With less than two weeks to go before the election day on Oct. 5 and advance voting just days away, leaders are making their pitches to win over new voters and to shore up their base as the campaign enters its final stretch.
A new Léger–Le Journal–TVA poll released Tuesday showed the Parti Québécois (PQ) gaining momentum among francophone voters as the party continues its lead in voter intention.
The Conservatives (PCQ) also showed strength with 17 per cent of voters citing the party as their second choice, a gain of three percentage points in one week. In the Quebec City area, Éric Duhaime’s party gaining the support of 34 per cent of voters.
Duhaime told CityNews in a one-on-one interview that he hopes to build on the momentum in the final two weeks as his party courted young voters and anglophones, claiming that his party was an alternative to conservative-leaning voters who may be against Quebec separating from Canada.
In a press conference in Montreal, Duhaime also released the party’s autonomy platform with commitments he said will “defend Quebec’s jurisdictions” within Canada.
“Autonomy can no longer be a list of wishful thinking,” Duhaime said in a press release. “To achieve results, we need a plan, institutions, alliances, and unwavering determination.”
The platform includes a Quebec constitution, a “shield law” which will assert the primacy of Quebec laws and enshrine French as the sole official language of Quebec. The party also said it will build alliances with other provincial governments to accelerate of devolution of powers from Ottawa to the provinces over immigration, energy and environmental policies.
Duhaime also told CityNews that his party’s policies were resonating with young voters given the cost of living and housing affordability crisis.
In their own pitch to young voters, Québec solidaire (QS) announced that if they get elected to power, they would slash tuition fees by half at CEGEPs and universities, while working toward a fully-free education model later.
In the Léger poll released Tuesday, QS polled in the fifth spot with the support of 10 per cent of Quebecers.
“Young people need to regain hope for the future and rediscover the conviction that it is possible to live well, without constant insecurity,” said Alexandre Boulerice, QS MNA candidate for Gouin.
QS said it estimated that the tuition reductions could cost the government up to $350 million annually by 2030-31.
Quebec Liberal Party (PLQ) Leader Charles Milliard focused his promises on transportation infrastructure Tuesday as the latest poll showed little change in the party’s second place in voter intention with 23 per cent of support.
At a press conference in Montreal, Milliard said the PLQ would expand Highway 30 between Brossard and Boucherville, a project promised by the Coalition Avenir Québec (CAQ) in 2018.
The PLQ said the CAQ government was not making any progress on the project despite promising it in the last two elections. The traffic on the highway has grown in recent years going up to an estimated 50,000 to 85,000 vehicles each day.
“People on Montreal’s South Shore have been waiting far too long after the CAQ’s false promises,” Milliard said. “The existing road infrastructure is no longer sufficient to keep pace with the region’s growth.”
Under the PLQ’s proposal, one lane in each direction will be added to the section of Highway 30 connecting Brossard and Boucherville. There will be dynamic traffic management with lanes reserved for public transit and carpooling.
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