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Tory MPP says Liberals trying to silence him for exposing budget shortfall
Progressive Conservative MPP Vic Fedeli says Premier Kathleen Wynne #39;s Liberals are trying to silence him for releasing confidential documents that reveal Ont...
By: Toronto Star
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Tory MPP says Liberals trying to silence him for exposing budget shortfall - Video
Expecting the unexpected is a given in a political campaign. Even so, any Quebec pundit who would have predicted, just three weeks ago, that the Liberal Party could form a majority government would have been dismissed as deluded.
A Lger poll released Tuesday confirms that star candidate Pierre Karl Pladeau gave a black eye to the Parti Qubcois when he raised his fist in the air to cheer independence. The threat of another divisive referendum is driving Quebeckers to the Liberal Party in droves. And this shift is occurring despite the fact that liberal leader Philippe Couillard looked inconsistent at the onset of the campaign after flip-flopping on such crucial issues as the zero-deficit target and the Charter of Quebec values.
But you didnt need to be a pollster to figure out that the Liberals have taken the lead for now at least. Looking at Finance Minister Nicolas Marceau debate with his economic counterparts from rival parties on Monday, it is already clear that panic is seeping in the PQ campaign bus.
The mild-mannered Mr. Marceau is not a PQ zealot. And yet even he parroted the new attack line of the week as he kept harping on the Liberals for closing their eyes on the pervasive corruption in public works in their nine years in power Mr. Marceau used the word corruption more than 10 times during the luncheon.
Organized by the Conseil du Patronat du Qubec, one of the provinces most influential business lobbies, the debate was an opportunity to hear how the leading parties intend to deal with Quebecs slow growth and high indebtedness. The two problems are compounded by the provinces rapidly aging population.
As the Liberals appear on course to take power, it is worth taking a closer look at their economic platform, which has been eclipsed by the sovereignty debate since the start of the campaign.
The Liberal Party promises to balance the provinces books in the 2015-16 financial year no matter what, through a rigorous control of public spending. It also wants to kick-start a sleepy economy by speeding up investments in public infrastructure that were put on hold by the PQ and by offering renovation tax credits. This is a Keynesian and populist approach to cure a recession that has long faded away.
More widely, the Liberal Party promises to restore a more predictable and investor-friendly business climate. However, it doesnt believe it is for the state to invest in risky oil exploration as the PQ is endeavouring on Anticosti Island.
Quebec is back in business, boasted Jacques Daoust, a former banker that is running in the Montreal riding of Verdun, during the debate.
Unfortunately, though, the Liberals are making a number of unrealistic assumptions and promises, as is often the case in partisan economic frameworks. In fact, a couple of promises resemble some of the fanciful ones the Parti Qubcois made (and broke) in 2012.
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The Quebec Liberal Party is on course to form a majority government, according to an opinion poll showing the party well ahead of the Parti Qubcois.
The survey, conducted by polling firm Lger, is the first extensive survey of the campaign and corroborates all the signs that PQs campaign started faltering around the time it unveiled star candidate Pierre-Karl Pladeau and got entangled into debates about sovereignty and a referendum.
SOURCE: Leger
At the same time, pollster Christian Bourque, Lgers executive vice-president, said the Liberals lead in key ridings is still thin and the dynamic of the campaign has changed, with front-running Liberal Leader Philippe Couillard under fire from all his rivals.
The adjusted results for the Lger poll:
Liberals: 40 per cent
PQ: 33 per cent
Coalition Avenir Qubec: 15 per cent
Quebec Solidaire: 9 per cent
The level of support for the PQ has dropped only marginally compared with previous polls, while Mr. Couillards Liberals have grown at the expense of the second opposition party, Franois Legaults Coalition Avenir Qubec.
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Quebecs Liberal Party has increased its lead over the separatist Parti Quebecois and may be on track to form a majority government in the April 7 election, TVA television network reported.
Forty percent of respondents in a new Leger poll would have voted for the opposition Liberals, compared with 33 percent for the Parti Quebecois and 15 percent for the Coalition Avenir Quebec, had an election been held earlier this month, TVA said.
That result probably would be enough for the Liberals to form a majority government, TVA cited Leger President Jean-Marc Leger as saying. The Liberals had 35 percent support when the election was called on March 5, TVA said.
Leger polled 3,692 Quebec residents via the Internet from March 21 to 23. Results are considered to be accurate to within 1.9 percentage points, 19 times out of 20.
To contact the reporter on this story: Frederic Tomesco in Montreal at tomesco@bloomberg.net
To contact the editor responsible for this story: David Scanlan at dscanlan@bloomberg.net
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Premier Pauline Marois struggled to regain control of a floundering Parti Qubcois election campaign amid signs the Quebec Liberal Party is widening its lead among voters in the final weeks of the election race and could be on track to form a majority government.
The PQ Leader found herself on the defensive Tuesday as Liberal Leader Philippe Couillard, now the perceived front-runner in the race, challenged her to release her familys financial records, and she refused.
Ms. Marois, eager to shift away from the topics of sovereignty and a referendum, tried to push the campaign onto the terrain of Liberal integrity. But Mr. Couillard struck back, announcing he will release his 2012 personal income tax returns as well as details on his personal assets and those of his spouse.
Here we have a practical test on transparency and integrity, he said as called on other party leaders to do the same.
Ms. Marois declined, dismissing Mr. Couillards gambit as little more than a diversion.
The Liberal Leaders move appeared to be aimed specifically at Ms. Maroiss husband, businessman Claude Blanchet, although Mr. Couillard denied this.
Late Tuesday, the PQ confirmed party officials met in February with investigators from the province's anti-corruption squad, known as UPAC. No specific allegations of wrongdoing were revealed and no search warrants or arrests were executed.
Quebec's corruption inquiry has heard the province's three main political parties all accepted illegal donations over the years, with the Liberals taking the bulk of the cash.
But news of the "informal meeting," as the PQ described it, promised to blunt the line of attack on alleged Liberal corruption they have tried to renew.
The PQ has fumbled with early campaign issues such as sovereignty while the Liberals appear to be gaining momentum toward the April 7 vote. An opinion survey by Lger for the Journal de Montral-Journal de Qubec the first extensive poll of the election showed the Liberals surging ahead with 40 per cent of popular support, ahead of the PQ with 33 per cent, the Coalition Avenir Qubec with 15 per cent and Qubec Solidaire at 9 per cent.
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Marois on defensive as Liberals widen lead in Quebec election