In anger, a Liberal candidate called the government led by the Coalition avenir Québec (CAQ) racist and xenophobic in emails sent last winter to his opponent, the Minister for Education, Isabelle Charest .
Claude Vadeboncoeur wants to be elected in the riding of Brome-Missisquoi, which is currently represented by Mme Charest.
Before wearing the colors of the Quebec Liberal Party (PLQ), Mr. Vadeboncoeur wrote him several emails, including The duty got a copy.
Met on Sunday during a stopover by the Liberal leader, Dominique Anglade, in Montreal, Mr. Vadeboncoeur explained that he had written under the influence of emotion.
“I’ve written a few times,” he admitted. Sometimes I was really angry. I think we have the right to be angry. I have already written to Mr.me Charest like what I was not happy. »
On December 21, 2021, he reacted in particular to a message sent on social networks in which the Minister of Immigration, Jean Boulet, was worried about the arrival of refugees in Quebec.
“Minister Boulet’s tweet is racist and xenophobic, like the Legault administration,” he wrote before signing.
“Angry Moments”
Faced with a copy of his writings on Sunday, Mr. Vadeboncoeur did not deny being the author of the email. “It may be, in moments of anger, it may be that I wrote that,” he said.
The ex-soldier also declared that he did not remember his remarks, after having even affirmed that he did not know who Mr. Boulet was.
“It may be that Mr. Boulet made comments that seemed racist and xenophobic to me, he said. But I don’t remember. »
The candidate maintained that his statement could apply to the government led by the CAQ of François Legault.
“If he speaks on behalf of the Legault administration and makes comments that I have deemed racist and xenophobic, you have your answer,” he said, before ending the interview hastily to “go pick up a package.
On December 20, 2021, Mr. Boulet issued a statement in which he urged the federal government to close Roxham Road, a gateway for refugees at the Canada-US border, for fear that they might be infected with COVID. -19.
Mr. Boulet then quickly recognized that “the human quality of this message does not[était] not optimal.
School taxes
Mr. Vadeboncoeur also corresponded with Mr.me Charest to complain about school taxes.
In an email dated July 9, 2020, he felt that all parents, even tenants, should pay school tax. “This is discriminatory, because it is only the owners who pay, so long as to be discriminatory, it would have to be those who have school-age children who pay,” he wrote.
On Sunday, Mr. Vadeboncoeur also acknowledged his concern for tax reform, without making it a priority. “I may have already written it,” he said. I may have already thought of that. Taxation needs to be reviewed in a slightly more comprehensive manner. »
Mr. Vadeboncoeur reacted strongly in the same way as several other citizens at the time, declared a spokesperson for the PLQ. “The Liberal Party of Quebec will always defend the values of openness and inclusion,” says Maxime Roy.