Quebec Election Day 19: Leaders go ‘face to face’ during first election debate, CAQ still ahead in polls

The first of two French-language leaders debates during the Quebec election campaign takes place in Montreal on Thursday night, and it will be the first contest as party leader for four of the five participants.

Polls have shown the Coalition Avenir Québec (CAQ) with a sizable lead over its four main opponents ahead of the Face-à-Face Québec 2022 de TVA, which will pit one leader directly against another.

The CAQ has dropped below 40 per cent support for the first time since the election was called at the end of August, but still remains poised to win a majority Oct. 3, according to a new poll conducted by Léger Marketing for the Journal de Montréal and TVA.

CAQ support among younger voters has slipped, now at 38 per cent – with the Quebec Liberals at 18 per cent, Québec Solidaire (QS) with 17 per cent, the Conservative Party of Quebec at 15 per cent and the Parti Québécois (PQ) with 11 per cent.

On the island of Montreal, the survey finds support for the Liberals at 35 per cent, 21 per cent for QS, Conservatives with 17 per cent, CAQ at 15 per cent, and PQ at 8 per cent.

In Laval, 33 per cent support for the CAQ, 24 per cent for the Liberals, 15 percent for QS, 14 per cent PQ, and 13 per cent Conservatives.

CAQ Leader François Legault, the incumbent premier and the only participant who has debated before as a provincial party leader, told reporters this week he recognizes he’ll be the target.

“I expect the four leaders to attack me; it’s a bit normal, when you look at the polls,” Legault said Tuesday. “So we try to predict these attacks, predict responses.”

In the 2018 election, there were only four parties involved in the face-to-face debate; the Conservative Party of Quebec did not hold any seats at the time and wasn’t invited. Thursday’s debate will feature Legault, Liberal Leader Dominique Anglade, Québec solidaire co-spokesperson Gabriel Nadeau-Dubois, Parti Québécois Leader Paul St-Pierre Plamondon and Conservative Leader Éric Duhaime.

“It will be the first time we will be five and it’s an additional challenge because it gives less time to each leader to assert themselves,” Duhaime said Wednesday, adding that he’s very confident going in.

Nadeau-Dubois, whom Legault has singled out several times during partisan speeches in recent days, said he’ll take the exercise seriously but also wants to have fun. “It’s well known that the debates are an important moment for any political campaign,” Nadeau-Dubois said.

Speaking this week in Rouyn-Noranda, Que., 630 kilometres northwest of Montreal, Nadeau-Dubois said the debate will also be important for voters. Many have come to him on the campaign trail unsure of who to vote for, he said, adding that Thursday’s contest will be a chance to crystallize that choice.

“I want to have a debate with my colleagues from the other political parties because we have tough questions to answer for the future of Quebec,” Nadeau-Dubois said.

Anglade, whose party is struggling in its Montreal-area strongholds, according to polls, told reporters this week the debate will allow Quebecers a chance to discover the leaders.

“It is an opportunity to show the real differences in the type of Quebec we want,” she told Montreal’s CJAD 800 radio station on Wednesday.

She said it’s a chance to let people know about her values and what she cares about. “It’s exciting because it gets to the fundamentals of why you are in politics,” she said.

Legault said he’ll take time to rest up ahead of Thursday night, where he will be on the defensive for the first time as the incumbent premier.

“There is a certain stress, I will not hide it from you, attached to that,” Legault said.

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. Plans for one fell through after Legault and St-Pierre Plamondon refused to participate.

The Léger Marketing for the Journal de Montréal and TVA poll was an online survey of 3,100 Quebec adults was conducted Sept. 6-12.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 15, 2022.