Quebec election debate: Philippe Couillard takes a hit

Quebec Liberal Leader Philippe Couillard was leading in the polls going into Thursday's election debate, but he walked out of the night wounded, after taking hits from all sides.

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One of the biggest blows came from Quebec Solidaire co-spokeswoman Francoise David, who cornered Couillard on French-language rights.

"I don't think you realize the extent thatanglicizationhas invaded the workforce. In particular, in Montreal and in the Outaouais," David said.

"Do you know that there are big hotels, where the bosses want to require the cooks to speak English with the clientele? They don'thire the person if they don't speak English."

Couillardsaid his party believes theCharterof theFrench Language (Law 101) should be applied in full forcein small and medium businesses.

He acknowledged that protecting the Frenchlanguage is important, but added that Quebecers live in a world where knowing another language is increasingly indispensable.

After the debate, Couillard said he wasn't surprised to betargeted by the other candidates.

"I could answer mud with mud, but this is not the way I like to do politics," he said."Its not surprising that because this campaign is going well, I was a common target."

Parti Qubcois Leader Pauline Maroisadmitted to journalists afterwards that she didn't mind seeingCouillardput on the defensive.

It was a very nice situation for me," she told reporters with a smile. "[Couillard]pretends that he can be premier so he has to prove that.So that was normal for us to attack him."

Corruption allegations

Early on in the debate, Marois and Couillardwere forced to defend themselves and their parties against allegations of corruption and suspicious dealings.

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CoalitionAvenirQubecLeaderFranoisLegaulttook a shot at Couillard for what he said was the"elephant in the room" the Liberal leader's connections with Arthur Porter, who is accused of being at the heart of afraud scandal involving the $1.3-billionMUHCsuperhospitalproject in Montreal.

Couillarddenied ever having business dealings with Porter. He said that in hindsight, he's relieved their plans for a company never got off the ground.

The Parti Qubcoisleaderalso took heat fora meeting between anti-corruptioninvestigators and two senior PQ membersthat took place in February. Maroiscontinued to defend her party's integrity, saying a meeting with investigators is not the same thing as the search raidscarried out at Liberal Partyoffices in the summer of 2013.

Legault, who is in third place according to the latest polls, grilledMaroison her governance methods, accusingher ofmaking 50 patronage appointments over one and a halfyears.

Marois shot back that all of her cabinet members were chosen for their skills, not their connections.

As election day draws near, a sense of growing impatience among the leaders is becoming increasingly apparent.

The one-on-onedebate format devolved into yelling matches several times, with the moderator at one point threatening to cut off Marois's microphone if she didn't stop interrupting her opponents.

Legault says he's created jobs

The tone of the discussion calmed down during the second half of the two-hour debate, as the leaders faced off on the economy and taxes.

Qubec Solidaire co-spokeswoman David continued to push for the redistribution of wealth among Quebecers.

When the moderator asked her which social services she would cut, David shook her head in shock, saying she would never cut social programs.Instead, David said she would find new sources of revenue.

Legault, whoco-founded AirTransat,hammered home his business approach throughout the debate.

In one of the more intense moments of the debate,Legault schooled Marois on jobcreation.

"The only person here whos created work here is me. Ifounded Air Transat. Ive created jobs. the economy impassions me," he said.

Marois says Quebecers need to stand up

In last week'sdebate, Maroiswas cornered on the referendum question, refusingto give a straight yes or no answer and instead opting for her standardreply: Quebec will have a referendum if Quebecers want one.

This time around, Maroiswas ready for the question.

She defended her party's pro-separatist stanceQuebecersneed to stand up, we need to defend our own interests while alsoblamingCouillard for derailing the campaign and focusing on the referendum question to gain votes.

ButCouillard said the population deservesto know that the "toppriority" of the PQ is independence.

One of the zingers of the night went toLegault, who said thePQisn't in tune with whatQuebecersreally want.

"I think youre not listening to the population. The population doesnt want [a referendum], and honestly, you should change the slogan on your businstead ofdeterminit should be "dconnect."

On the question of sovereignty, David sided with Marois, even offering some advice by telling Marois that if she wants a referendum, she needs to find a way to inspire Quebecers andhelp them dream.

Thursday night's event, broadcaston TVA,LCNand Argent,wasthe final debate before voters go to the polls on April 7.