A newcomer to the Quebec political spectrum, the leader of the Conservative Party of Quebec (PCQ), Éric Duhaime, will participate in the next leaders’ debates broadcast by Radio-Canada.
Public broadcaster spokesman Marc Pichette said the decision was communicated to Duhaime and his four opponents on Tuesday.
“We made the decision to invite the five party leaders today to participate in our two shows,” he said in an email.
On social networks, Mr. Duhaime pointed out that this decision comes the day after a by-election where the PCQ beat the Liberal Party of Quebec.
“The day after our good score in Marie-Victorin, the Conservatives received an invitation this morning to the leaders’ debate on Radio-Canada, he wrote. We just made it to the major leagues! »
Mr. Pichette said that the choice of participants was made “due to the current political context and the trends observed in the electorate over the past few months”.
“This decision is in no way related to the results of yesterday’s partial,” assured the spokesperson.
It was not possible to know if the choice of the invited candidates could be revised between now and the presentation of the two debates scheduled for Radio-Canada on September 4 and 22.
“Your question being hypothetical, we do not wish to answer it”, replied to the To have to Mr Pichette.
At the end of March, Quebecor had already announced that Mr. Duhaime will participate in its leaders’ debate, Face-à-Face Québec 2022, which will be broadcast on TVA during the election campaign next fall. This decision will be maintained on the condition that the PCQ still collects 10% of the voting intentions before it is triggered, said Tuesday a spokesperson for TVA, Carolane Lachapelle.
The PCQ has only one elected MP, Claire Samson, who rallied to Mr. Duhaime after being excluded from the caucus of the Coalition avenir Québec in June. Mr. Duhaime has been leader of the PCQ since April 2021.