Quebec Election Day 27: Legault calls Duhaime an ‘agitator’ as leaders resume campaign trail after debate

Day 27 of the Quebec Election campaign and most of the party leaders were back on the trail after Thursday night’s final French-language debate.

Incumbent Premier and Coalition Avenir Québec (CAQ) Leader François Legault started the day in the riding of Laval-des-Rapides.

“There are 11 days left,” he said in French at a press conference, surrounded by CAQ candidates for Laval. With advance polls opening Sunday and Monday, and Quebecers then heading to the ballot box Oct. 3.

Legault and the other three leaders speaking at the Congrès de la Fédération québécoise des municipalités in Montreal.

Legault saying, “we are the party of the regions,” making promises an investment of $120 million for the forestry sector and $470 million for small villages to provide local services throughout Quebec.

Dominique Anglade, Quebec Liberal Leader, told attendees, “what I want to have in Quebec is collaborative leadership.”

She reiterated some of what she said the night before, “it’s not true that the labour shortage is good news.” And that immigration must be done with the regions.

Gabriel Nadeau-Dubois, Québec solidaire co-spokesperson, continued on the immigration topic saying his party wants to encourage immigrants to settle in the regions of Quebec.

“Strong, vibrant and prosperous regions are regions that are in control.”

He’s also proposing to regulate Airbnb and set up a climate emergency fund – that decisions on the location of mines should no longer be made only in Quebec City.

Éric Duhaime, Conservative Party, also touched on immigration for the regions at the event – “regions can do more to integrate immigrants.” He also wants to help simplify regulations to reduce paperwork, especially for small municipalities.

Legault however came back and compared rival Duhaime to former United States president Donald Trump and said the Conservative leader’s stance on COVID-19 restrictions is disqualifying.

Legault said he understands that Quebecers were frustrated with the restrictive measures his government took to slow the spread of COVID-19, but he said party leaders need to be responsible.

Duhaime is an “agitator” who is “profiting from the distress of certain people to win votes,” Legault told reporters in Laval, Que., before comparing the Conservative leader to the former president.

“He even reminds me of someone in the south (who) also denied the reality, denied the numbers,” Legault said, without directly mentioning Trump’s name.

It was the second day in a row that Legault has described Duhaime’s position on COVID-19 measures as “disqualifying.” The incumbent premier made the same attack to reporters following a leaders debate Thursday evening.

Duhaime responded to Legault Friday, telling reporters the CAQ leader is “panicking” after the debate.

“He was obviously not happy with his performance and I can understand, indeed,” the Conservative leader said. “It was a ? very difficult debate for Mr. Legault; it was very poorly handled. He did a very poor job of defending his government’s record, particularly on the mental health of children, and he is looking for a scapegoat.”

Duhaime, whose party gained support with its opposition to COVID-19 restrictions, denied that he’s an agitator and said Quebecers deserve to hear ideas that differ from the premier’s.

“I know he’s a man who tolerates very little criticism and different ideas; it’s been two years that he’s had a lot of power in his hands and clearly he doesn’t appreciate the democratic aspect of an election campaign, which is there to debate these issues,” Duhaime said.

Duhaime said that while Quebec had the “most radical” COVID-19 restrictions in the country, the province is “far from having the best record” when it comes to the number of deaths attributed to COVID-19 per 100,000 people.

A 2021 report published by the Royal Society of Canada argued that Quebec came closer than any other province to capturing the true death toll of COVID-19, in part because it tested more people for the disease after death than any other province except Manitoba.

“I think Eric Duhaime is smart enough to see, like the rest of us, that the data on excess mortality is clear: there were fewer deaths in Quebec because we had more measures and he knows it,” Legault said Friday.

Elsewhere, Québec solidaire’s Nadeau-Dubois, who was a frequent target of Legault’s attacks during Thursday’s second and final leaders’ debate, accused the CAQ leader of lying about the left-wing party’s plan to fight climate change.

Nadeau-Dubois said that despite Legault’s claims, his party wouldn’t force businesses to close. Instead, he said, the plan reflects an acknowledgment that certain industries – like oil refineries – will see shrinking demand in coming years.

Legault’s claims are “unworthy of someone who wants to be premier,” Nadeau-Dubois said.

Parti Québécois Leader, Paul St-Pierre Plamondon, tweeting that he was forced to suspend his activities on Friday due to flu symptoms. “I tested negative 2x for COVID, but out of caution, I’m going to self-isolate for the day. I will keep you posted on developments and hope to be back as soon as possible!”

Je suis forcé de suspendre mes activités d'aujourd'hui en raison de symptômes grippaux. J'ai testé 2X négatif à la covid, mais par prudence, je vais m'isoler pour la journée. Je vous tiendrai au courant des développements et j'espère pouvoir revenir le plus rapidement possible!

— Paul St-Pierre Plamondon (@PaulPlamondon) September 23, 2022

-With files from Jacob Serebrin, The Canadian Press