(Quebec) With a green economic vision and “stronger” social policies, Dominique Anglade wants to attract the most progressive fringe of the Coalition d’avenir Québec (CAQ). The Liberal leader promises a “more inclusive” government, far from this “identity withdrawal” which led her to leave the presidency of the CAQ in 2013.
The leader of the Liberal Party of Quebec (PLQ) agrees that she will have to tap into the pool of voters of her main opponent if she wants to make gains within a year of the general election.
“You have 15 points [de pourcentage] of people who are [à la CAQ] who voted for the [Nouveau Parti démocratique (NPD)] where the [Parti libéral du Canada (PLC)] at the federal level, ”notes the Liberal leader, based on a Léger poll from last October which indicates that a quarter of CAQ voters would vote for the PLC or the NDP at the federal level, according to their analysis.
“They are federalists, they are people who are more progressive, who are more concerned with the environmental issue, with health… These are the people we are talking to, and there were all kinds of reasons to vote for the CAQ in the last elections, ”she adds during an interview on the last day of the parliamentary session.
In his opinion, the last few months have revealed a “very paternalistic government”, which “is not very attentive to the field” and which does not make the environment and the fight against climate change a real priority. .
Identity question
The proposal of François Legault had seduced her in 2012 when she tried to be elected in vain in Fabre, under the colors of the Coalition futur Quebec. She finally left the new coalition in September 2013 to take the helm of Montreal International.
If, at the time, the news had been presented by Mr. Legault as a “great opportunity” for its president, behind the scenes, the departure of Mr.me Anglade was mainly motivated by deep differences of opinion on the question of identity, she admits.
The member for Saint-Henri – Saint-Anne briefly alludes to this in her book This Quebec that inhabits me, published last March.
“When I arrived at the CAQ, it was a new party. […] We were going to work on the future of Quebec by bringing together federalists and sovereignists to solve problems. This somewhat engineer side to me appealed to me a lot ”, says M.me Anglade in interview.
“But I quickly realized that, fundamentally, there was also a very distinctive way of talking about what Quebec was. I remember that you had to be as identifiable as the [Parti québécois]. ”
The “nail in the coffin” was the episode about the ban on wearing a turban by the Quebec Soccer Federation in June 2013. “The CAQ wanted to come out in favor of that. I said: “It’s mentally stupid!” Sport is the best way to integrate people. We are not going to ask Sikh children to take off their turban. ”
“It’s absurd. And François Legault [qui disait] that it was going to be good for the rest of us. […] I was beside myself, ”she continues. At the time, Prime Minister Pauline Marois supported the autonomy of the federation, which finally reversed its decision after the International Federation of Association Football had come out in favor of wearing a turban in soccer.
“From the moment the CAQ lost the elections in 2012, it was, we remember, [l’époque] of the Parti Québécois Charter of Values… So they said to themselves that we had to go […] even more in this direction. There were more and more tensions over that, ”explains Mme Anglade.
I was no longer in my place, I was no longer able to defend decisions. This identity withdrawal, it was not me at all, at all.
Dominique Anglade, leader of the Quebec Liberal Party, on his time at the CAQ
She believes that “it is in the image” of what the Legault government still defends, namely “to say that there are immigrants and non-immigrants”.
The reclassification of a hijab-wearing teacher at a Chelsea school last week has rekindled the debate surrounding the Law 21 on the secularism of the State. The Liberal Party of Quebec, which opposed the adoption of the law, did not come to the defense of the teacher, boiling down to asserting that the law must now apply.
Ecological and progressive shift
With less than a year before the next election, the liberal leader is banking on her “ECO project”, which provides for the nationalization of green hydrogen to generate wealth while fighting against climate change to distinguish itself from its political opponents. It has promised investments (public-private) of 100 billion by 2050 to manage to generate “two James Bay energy”.
Added to this are the promises of an allowance of $ 2,000 per year for seniors aged 70 and over to help them stay at home, childcare services for all at $ 8.50 per day and universal access to childcare services. mental health, in particular.
“We are talking about public policies with a significant social impact, but which can only be achieved if you are able to create wealth in the context where you also have to fight against climate change”, explains Mme Anglade, which thus defines its ecological and progressive turn.
But the aims of the Liberal leader do not yet seem to seduce voters in the face of a government in the saddle, if one relies on the polls. The PLQ remains at 20% of voting intentions, according to polls last fall. At the start of the parliamentary term, liberal strategists said they wanted to move the needle between now and the holidays in order to hope for a good electoral fight.
“Look at what happened during the [élections municipales], retorts Mme Anglade on this. Valérie Plante, when she left against Denis Coderre, she was not ahead, and she finished with 15 points [de pourcentage] in advance. ”