Language, immigration and jobs: Key moments from the Quebec leaders' debate
Lively debate covered health care, taxes, language, immigration and the environment
The economy, immigration and the French language figured prominently in the firstleaders debate in the Quebec election campaign, featuringlively, sometimes cacophonous exchanges.
The "face-to-face" model on the TVA network divides the debate into mini-debates where one leader faces off against another. The fast-paced exchanges led to some stinging one-liners.
CoalitionAvenir QubecLeader Franois Legaultdefended several aspects of his time as premier, including the revamped French-language law known as Bill 96, his government's handling of the pandemic, and whether he had done enough to fix a worsening labour shortage.
Three of the fivepartiesvoted in favour of Bill 96 with the Liberals and Parti Qubcoisrejecting for opposing reasons.
It has become a campaign issue since then, withQubec Solidaire spokespersonGabriel Nadeau-Duboissaying he would amend it andParti Qubcois Leader Paul St-Pierre Plamondon arguing is that it does not go far enough.Conservative Party of Quebec Leader ric Duhaimehas saidhe would scrap it and write a new law.
During the debate Liberal Leader Dominique Anglade came under fire for her previous positions in favour of the bill.
Duhaime spoke in English to Angladeabout Bill 96, despite the debate taking place in French.
"You betrayed English Quebecers, actually, on that bill," Duhaime said. Anglade shot back that Duhaime says one thing to anglophone voters and another to francopones.
Duhaimedenied it and said he wanted to position himself as a centre-rightalternative to the Liberalsfor English-speaking Quebecers and that after Oct. 3, Quebec would be entering a new political reality, one where sovereignty is on the backburner.
"The two old partiesthe 'Yes' and the 'No' team are below 10 per cent. We're entering a new paradigm and I think anglophones want to be a part of that new political reality," Duhaime said.
Though the debate's subjects ran the gamut, the through line appeared to be immigration which was often brought up in exchanges on the protection of the French language and on the labour shortage.
Nadeau-Dubois challenged Duhaime after the Conservative leader said his party would favour immigrants with "Western values."
"You're suggesting that there are immigrants who are against those values," Nadeau-Dubois said, who added that Qubec Solidaire wanted to "regionalize" immigration in the province and better fund French courses for newcomers.
Both Nadeau-Dubois and Angladeaccused Legault of being negative every time he has spoken of immigration. While most parties except for the PQ are in favour of welcoming more permanent immigrants to the province, the CAQsays it would limit the number of newcomers to 50,000 per year.
Legault repeated what he said in an apology he made last week,after making comments at a campaign stop citing "extremism" and "violence" as a reason to limit immigration to Quebec.
"Immigration is a richness for Quebec. I'm proud," he said, echoing his apology tweet following the comments. "But how do we stop the decline of French? Doesn't that worry you?"
Leaders name controversial book
One question about academic freedomby moderator Pierre Bruneauquickly devolved into a debate about whether it is OK to say the French N-word in the public sphere.
Plamondonargued the risk of offending people should not hamper democratic debate.
"In what kind of society do we live if we can't name certain books?" the PQ leader said. This summer, CBC/Radio-Canada issued an apology following a complaint about the repeated use of the N-word on a Radio-Canada program in 2020.
The host and a columnistwere referencing a petition that demanded the firing of aConcordiaUniversity professor who had quoted the title of a famous book from PierreValliresthat features the N-word.
"It's not a question of banning words. It's normal that societies change," Nadeau-Dubois said.
"But can we name [those books]?" Bruneau asked.
Plamondon preceded to say the book's name, including the N-word,arguing it was about Quebecers' historyand promptingNadeau-Duboisto say it as well.
Later in the debate, the leaders were asked to discuss systemic racism, a concept Legault and the CAQ have refused to say exists in Quebec society.
Anglade, who is the first Black woman at the helm of a major political party in the province, called his mandate "a failure for Indigenous communities," referencing what happened to Joyce Echaquan.
"Words have meaning. People who are victims of systemic racism, who are stopped more often, it affects their lives," she said, noting Legault did not adopt Joyce's Principle, a series of measures drafted by Indigenous leaders after Echaquan died.
Labour shortage, economy and taxes
Another tough exchange between Anglade and Legault touched on the labour shortage.
The Liberal leader saidLegaulthad failed to create any solutions for the shortage in his four years as premier. She said her daughter had four different teachers last year because workers, including educators andnurses,are so tired.
Legaultsaid salaries had increased in his time in office. "Workers are happy, workers are happy" he said, adding that Quebec had narrowed the wealth gap with Ontario.
"The issue today is we don't have bus drivers; we don't have teachers;we don't have nurses.We are missing people in all sectors of the economy in Quebec and that has an impact on every region of the province, and you want to say it's good news."Angladesaid.
Taxes were another hot topic on the economy. Legault and Duhaime took aim at QS's proposed 15 per cent tax on highly polluting vehicles, such as SUVs, calling it "the orange tax."
Duhaime said QS had a tax "every time there's a problem. It's like a striptease of taxes."
Nadeau-Duboiswas quick to reply, accusingDuhaimeof being "on another planet" with regardto the reality of environmental issues. "You should run for governor of Texas," he said.
Liberal Leader DominiqueAngladealso accusedDuhaimeof disregard forthe environment with his platform proposal to exploit Quebec's hydrocarbons.
"You want to take us back to the 1950s," she said, after whichDuhaimeaccusedAngladeof being a demagogue.
Despite the fact that much of Legault's mandate took place during the COVID-19 pandemic, health-care did not feature prominently in the debate.
One of the more memorable moments was when Duhaime said Legault had been too strict with his government's measures against COVID.
"You were the worst confiner on the continent," said Duhaime.The Legault government issued a curfew twice since 2020.
Legault accused Duhaime of using the pandemic for partisan purposes and said he was the only party leader to do so.
"To gain votes, you didn't want to support measures, all the while everyone was rowingin the same direction," the CAQ leader said. "You shot the bottom of the boat."
1st debate for 4 out of 5 leaders
The debatewas the first contest as party leader for four of the five participants. As the incumbent, Legault was the only one with experience and a target on his back.
"The four other leaders attacked me a lot, that's normal," Legault told reporters afterward. "I was expecting it."
Legaulttold reportershe thought the debate was important because it showed that Qubec Solidaire'splatform was not realistic, especially when it came to reducing greenhouse gas emissions.
Qubec Solidaire had 10 MNAs when the election was called.
Nadeau-Dubois said he "wanted to make it clear that the alternative to the CAQ is Qubec Solidaire."
Liberal Leader Anglade said she "spoke from the heart, to explain that there is another way, not just the one offered by Franois Legault, one that unites instead of divides."
Duhaime said he felt he "succeeded in presenting the Conservative Party's ideas, for those who don't know us."
Plamondon, who has been leader of the Parti Qubcois for two years, said he was proud of what he had contributed to the debate. "It's what I think, the ideas I care about."
A second French debate, on Radio-Canada, will take place on Sept. 22. Unlike in 2018, there will be no English-language debate this election campaign.
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