Quebec party leaders spar in 'face-to-face' debate
CBC
The economy, immigration and the French language figured prominently in the first leaders debate in the Quebec election campaign, featuring lively, sometimes cacophonous exchanges.
The "face-to-face" model on the TVA network divides the debate into mini-debates where one leader faces off against another. The fast-paced exchanges led to some stinging one-liners.
Coalition Avenir Québec Leader François Legault defended several aspects of his time as premier, including the revamped French-language law known as Bill 96, his government's handling of the pandemic, and whether he had done enough to fix a worsening labour shortage.
Three of the five parties voted in favour of Bill 96 with the Liberals and Parti Québécois rejecting for opposing reasons.
It has become a campaign issue since then, with Québec Solidaire spokesperson Gabriel Nadeau-Dubois saying he would amend it and Parti Québécois Leader Paul St-Pierre Plamondon arguing is that it does not go far enough. Conservative Party of Quebec Leader Éric Duhaime has said he would scrap it and write a new law.
During the debate Liberal Leader Dominique Anglade came under fire for her previous positions in favour of the bill.
Duhaime spoke in English to Anglade about Bill 96, despite the debate taking place in French.
"You betrayed English Quebecers, actually, on that bill," Duhaime said. Anglade shot back that Duhaime says one thing to anglophone voters and another to francopĥones.
Duhaime denied it and said he wanted to position himself as a centre-right alternative to the Liberals for English-speaking Quebecers and that after Oct. 3, Quebec would be entering a new political reality, one where sovereignty is on the backburner.
"The two old parties — the 'Yes' and the 'No' team — are below 10 per cent. We're entering a new paradigm and I think anglophones want to be a part of that new political reality," Duhaime said.
Though the debate's subjects ran the gamut, the through line appeared to be immigration — which was often brought up in exchanges on the protection of the French language and on the labour shortage.
Nadeau-Dubois challenged Duhaime after the Conservative leader said his party would favour immigrants with "Western values."
"You're suggesting that there are immigrants who are against those values," Nadeau-Dubois said, who added that Québec Solidaire wanted to "regionalize" immigration in the province and better fund French courses for newcomers.
Both Nadeau-Dubois and Anglade accused Legault of being negative every time he has spoken of immigration. While most parties except for the PQ are in favour of welcoming more permanent immigrants to the province, the CAQ says it would limit the number of newcomers to 50,000 per year.