A programming note from Quebec that this election will not be a rerun

On Sunday, Radio-canada televised a two-hour editorial-board style grilling of the federal party leaders in French — and set a new bar for election programming. In contrast with traditional debates, which often feature more shouting than substance, the “meet the press” format saw the politicians peppered with smart questions, elicited some honest responses, and even managed a few laughs. And it shone a spotlight on election priorities in Quebec, which is shaping up to be the key battleground in the current campaign.

The main takeaways? First, everyone’s French was surprisingly good, most noticeably Conservative Leader Erin O’toole’s. You could almost hear the collective exhale of Tory partisans as O’toole deftly fielded questions, in contrast to more cringeworthy performances in 2019 by former leader Andrew Scheer. Francophone voters can genuinely look forward to the substance of the first French-language leaders’ debate this Thursday evening, instead of focusing on live-tweeting the Conservative leader’s language gaffes.

Second, the interviews actually featured six political leaders, not five. Quebec Premier François Legault wasn’t there in person, but he was the elephant in the room. A couple of days previously, he had issued his election list of “demands” for Quebec and pronounced the Liberal and NDP platforms “much more centrist” than those of their rivals, notably on the issue of health care. While Legault’s remarks could boost the Bloc Québécois, the Tories might actually gain the most by appearing to be a safe harbour for soft-nationalist votes, particularly in tight races with the Bloc around Quebec City.

Legault’s comments also prompted the Radio-canada panel to ask Bloc leader Yves-François Blanchet whether his party has become a “front” for Legault’s Coalition Avenir Québec party, a charge Blanchet denied.

They also asked whether provincial deals made with Ottawa, such as Quebec’s $6-billion share of federal daycare money, undermined the Bloc’s ultimate goal, Quebec independence. “So federalism works, then?” asked panellist Anne-marie Dussault, to which Blanchet huffily responded that there was a difference between seeking powers bit by bit from Ottawa and inherently having all of them as a “true nation.”

That may not be enough to satisfy Bloc hardliners, however, some of whom are grumbling about the lack of the word “independence” in the party’s platform. Expect Liberal Leader Justin Trudeau to push Blanchet on the question in the debates. If Trudeau can get Blanchet to take a harder line on sovereignty, it could draw nationalist votes from the Tories back to the Bloc, while siphoning federalist votes from the Tories to the Liberals in reaction to a sense of resurgent nationalism.

Finally, the other big battleground in Quebec will likely be the environment, which saw both O’toole and Blanchet on the defensive Sunday night. When asked whether he would force an east-west pipeline on the province, O’toole didn’t directly address the question, deferring to “respecting constitutional jurisdictions” and confirming only that he would support existing projects, such as Trans Mountain.

Meanwhile, Blanchet was quizzed about his support for a $10-billion tunnel project under the St. Lawrence River that has been heavily criticized by environmentalists and for which Legault is asking Ottawa to foot 40 per cent of the bill. The provincial Parti Québécois has come out against the project, further causing division among sovereigntist ranks that threatens to undermine Bloc support. “I know it can be done in a much more ecological way, but the decision will not be made by me, but by the government of Quebec,” responded Blanchet.

Both Green Party Leader Annamie Paul and NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh will also likely get their digs in on these issues in the upcoming debates, though their efforts will likely not raise their seat count in the province, which stand at zero and one, respectively. When panellists asked him whether he could support a potential Conservative minority government, Singh responded “I am in this election to win,” prompting a round of sardonic chuckles from his questioners. It was one of the lighter moments of the night, but highlighted just how far the NDP’S stock has fallen in the province that Jack Layton painted orange in 2011 — and how central the province will be in deciding who forms the next federal government.