With positive polls, CAQ goes on attack
Seniors, as poll puts party in second place
With polls showing it has solidified its status among voters, the Coalition Avenir Québec has launched a fresh attack on the Liberal health record, arguing prisoners are better treated than seniors in Quebec.
And it says despite big promises, the Liberal government will fail to meet its family doctor objectives and thousands of Quebecers will remain adrift or reliant on overcrowded emergency wards.
The dual attacks came as the CAQ was feeling pumped by a new poll showing it sitting in a solid second place in public opinion as the Liberals languish. The party is showing its moxie even with the next general election 13 months from now.
“I hope you are in shape because I am in shape, dangerously great shape,” CAQ leader François Legault let slip in remarks to his 20-member caucus gathered in the Mauricie region to plan strategy for the fall sitting of the legislature.
Meeting reporters, Legault cautiously refused to say whether his party has a chance in a looming byelection in the Quebec City riding of Louis-Hébert.
But he said he nevertheless believes the Couillard government’s handling of the asylum-seeker file — which he considers a bungle — may help the CAQ in the byelection because voter discontent is running high.
“I think we are going in the right direction,” Legault told reporters in reaction to the new poll. “There are ups and downs in politics. We must take nothing for granted.
“The actual situation is excellent for the CAQ. We have been working hard. We’ll work hard in the coming year.”
On the weekend, a Léger poll done for the Journal de Montréal, Le Devoir and the Globe and Mail showed the CAQ sitting second in public opinion at 28 per cent.
The Liberals still lead with 32 per cent and the Parti Québécois is third at 22 per cent. Québec solidaire has slipped to 12 per cent.
The CAQ leads in Quebec City, in the regions and overall in the critical francophone vote category, which actually determines who forms a government.
It has slipped in the non-francophone category, down to nine per cent. Another polling firm, Mainstreet Research, had the CAQ riding high in June among minorities with a score of 23 per cent.
“When you look at the situation, there is work to do in Montreal but I hope to win a few in Montreal and if we win all the rest of Quebec, we will have a very majority CAQ government,” Legault said.
Legault, however, has started to shift strategies, giving more ice time to his team of MNAs. He is expected to be more on the road and less present in the legislature in the fall as the party works to build support in ridings it thinks are ripe for the picking.
That includes the Mauricie where the caucus is being held this week. The Liberals hold all five provincial seats here.
There are rumours the CAQ will send former Charbonneau commission lawyer Sonia LeBel in to try to oust Liberal minister Julie Boulet in the riding of Laviolette. LeBel currently is on Legault’s staff.
The CAQ is also trying to recruit anglophone candidates in Montreal.
And while Legault said he has not abandoned his traditional attacks on the government’s economic record, it has opened a new line of attack on the Liberals: health.
The party released an ad on social media Monday that argues despite almost 14 years in power, Quebec’s Liberals have failed to deliver the goods.
It mentions last year’s study by the province’s health and welfare commissioner Robert Salois, which found Quebec has among the worst emergency wards in the western world and many seniors in public long-term care facilities are only entitled to one bath a week.
“Even prisoners are better treated,” the video says.
It notes when the Liberals came to power, they promised to cut wait times in emergency wards from 17 hours on average to 12, and they have still not hit the mark.
Later, Legault and his health critic, François Paradis, made public fresh data from the health department showing 461,000 Quebecers are still waiting on lists for family doctors.
While the data show 76.2 per cent of Quebecers now have a family doctor, the objective is supposed to be 85 per cent within the next six months, a number impossible to attain, the CAQ said.
Yet the government gave hefty salary increases to Quebec’s doctors in the belief that would solve the problem.
“We’re headed right into a wall,” Paradis said.
“They have not delivered the goods.”
With the caucus focused on health, the CAQ arranged for a visit from nurse union leader Régine Laurent, president of the Féderation interprofessionnelle de la santé (FIQ).
Laurent said her visit should not be seen as support for the CAQ. She was attending to explain her vision to the CAQ and will be meeting all the other caucuses.