More video troubles for Parti Québécois

Charkaoui posts one of his own as Ouellet tries to calm waters

Parti Québécois leadership candidate Alexandre Cloutier was forced to distance himself again from Islamic activist Adil Charkaoui after he posted a video expressing a preference for Cloutier.

And the saga over a PQ “feel good” video continued with rival candidate Martine Ouellet saying she doesn’t think her behaviour on Tuesday, when she complained about being left out of the shoot, overshadowed her party’s efforts to stay on message in the legislature.

“It’s completely over the top,” Cloutier said on news of the Charkaoui video. “I think Mr. Charkaoui is using the leadership race tribute to boost his image. I don’t think we should give him any visibility.”

Added a Cloutier key supporter, Taschereau MNA Agnès Maltais: “I never give publicity to Mr. Charkaoui even if it’s all he craves. Period.”

Posted on Facebook by Charkaoui’s group, the Collectif Québécois contre l’Islamophobie, the video does not outright endorse Cloutier’s candidacy, but argues he’s the best of the worst in the party.

He says Cloutier is the most moderate in his views and has on his team a number of Muslim and Maghrebian advisers — something Cloutier said was not true, although he said he has support in minority communities.

Charkaoui thrust himself into the leadership campaign last week when he posted a message saying Cloutier represents more openness to minorities, while candidate Jean-François Lisée stands for the same anti-minority attitude as Bernard Drainville did with his old charter of values.

The message was picked up by Cloutier’s main rival, Lisée, who asked in his own tweet whether Charkaoui’s support for Cloutier is part of his campaign plan.

After being flooded with hate messages from people who believed he actually had a connection with Charkaoui, Cloutier demanded Lisée remove the message and apologize.

Lisée has not apologized and says he wants to turn the page on the incident, which dominated headlines for a week.

In his video, Charkaoui takes another swing at Lisée, describing his plan for a new charter as “tainted with intellectual dishonesty.”

He says Cloutier’s platform makes more room for immigrants even if he displays a lack of leadership.

On Wednesday, Lisée tried again to put the incident behind him.

“I think Mr. Charkaoui has had his 15 minutes (of fame),” Lisée told reporters.

But another video making headlines continues to haunt the PQ, one that was supposed to make the party appear like a big, happy family.

One day after blasting the party brass for leaving her out of the video, candidate Ouellet — who is polling way behind in the leadership race — tried to smooth the waters by saying she’s getting back to business.

“Yesterday I answered your questions about a video which came out,” Ouellet said, defending her actions. “It was not my choice, you know. It’s the video that came out the day before. I answered your questions.”

Ouellet then defended her participation in a parody video produced by the comedy program Infoman, making fun of the original.

“I think we need a bit of a sense of humour,” Ouellet said.

But later, PQ whip Stéphane Bergeron confirmed he had asked Ouellet to explain herself about a tweet — “Je suis option nationale” (I am option nationale) — that mysteriously appeared on her account Wednesday.

Bergeron was seen having an intense chat with Ouellet on the floor of the legislature.

On Wednesday, he said he has no choice but to accept Ouellet’s version to the effect her account was hacked.

“I am not in a position to verify this kind of thing,” Bergeron said.