Eric Duhaime accused the Liberal Party on Sunday of being "even more liberticide" than the Coalition Avenir Québec during the health crisis.
The Conservative leader was responding to Liberal candidate in the Saint-Henri-Sainte-Anne by-election Christopher Baenninger, who promised on Saturday that he would be the "only candidate to always defend the rights and freedoms of all Quebecers."
He also took the opportunity to criticize Québec Solidaire, whose national council voted on Saturday for "means to be developed (...) to impose women candidates in specific ridings."
"They would like to impose women in certain ridings (...) for me, when parity takes precedence over democracy, it's a drift," he said.
Duhaime made these remarks while presenting his own candidate for the by-elections, Lucien Koty. Koty ran in the neighbouring riding of Verdun in the last general election.
Saint-Henri-Sainte-Anne has been vacant since the resignation of former Liberal leader Dominique Anglade. A close fight is expected between the Liberals and the Solidaires in the March 13 by-election.
The Conservative Party came in fifth in 2022, with 6.4 per cent of the vote.
"The goal is to do better," said Duhaime. "We hope that we will be able to increase the vote."
This report by The Canadian Press was first published in French on Feb. 12, 2023.
