Ahead of election campaign's official start, Quebec party leaders already talking proposals

The official start of the provincial election campaign may be more than a week away, but the leaders of Quebec's main political parties all made public appearances today, as the competition informally heats up.

"I feel like we've been in a campaign since January," said Coalition Avenir Qubec(CAQ)leader Franois Legault, as he addressed a small crowd of supportersin Shawinigan, where he was scheduled to talk about the economy.

On Saturday, Premier Philippe Couillard announced the election campaign would formally kick off Aug. 23, meaning it will run for 39 days the longest period allowed under provincial law ahead of the Oct. 1 vote.

• Quebec election campaign to kick off Aug. 23

Couillardhas saidhis Liberal Partywants more time to share its policy proposals with Quebecers.

However, political observers say Couillardalso hopes the longer campaign time will put more pressure on Legault, whose CAQ party has been ahead in the most recent polls.

"I don't think we've tripped up much since January, so I'm confident," Legault said, when asked about the 39-day campaign period. "I think it's an advantage because the party that can get the most [out] of having more time to explain who we are is the CAQ."

The CAQ is only six years old, Legaultsaid,while the Liberals and the Parti Qubcoishave been around for decades.

Couillard: Liberals want time to talk proposals

For his part, Couillard was in Trois-Rivires for the city's Grand Prix race.

Speaking to reporters, he brushed off the assertion that he wants Legaultto fumble during the campaign, and dismissed the recent poll numbers.

On Aug. 9, CBC's Quebec Poll tracker an aggregation of all publicly available polls weighted by date, sample size and pollsters' track records showed the CAQ with 34.8 per cent current support, compared to29.7 per cent for the Liberals.

"For me, polling is the equivalent of astrology," Couillard said."So we keep working on the ground and I can tell you the reaction is good."

• Quebec Liberals tout strong economy at party meeting ahead of October election

Couillard said voters can expect the Liberals to present "concrete proposals to make life better for all Quebecers in very, very specific ways," citing his party's promise to offer free daycare for four-year-olds as an example.

The leaders of Quebec's other two main parties the Parti Qubcois's Jean-Franois Lise and Qubec Solidaire's Gabriel Nadeau-Dubois and Manon Mass also made public appearances this weekend.

Lise held an event in theMagdalen Islands, whileMass andNadeau-Duboiswere in the Outaouaisregion.

Legaulttakes jabs atCouillard

In Shawinigan, Legaultwas flanked by 92 CAQ candidates as he outlined his desire to start the campaign strong.

The former head of Air Transat, he said he would be a"premier for the economy" should he be elected.

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Legault said he wants to diversify Quebec's exports and reduce the province's dependency on the U.S. for trade. He also said he wants to make the province's education and health sectors more efficient by ridding them of bureaucracy.

He wouldn't say how many bureaucratic positions he would cut, but indicated the decisions could be made through "attrition."

Legaultalso said he doesn't want his campaign to hedge on adversarial politics, but took jabs at his main rival.

• ANALYSIS | Franois Legault's CAQ has the edge as Quebec provincial election approaches

When asked what the tone of the election would be, Legaultsaid, "you must ask Philippe Couillard."

"Today, I spoke to you about what we'll do [for the]economy, so it was not negative; it was constructive. I don't see that with speeches from Philippe Couillard. About every two sentences he pronounces my name."