Conservative leader Éric Duhaime posted a letter on Facebook on Saturday that he says he sent to fourteen elected Caquistes from the greater Quebec City region about the cancellation of the third link project by Prime Minister François Legault.
“Faced with the betrayal of Mr. Legault, you now have only two solutions: submit to the party line or honor the confidence of your constituents,” he wrote.
“I am very sincere in my outstretched hand,” he said in a telephone interview, saying that he had spoken in recent days to several Coalition Avenir Québec (CAQ) deputies who would be surprised and shocked by the announcement. He has not closed the door to welcoming them into his political formation, provided that they have common interests that go beyond the question of the third link.
He said the road project was “the major promise of the CAQ” during the 2022 elections.
Mr. Duhaime reiterated his commitment to build a bridge further east, which would pass through Île d’Orléans.
The Coalition Avenir Québec did not immediately respond to requests for The Canadian Press. The office of the deputy for Beauce-Nord, Luc Provençal, did not wish to comment on the file. The Minister of the Environment, Benoit Charette, who is not an elected representative from the Quebec region, also declined, claiming not to be aware of the letter.
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