Carney defends knowledge of Quebec culture, Poilievre insists he's no 'mini-Trump' on Tout le monde en parle

Mark Carney and Pierre Poilievre faced the critical glare of the mega-popular Radio-Canada talk show Tout le monde en parle on Sunday in an attempt to woo francophone viewers, with the Liberal leader being pressed on his cultural awareness of the province and his Conservative rival differentiating himself against perceptions in Quebec he is a "mini-Trump."

The show, which regularly attracts up to a million pairs of eyeballs in vote-rich Quebec, is widely seen as a test for leaders trying to win over voters in a province that sends 78 MPs to the House of Commons, the largest number outside of Ontario.

"My French is not perfect. I try to be transparent, I make gaffes," Carney acknowledged, when pressed by host Guy A. Lepage. 

Both Poilievre and Carney have hurdles to overcome in Quebec's unique political landscape.

Quebec is the only province where Poilievre and the Conservatives did not reach the heights they had in opinion polling in the days before Justin Trudeau had announced his resignation and Donald Trump had assumed the U.S. presidency, with the party remaining behind the sovereignist Bloc Québécois in voter support.

And Carney has been at the centre of a number of Quebec-related mistakes that his political opponents have been keen to seize on in the early days of this campaign. 

Despite those moments, the CBC Poll Tracker still has Carney far ahead of his rivals in Quebec, with the Liberals poised to receive 42.4 per cent of the popular vote, the Bloc and the Conservatives jockeying behind him at 23.5 and 23.2 per cent, respectively.

The Liberals typically cannot form a majority government without crucial support in Quebec, with Trudeau denied in the last two elections thanks to a surging Bloc Québécois. 

Challenged on his economic credentials, Carney pointed out that in 2008, as governor of the Central Bank of Canada, he worked with then-Quebec premier Jean Charest to get the province through the worst of the recession. 

He was also asked about potential pipelines going through the province in the future.

"Quebecers use 355,000 barrels of oil per day," Carney said, adding most of that comes from the United States, and insisting there are ways to reduce that dependency. 

"We would only do it if we have social acceptability," he said. 

Lepage also pushed him on his position regarding the controversial Law 21, provincial legislation which bans public sector workers in positions of authority from wearing overt religious symbols such as hijabs or yarmulkes while on duty. The Liberals have vowed to intervene against the law at the Supreme Court of Canada.

"It's very technical," Carney said, then added it is important to balance the rights of individuals versus those of society.