lamented.
According to conservative leader Éric Duhaime, GND has it all wrong. “In several regions,” he argues, the struggles rather show that the race is between the CAQ and his party. “It may be a two-man fight on Le Plateau-Mont-Royal, but he should go elsewhere in Quebec,” said Mr. Duhaime, from Nicolet.
Legault “agree”
Invited to react on Sunday, the chief caquist, François Legault, agreed to “agree” with Mr. Nadeau-Dubois.
“There are two very clear visions that clash, which are very different. We at the CAQ think, especially with the current inflation situation, that money should be given back to Quebecers. […] For his part, Mr. Nadeau-Dubois, he does not give a lot of money for the wallets of Quebecers, he even wants to add orange taxes, ”he analyzed.
When we look at the time that François Legault spends criticizing the proposals of Québec solidaire, when we look at the negative publicity campaign he has launched to attack Québec solidaire, the dynamic that I see […]it is more and more two visions
“So, I agree that there are two opposing visions,” he added. A vision that is more realistic and that takes into account the concerns of Quebecers, then a vision, well, that thinks that money grows on trees with Mr. Nadeau-Dubois and then his orange taxes. »
Gabriel Nadeau-Dubois agrees with the head of the CAQ to say that there are two camps on the political scene at present. Asked about his remarks made the day before, Sunday, he reiterated that his team was “in the process of establishing itself as the alternative to the CAQ”.
“When we look at the time that François Legault spends criticizing the proposals of Québec solidaire, when we look at the negative publicity campaign he has launched to attack Québec solidaire, the dynamic that I see […], it’s more and more two visions, he said. Of course, there are five parties on the ballot in most ridings. »
Outgoing Leader of the Official Opposition, Ms.me Anglade still believes he represents the alternative to Mr. Legault, even if his party failed to field 125 candidates on time this year. “Watch me go,” she told reporters on Sunday.
With Isabelle Porter