(Sherbrooke) Gabriel Nadeau-Dubois is raising expectations: according to him, Québec solidaire has been gaining ground since the start of the campaign and has become, nearly two weeks before the election, the opponent of François Legault in “a two-way fight “.
Posted at 9:23 p.m.
The parliamentary leader of the left party wanted to make a show of force on Saturday in Sherbrooke, where he performed at the Granada theater for a concert-event, “L’Estrie de show”. Before the doors opened, when several hundred activists lined up on the sidewalk, the outgoing MP, Christine Labrie, did not hide her enthusiasm.
“The last time I saw a line like that to go to Granada was when Charlotte Cardin came,” she said, as the room filled with around 1,000 people.
“In Sherbrooke, we are in a two-man fight, just as I think the campaign in Quebec is more and more a two-man fight,” added Mr. Nadeau-Dubois. The latest Léger survey, published in The Journal of Montrealplaced Québec solidaire at 17% of the voting intentions, one percentage point behind the Liberal Party, in second place after the Coalition avenir Québec.
Québec solidaire co-spokesperson, Manon Massé, urged young people to vote on October 3 to change the face of politics. “The CAQ has let the young people down,” she said, while Gabriel Nadeau-Dubois lamented earlier in the day, in Montreal, that the chief caquiste François Legault did not attend a Force jeunesse event, in which all the other chiefs participated.
Billions for Sherbrooke
Québec solidaire also promised on Saturday to invest 4.2 billion over eight years in Sherbrooke to build two tram lines, nine high-frequency bus lines and to connect the public transport network to its electric train project. Québec rail”, which would connect the city to Montreal.
Gabriel Nadeau-Dubois made this new promise in Estrie, while his party is trying everything to keep the riding of Sherbrooke, where François Legault is presenting former commentator Christine St-Hilaire against outgoing MP Christine Labrie. Québec solidaire is also building a lot of hope in the neighboring riding of Saint-François, by presenting the doctor specializing in public health, Mélissa Généreux.
Mr. Nadeau-Dubois denied having presented a plan on Friday to create a public rail transport network worth 10.7 billion, “Québec rail”, without having been able to explain precisely how his party had arrived at this cost.
“When we are in the electoral campaign […] we have to present our vision. We have to tell Quebecers here is our level of ambition, here is what we are ready to invest, here is the direction in which we want to go. Once you are in government, you have to set these projects in motion based on existing studies,” he said.