PQ leader takes aim at Québec solidaire’s ‘free ride’

Is Québec solidaire getting a free ride in this election?

“Yes!”

It was an uncharacteristically curt answer from the Parti Québécois leader.

Jean-François Lisée continued his line of attack Friday against the party that’s been creeping up the polls as voters prepare to cast their ballots on Oct. 1.

“There’s very little scrutiny ... no one really asks the question of who their chief is,” Lisée said. “The person who has the most power (in Québec solidaire) is the least known.

“Why wasn’t he at the debate? Why won’t he give a press conference?

“Other leaders have journalists following them around every day and asking them fantastic questions, on point, detailed questions on every issue.

“No reporters are following Québec solidaire.”

Up until Thursday night’s final leaders debate, Lisée had largely ignored Québec solidaire and its co-spokesperson Manon Massé.

But with the PQ a distant third in the polls and Québec solidaire gaining momentum, Lisée said he made a decision to adjust his tactics.

Early in the televised debate, the PQ leader was asked about health care but he instead went after Massé in an awkward, aggressive exchange in which he seemed to be accusing her party of being controlled by a shadowy puppet master.

Massé appeared unfazed by the tactic. Québec solidaire, she explained, follows a non-hierarchical structure.

She’s a co-spokesperson who sits on a committee where party executives build policy through consensus.

However, in Québec solidaire’s filings to the commissioner of elections, which require the signature of a “leader,” the documents are signed by Gaétan Châteauneuf.

Lisée argues Châteauneuf — an unelected member of the party — wields the power at Québec solidaire. He spoke of an interaction he had with Massé where she referred to Châteauneuf as “my boss.”

“They’re part of a committee that’s led by (Châteauneuf ),” Lisée said.

“He has more power than them and he regularly overrules them. So I think it’s important to ask who’s pulling the strings at Québec solidaire.

“It isn’t a non-hierarchical structure — it’s a hierarchy, and he’s the boss. And yet he doesn’t answer questions or face the electorate.”

Faced with that question Thursday, Massé said her party has learned to share power and that Lisée must be “the only person in Quebec” who is unaware of that.

And while it may be true that Québec solidaire makes decisions behind closed doors at the behest of a committee leader, this is a daily fact of life in politics. Each party is run by executive committees whose membership is chosen internally rather than by the general public.

Lisée’s performance in the campaign’s first two debates was lauded by pundits, but after an early rally in the polls, the PQ appears to have hit a ceiling with 21 per cent voter support.

Québec solidaire meanwhile, has benefited from a drop in support for the Coalition Avenir Québec. A poll by Léger Marketing released on the eve of Thursday’s debate showed the CAQ’s numbers down to 31 per cent voter support while Québec solidaire hit a campaign high of 14 per cent.

Lisée insists his attack on Massé was unrelated to her party ’s recent gains.

“The head-to-head format of (Thursday’s) debate was the first time I had a chance to ask Madame Massé that question,” he said. “Our tactic was to actually get to the facts and stop this free ride of Québec solidaire.”