The campaign bus of the Conservative Party of Quebec (PCQ) is fueled by the “discontent” aroused by health measures, laments the leader of the Coalition avenir Québec (CAQ), François Legault.
“There are certain leaders who fueled a certain discontent, who said: ‘We want to bring discontent into the National Assembly'”, he argued on the sidelines of an announcement in front of a residence for seniors. of Saint-Georges, Tuesday morning.
François Legault pointed out to residents of the Manoir du Quartier the difficulty he experienced in particular in ordering the end of visits to living environments for seniors after the first strikes of COVID-19, in the winter of 2020. It’s not easy to make these kinds of decisions. I didn’t do it for fun. I did it to save lives, ”he repeated throughout his stay in Beauce.
Asked to comment on the significant support given, two and a half years after the start of the pandemic, by the Beaucerons to the PCQ (the party ranks second in terms of voting intentions, behind the CAQ, both in Beauce-Nord and Beauce-Sud), François Legault said he was convinced that voters will know how to make sense of things. “I trust Quebecers. I think that the vast majority of Quebecers, from all regions of Quebec, understand that it is important to have these measures to save lives, ”he said.
According to him, political leaders must fiercely defend freedom without losing a sense of responsibility. “Everyone has to be responsible. What we went through, it was not easy, then we got away with it, ”he said, pointing to the statistics on excess mortality in Quebec and elsewhere since March 13, 2020.
“One death, one death, is one too many. But when I look at the excess mortality rates, well, we did better in Quebec. Why ? Thanks to Quebecers. We were one of the places in the world that followed the instructions the most, one of the places in the world during the first vaccination that was vaccinated the most. So our population has been extremely united. Then, I am proud of them, ”he added, surrounded by candidates Samuel Poulin (Beauce-Sud), Luc Provençal (Beauce-Nord) and Stéphanie Lachance (Bellechasse).
Moreover, the particularly tense political climate forced the Sûreté du Québec to strengthen security measures aimed at protecting the leaders of political parties, including François Legault. The outgoing Prime Minister is also a target of choice for opponents of the measures taken during the state of health emergency: wearing a mask, curfew, ban on gatherings, restriction of access of unvaccinated people to places public, etc.
The head of the CAQ, however, assured the press that he could carry out the campaign he aspired to despite these constraints.
PCQ is “healthy” for democracy, says Duhaime
Passing through Mauricie on Tuesday, the leader of the PCQ, Éric Duhaime, defended himself from wanting to bring discontent to the National Assembly. According to him, the fact that citizens turn their anger into a vote “is very positive” from a democratic point of view. “I find it healthy. »
“There are all sorts of human tragedies that have taken place because there have been abusive sanitary measures that have been imposed on several citizens of Quebec,” argued Mr. Duhaime.
François Legault was “the first minister of the division”, asserted the conservative leader. The latter maintains that during the COVID-19 pandemic, Quebecers were divided by the government between “vaccinated and non-vaccinated” and between “essential and non-essential” workers. If he wants to talk about “irresponsible people”, “we will buy him a mirror”, he claimed.
Later, Éric Duhaime delivered a speech at the Shaker restaurant in Trois-Rivières, during which he accused the CAQ leader of having been “the most draconian prime minister in our history” because of his management of the pandemic. . ” Freedom ! then yelled Jacques Geoffroy, an activist from Shawinigan. Mr. Duhaime added that “never has a Prime Minister violated the civil rights of citizens so much”.
“We will remember it on October 3,” concluded the Conservative leader, provoking thunderous applause.
Further details will follow.