Coalition Avenir Quebec leader Francois Legault will spend the rest of summer visiting 50 ridings across the province in hopes of breaking what he called the Liberal “monopoly” on government.
The tour comes in advance of by-elections for three seats in the National Assembly in November:
- St. Jerome, which was previously held by former Parti Quebecois leader Pierre Karl Peladeau, who retired from politics in May.
- Marie-Victorin, which was vacated upon the retirement of former PQ cabinet minister Bernard Drainville in June.
- Arthabaska, the riding of Sylvie Roy, who passed away last week.
With a provincial election in 2018, Legault said he realizes there is much work to be done educating Quebecers about the CAQ’s principles.
“Right now, if you ask Quebecers honestly about our constitutional position, they don’t know,” he said on Tuesday. “We have a challenge (in explaining) our program. I hope that between now and most likely November when we’ll have three by-elections, we’ll have (a few) people we will have time to convince, but really, we need two years to make sure we can explain that to the majority of Quebecers.”
Legault clarified that position on the constitution, saying the CAQ wants a stronger Quebec within Canada, but with more powers from Ottawa.
The Liberals have held power since the election of Jean Charest as premier in 2003, with the exception of the period between Sept. 2012 to April 2014, when the Pauline Marois-led PQ had control of the National Assembly. Legault said he wants Quebecers to ask themselves if they are better off than when that period began.
