QUEBEC - Despite her party being beaten down in recent polls, Premier Pauline Marois is already referring to the next election and asking for a majority government for Quebecers.
To get there, she has gone on the offensive against the Liberals and even Québec solidaire, a party that eats into the PQ’s public support.
In fact, a poll published in a major newspaper in Montreal Saturday shows that Liberal leader Philippe Couillard would win against the PQ.
The PQ national council is taking place Saturday in Quebec, where Marois delivered a long speech aimed at perking up her supporters, who gave her a warm welcome. She acknowledged that her minority government is being attacked from all sides, adding that it was the same thing in 1976, when the PQ gained power over the Liberals.
She spoke at length about sovereignty, the theme that unites PQ troops, saying that to get to the next step, “Quebecers must give her a majority.” The PQ’s objective is a “majority government,” she said.
She reminded the 450 activists from across Quebec they have an “obligation to win.”
She didn’t hold back when speaking about the Liberals, where “nothing has changed,” she said, despite Couillard’s arrival.
In her eyes, the Liberals are still “the biggest obstacle to integrity.” She also didn’t spare Québec solidaire, which she said accuses the Pequistes of all the province’s problems, but yet doesn’t dare criticize the party for closing Gentilly-2, putting an end to the asbestos industry, and establishing a four-year-old early kindergarten and adding classes for 1,200 low-income children.
In the PQ ranks, there is some concern over the results of the latest opinion polls. According to the Environment Minister Yves-François Blanchet, the PQ is paying the price for the downright difficult decisions it has made.
According to one of the most famous party activists, union leader Marc Laviolette, the PQ faced headwinds `'because of austerity measures that haven’t pleased their electorate.”
