Quebec provincial elections: PCQ announces 10 more candidates, attacks PQ leader as ‘arrogant’

Conservative leader Éric Duhaime took advantage of his party’s convention on Sunday to introduce 10 new candidates and attack the leader of the Parti Québécois (PQ), whom he finds “out of touch” and “arrogant.”

He takes issue with Paul St-Pierre Plamondon calling himself the “prime minister-in-waiting” and having already launched his “referendum campaign.”

“Mr. St-Pierre Plamondon is the guy who is organizing the Stanley Cup parade on Sainte-Catherine Street in Montreal, even though he doesn’t even have a club to make the playoffs,” said Mr. Duhaime.

“Don’t you think that’s a little arrogant? Don’t you think it lacks humility?” he asked the 200 or so activists present at the Manoir du Lac-Delage.

It must be said that the Conservative Party of Quebec (PCQ) and the PQ are currently vying for the Chicoutimi riding, left vacant by former Coalition Avenir Québec (CAQ) minister Andrée Laforest.

According to a Pallas Data poll conducted for the Conservatives, it would be a two-horse race: the PQ would garner 43 per cent of the vote, compared to 23 per cent for the PCQ.

The PQ leader is “out of touch” and “blinded” by his desire to hold “a third losing referendum,” Duhaime charged. As for the CAQ, he believes it is governing without any real convictions.

A right-wing wind is blowing in Quebec, which is why the two candidates for the CAQ leadership are now presenting themselves as “center-right apostles,” he scoffed.

“I am certain that voters will always prefer the original Conservative to the PQ or CAQ copy,” he insisted.

Tax cuts and fertility

In his speech to party members, Duhaime promised that a Conservative government would grant tax cuts to both individuals and businesses.

He also addressed the importance of family. His candidate in Montmorency, Marie-Josée Hélie, had earlier stated, “We want it to be sovereign and fertile.”

At a press scrum on Sunday afternoon, Duhaime announced that he would introduce measures to support birth rates, which could even take the form of allowances for women.

“We will present our election platform closer to the election, but this is one of the measures that could indeed be addressed,” he said.

In total, the Conservatives will have debated more than 60 proposals on Saturday and Sunday that will feed into the party’s platform.

They voted to repeal the law that allows municipalities to impose a 3 per cent welcome tax on homes valued at $500,000 or more.

To strengthen Quebec’s autonomy, they expressed support for a law that would allow Quebec to “refuse or limit the application of any federal measure deemed incompatible with Quebec’s powers.”

Acting as an expert advisor, former senator Pierre-Hugues Boisvenu presented several proposals aimed at supporting law enforcement and strengthening the prison system.

On Saturday, activists also voted to give a partial tax break to workers aged 65 and over, liquidate the Economic Development Fund, and abolish the carbon exchange.

13 candidates out of 125 announced

To show how active it is in preparation for the October election, the PCQ presented a slate of candidates on Sunday. Ten new candidates have been added to the three who had already been announced.

They are Louise Moreau (Rivière-du-Loup), Roberto Stéa (Duplessis), Lucien Koty (Verdun), Gary Charles (Nelligan), Alex Lellouche (Robert-Baldwin), Stéphane Turmel (Fabre), Marie-France Lemay (Argenteuil), Éloïse Coulombe (Charlesbourg), Martine Boucher (Vachon), and Chantal Dauphinais (Huntingdon).

These candidates, who had all previously run for the party in 2022, join Hélie (Montmorency), Eliot Estévez-Verville (Taschereau), and Jonathan Poulin (Beauce-Sud).

For his part, Duhaime has indicated that he will run in a “rural” riding in the greater Quebec City area.

–This report by La Presse Canadienne was translated by CityNews