CPC leadership race: religion and bilingualism on the menu

The reform of Bill 101 and the Secularism Act of the State of Quebec found themselves at the heart of the debate in French of the candidates for the leadership of the Conservative Party. The leader, Pierre Poilievre, returned his jacket, promising to challenge Bill 21 in the Supreme Court.

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Mr. Poilievre was the only one in the race who pledged not to challenge this law in the highest court in the land, in respect of the official position of the party under its former leader Erin O’Toole.

Pressed with questions by Jean Charest, he finally let go that he “would not reverse the federal decision to challenge the law”.

“If the case goes to the Supreme Court, obviously the Government of Canada is not an observer in its own country,” added Mr. Charest.

The Trudeau government announced yesterday its intention to participate in a legal challenge to the Act respecting the secularism of the Quebec state, after having maintained the vagueness for several years.

“No one should lose their job because of their faith,” said Patrick Brown. It is important for our party to always protect religious freedoms. »

Law 96 does not pass

Law 96 on the reform of the Charter of the French language has also taken for its cold. Roman Baber launched the charge calling it “unacceptable”.

All of these opponents, except Jean Charest, even believe that bilingualism should not be a requirement for senior officials, such as judges. It must be said that Leslyn Lewis, Roman Baber and Scott Aitchison are themselves very far from mastering the language of Molière.

“Their French is more than approximate, it’s painful,” laments Yan Plante, vice-
president of the public relations agency TACT and former adviser to Stephen Harper. Their level of French is not adequate to be on stage. »

Poilievre the man to beat

The other three candidates dominated the discussions throughout the evening, even if Leslyn Lewis managed to provoke general hilarity by launching a scathing and very Quebecois “he’s in the potatoes” to qualify Pierre Poilievre’s arguments on the ‘inflation.

Patrick Brown attacked Pierre Poilievre’s support for Bitcoin, indicating that his proposals would bring Canada closer to El Salvador. This Central American country has adopted cryptocurrency as its official currency and has been biting its fingers since it lost half its value in six months.

Leader of the race with 42% of support among party members, according to the sounding published yesterday by the polling firm Abacus, Pierre Poilievre was the target to be shot on the stage of the Château Royal in Laval.

His supporters tried to impose themselves by chanting his name as soon as he entered the scene. But they were quickly smothered by those of Jean Charest who had moved en masse and did not fail to boo Pierre Poilievre on several occasions.

Charest dominating at home

For Mr. Plante, Jean Charest was, unsurprisingly, the dominant player. Only Pierre Poilievre’s attacks on his links with Huawei seemed to destabilize him.

“He looked like a Prime Minister, certainly the most Prime Minister of the group. He offered a lot of content and he seemed to have fun,” analyzes Yan Plante.

Remains to be seen, underlines the strategist, if the performance of the former premier of Quebec will be enough to make him sweep the vote of the members in Quebec, his only chance to win the race.

French often massacred

The newspaper asked its director of linguistic revision, Rose-Hélène Côté, to evaluate the quality of the French of the six candidates for the leadership of the Conservative Party of Canada. Here is his verdict.

John Charest: 10/10

Unsurprisingly, it is Jean Charest who has the best command of the French language among the candidates. His remarks are easy to understand, expressed in impeccable French and with great fluidity. He is expressive and his vocabulary is varied.

Pierre Poilievre: 8/10

He has good French. We understand what he says despite his accent and the few mistakes he makes. He has small hesitations, but his pronunciation is good and his words are clear. He hardly looks at his text.

Patrick Brown: 4/10

We can see that he is making an effort, but his remarks are sometimes incomprehensible. His accent is strong and his pronunciation often difficult. On the other hand, he looks at his text less than other candidates and this is what earns him a higher mark than others.

Leslyn Lewis: 2/10

As in 2020, she has difficulty expressing herself in the language of Molière. We still manage to understand his words. His pronunciation still seems laborious and his accent is to be cut with a knife. She doesn’t look up from her text.

Scott Aitchison: 2/10

Although he often stumbles while speaking, he has a steady flow. He also looks at his text a lot. It seems difficult for him to speak in French, and his speech presents many hesitations.

Roman Baber: 1/10

You have to concentrate to understand his words. His speech is not always intelligible. He has a lot of hesitations, a difficult pronunciation and a very strong accent. He has his eyes constantly on his notes.