Five weeks of highs, lows, gaffes on the election trail
Voters have experienced an inordinate number of twists, turns, ups, downs, bumps and flip-flops over the past five weeks.
Before the election ride abruptly ends Monday, here’s a recap: Highs: The four leaders — Liberal Philippe Couillard, François Legault of the Coalition Avenir Québec, the PQ’s Jean-François Lisée and Manon Massé of Québec solidaire — managed to put aside their differences three times. They took part in an English-language TV debate. They joined forces to support Quebec farmers in NAFTA negotiations (though Couillard, Lisée and Massé took digs at Legault for not being present at the press conference). And together, they visited tornado victims in Gatineau. Lows: Personal attacks marked the end of the campaign. Legault insinuated Couillard was stashing money offshore. Lisée derided Québec solidaire as “anti-capitalist” Marxists with a shadowy leadership. And Gilles Duceppe lambasted Massé, accusing her of speaking French atrociously and being a “caviar lefty.”
Firsts: There had never before been a leaders’ TV debate in English. This is the first fixed-date election. And it’s the first election since the 1960s in which sovereignty is not been a burning issue. Gaffes: On the day of the crucial final TV debate, Couillard told a radio host a family of three with two teenagers could get by with $75 in groceries per week. He tried during the debate to suggest he meant some families must make do with meagre groceries but the statement was widely seen as evidence he is out of touch. The premier was also involved in a dodge ball incident. At an event in a schoolyard in Couillard’s riding, someone threw a ball at him and he awkwardly batted it away, hitting a little girl in the head and sending her reeling. It was on the same day, a Monday, that Couillard’s wife, Suzanne Pilote, raised eyebrows by wearing an English-only T-shirt that read “Oh no, it’s Monday again.” Election day, Oct. 1, is also a Monday.
Legault, who emphasized immigration reform at the start of the campaign, was stumped by several basic questions about immigration, including how long someone with permanent residency status must live in Canada before they can obtain citizenship. He was also at a loss when a reporter asked him how many Canadian provinces are officially bilingual (the answer: one, New Brunswick). Legault was also left red-faced due to a blunder by his wife, Isabelle Brais. In a recording obtained by media outlets, Brais is heard telling voters it would be impossible to negotiate with Prime Minister Justin Trudeau because he’s incompetent and is not “brilliant,” unlike his father. She also said Saskatchewan might as well be in the United States.
Massé was left scrambling after saying that English is an official language in Quebec (it’s not) and that her party is Marxist (she says it’s not).
Flip-flop: Lisée has taken two positions on the number of new immigrants Quebec should accept. Early in the campaign, he said it should probably be between 35,000 and 40,000 per year (down from 52,000 last year). He changed his tune later, refusing to give a number and suggesting he would ask the auditor general to study how many immigrants are required in order to deal with Quebec’s labour shortage. The about-face occurred as the CAQ’s plan to cut the number of newcomers by 20 per cent was raising questions about the effect on Quebec’s workforce. Dumped: Three PQ candidates, including an incumbent MNA, were dropped mid-campaign for various offences (two after their far-right social-media posts were exposed, the other when he was charged with drunk driving). But the PQ kept on a fourth candidate whose posts about Hitler, Hasidic Jews and Africans caused outrage. The CAQ, meanwhile, dropped two hopefuls: one, the president of the party, was involved in a loan company that charged up to 780 per
cent in interest; the other one was a bar owner who had been caught admitting minors to his establishment, paying female staff less than male counterparts, and holding “dwarf ” events denounced by Quebec’s Small-People Association. But the CAQ kept incumbent MNA Éric Caire, despite the revelation that he had taken a questionable loan from a mayor in his riding.