The question of the ballot box does not concern inflation, the climate or health, but the strength of the opposition which will face the government of the Coalition avenir Québec (CAQ), launched the PQ leader Paul St-Pierre Plamondon on the show Everyone talks about it.
“What is the question of the urn? There is one that must be asked: should we give absolute powers to François Legault or do we want strong opposition? Asked the PQ leader on the set of Everyone speaks about it on Sunday evening.
“I would like to be a constructive official opposition,” he declared before changing his mind and adding that “he would definitely like to be prime minister. »
The leaders of the five main parties vying for the election took part together in the first broadcast of the season of Tout le monde en parle.
More smiling than during the debates, the leaders exchanged in a relaxed atmosphere, most of the time.
Only Éric Duhaime let his annoyance show through in the face of certain questions, in particular when Guy A. Lepage recalled his statements made on the radio to the effect, for example, that it was necessary to “close the Gaspésie”. “We all have a past,” he told the host. “Apart from the media, people never talk to me about that,” he added, pointing out that his party was the one with the largest number of members.
Gabriel Nadeau-Dubois took the opportunity to launch the “solidarity calculator”, a tool that would allow voters to calculate the impact of Québec solidaire measures on their personal finances.
He also had to justify his inheritance tax. “Beyond the debates of figures, there are questions of values: do we think in Quebec that it is better to redistribute wealth or not? I think so. »
Legault again accused of dividing Quebecers
François Legault, for his part, was criticized by almost all the other leaders – and the host – for “dividing” Quebecers. “The debate around immigration is not whether we are for or against immigration. In any case, I am for it,” he said. “The debate is what is our ability to integrate into French. »
The head of the CAQ also refused to apologize to Éric Duhaime who accused him of having compared him to Donald Trump on Friday.
Dominique Anglade once again had to defend his promise to offer a family doctor to all Quebecers. To Guy A. Lepage, who pointed out that no one believed in it, she answered much the same thing as during the leaders’ debate, namely that we “did not have the right to give up” and that he shouldn’t let orphan patients down.
It was the fourth and final major television event of the campaign. This last meeting is however likely to have a more limited impact, given that the advance poll had started Sunday morning in Quebec.
The exercise also revealed, once again, the kinship of the Parti Québécois and Québec solidaire in terms of environmental policy when Paul St-Pierre-Plamondon said that the solidarity project to force the automobile giants to produce more vehicles electricity was realistic because California had already done it.
Finally, during the closing burst of questions, all the leaders said they agreed with the assertions that French was in decline and that Quebec did not need a new king.
It was the second time that the program Everybody talks about it lends itself to this kind of exercise. During the 2018 election campaign, the four leaders of the time – François Legault, Philippe Couillard, Jean-François Lisée and Manon Massé – were also reunited on the set of the show.