At an event in Quebec City Thursday night, Philippe Couillard rallied his Quebec City supporters by taking direct aim at the Parti Quebecois.
Much of the focus of Couillard’s speech was on avoiding another referendum.
He called independence Marois’s “obsession,” noting how she refused to answer questions on a possible referendum Thursday and suggesting her desire to stifle referendum talk was the reason behind the much-talked about push Marois gave Pierre Karl Peladeau during a morning news conference.
The federalist message seems to be resonating in areas in and around the provincial capital.
A new poll released Thursday morning showed Liberal support has spiked in the area since the start of the campaign.
Couillard says his majority government would lobby for Quebec being recognized as a distinct society in the constitution.
“We have a homeland, Quebec, and we have a country, Canada. We want them both. We want it all,” he said.
He talked about what he deemed unfulfilled promises on the PQ’s part – failure to reduce the deficit and create jobs.
He brought up the February job numbers, released last week and revealing 26,000 jobs were lost in the province last month.
“The other provinces are creating jobs, the other provinces’ economies are bouncing back, there’s one place that’s behind, Quebec, and we know why – because we have an incompetent government that dragging Quebec toward impoverishment and I won’t let that continue,” he said.
Meanwhile, at a rally across the river in Levis, Marois told supporters Couillard is trying to scare Quebecers by using familiar Liberal rhetoric, and urged voters to ignore him.
“What we want more than anything is to reinforce Quebec in every way,” she said, citing a plan to create jobs and pass the charter of values.
Marois called Couillard soft and rebuked him for wanting to sign the Canadian constitution without consulting Quebecers.
And on the sovereignty question, she said she believes Couillard has been riling voters.
She reiterated a pre-election promise to table a white paper on sovereignty and a public consultation before holding a referendum.
“There will be a referendum when Quebec is ready, when Quebecers are at the point (of wanting one),” she said.
“It’s not the Parti Quebecois or Pauline Marois that will decide, it’s Quebecers that will decide their future.”
With Peladeau looking on, Marois welcomed him into the PQ fray.
“You embody engagement pride, success, determination,” she told him.
Marois will campaign in Montreal Friday, while Couillard will be in the Abiti region.
