Quebec Election Day 35: Party leaders make final pitches to voters ahead of Monday’s vote

Quebec’s major party leaders began making their final pitches to voters on Saturday as they attempted to convince undecided voters and get supporters out to the polls for Monday’s general election.

In Chibougamau, around 500 kilometres north of Quebec City, Coalition Avenir Quebec Leader Francois Legault said he’s pleased with his campaign over the past 30 days – despite a re-election bid that has widely been seen as lacklustre.

“The majority of Quebecers think that the Coalition Avenir Quebec has run the best campaign,” Legault said Saturday.

While polls suggest Legault’s CAQ will return to government with a stronger majority, polling over the course of the campaign has shown stagnant or slipping support for the party.

Legault told a group of business owners and elected officials that his party is addressing the concerns of Quebecers – and not political analysts who associate “protecting our language and our values” with racism.

Quebec Election: What are the five main parties promising ahead of Oct. 3 vote?

Where do Quebec’s five main parties stand on election issues?

While addressing reporters after his speech, Legault wouldn’t say which analysts he was speaking about, nor exactly what he defines as Quebec’s values.

“We are satisfied with our campaign, we think we’ve run our best campaign. I’m in a good mood and I’m looking forward to election night,” Legault said. “I think it went well, I’m optimistic for Monday, even though I’m taking nothing for granted.”

Legault has spent two days campaigning in the northern riding of Ungava, the largest in Quebec, which contains more than half the province’s territory but is home to less than one per cent of the population.

Hurting Quebec’s reputation?

In Montreal, Liberal Leader Dominique Anglade accused Legault of damaging Quebec’s international reputation with comments about immigrants over the course of the campaign.

Legault made a comment linking immigration to violence and extremism, for which he later apologized. He also said last week that accepting more than 50,000 immigrants a year would be “suicidal” for Quebec.

Anglade said those comments will make it harder for Quebec firms to recruit workers internationally.

“It is bad and somebody has to call him out on this,” she said. “Suicide, violence, threat, what is this? What is this Quebec that you’re trying to build? This is not where we need to go, we need to stop this narrative and be open.”

Anglade was also scheduled to campaign in the ridings of Gaspe and Iles-de-la-Madeleine on Saturday, with a trip to Kuujjuaq, the largest village in Quebec’s northern Nunavik region in the Ungava riding, scheduled for Sunday.

The Liberals lost all three ridings by fewer than 50 votes in 2018, but has been polling third in all three this year.

“Getting out the vote is really critical, you saw what happened in Ontario, with 43 per cent of people deciding to go vote, we don’t want to see this in Quebec,” she said.

Encouraging youth to vote

Both Quebec solidaire spokesman Gabriel Nadeau-Dubois and Parti Quebecois Leader Paul St-Pierre Plamondon called on their supporters to encourage others to go vote.

Nadeau-Dubois, who was scheduled to campaign on Saturday in three Montreal ridings won by the Liberals in 2018, told reporters that there are two generations that are worried about the future in Quebec: young people who are concerned about climate change and seniors worried about the conditions in long-term care homes.

Nadeau-Dubois said he’s encouraging people to speak with their families about politics and share their concerns about the future with members of other generations.

St-Pierre Plamondon, who was campaigning in the Lanaudiere region north of Montreal, said he hopes people who have liked his campaign will speak to undecided voters.

Meanwhile, Conservative Leader Eric Duhaime, who spent Saturday morning knocking on doors in his riding near Quebec City, encouraged supporters to cast a ballot for his party even if they don’t think the local candidate is likely to win.

Duhaime told reporters that government funding awarded to parties for every vote they receive could help the Conservatives run a stronger campaign in four years.

“Every vote counts,” he said.

—With files from Patrice Bergeron, Caroline Plante and Frederic Lacroix-Couture.