Couillard defends record amid voters’ discontent

Two days after an Ipsos survey in La Presse suggested Quebecers are united in their dissatisfaction with the province’s political class, Premier Philippe Couillard took to the air waves in Montreal Monday to defend his record and assure potential successors to his job that he isn’t going anywhere.

“I want to stay in politics, I am staying in government, I want to form another majority government . ... Quebec has never been so well off as it is now,” Couillard told 98.5 FM morning man Paul Arcand when asked about rumours that he was poised to leave politics. “And we’ve got to keep going in the same direction and keep pushing for even more change.

“I always felt that what we undertook in (the election victory) of 2014 would take two mandates to complete.”

Couillard said he takes full responsibility for his party ’s second-place showing thus far in the opinion polls, and when asked about the apparent malaise among Quebec voters — only 18 per cent of whom told Ipsos pollsters they had any confidence in any politician — said he had to work harder to get the Liberals’ track record better known.

“There’s no one listening to us (on this show) who has known a time when Quebec could get financing at a rate better than that of Ontario,” he said, referring to the province’s credit rating. “The reason for that is confidence. And confidence toward Quebec is a real change, believe me.”

Couillard said he understood the poll’s findings but urged Quebecers to trust him and his government.

“Their trust was justified in 2014,” he said.

The premier suggested the poll numbers indicated there was a growing cynicism with politics, but not voter fatigue with his party. And Couillard said that while he had no problem talking about immigration policy with the opposition parties in the National Assembly, it was the nature of the discussion that troubled him.

“Immigration levels are something we discuss every year in Quebec and we look at the issue from an economic angle,” he said. “But when foreigners or new arrivals are depicted, repeatedly and however subtly, as a problem that needs to be corrected ... that’s a conversation that isn’t good for Quebec or our society.”

Couillard sidestepped repeated questions on whether Gaétan Barrette would remain health minister in a new Liberal government, saying, “I will announce my cabinet after the election.”

And the premier dismissed rumours elements within his own party — including campaign chair Alexandre Taillefer and Economy Minister Dominique Anglade — had their eye on his job as leader in the event of an election defeat.

“I have very strong people around me. But to have strong people around you, you need a strong leader,” he said. “There is one party, one caucus and one leader — that’s me.”