MONTREAL - Battered in the polls, the leader of the Coalition Avenir Quebec was looking to use Friday to unveil seven new candidates. Instead, his announcement was overshadowed by a joke from the premier.

Facing an angry mob that got within a flight of stairs from his luncheon in Montreal, Charest joked about protesters outside as he gave a speech about his legacy project, Plan Nord, a proposal to spend billions developing northern Quebec.

"Maybe those knocking on the door this morning, we can offer them jobs," he said, to laughter. "In the north, if possible."

Outside, there were scenes of virtual anarchy as police and students clashed. In all, 17 would be arrested and six were injured under a hail of stones and pepper spray.

Many of the protestors on Friday were students, angry with the government's plan to nearly double tuition over the next five years. According to the Montreal police, some of the worst displays of violence were encouraged by other troublemakers.

Surrounded by the members of his upstart CAQ, a deadpan Francois Legault called the premier's joke "arrogant" and "disrespectful." At the opening of the CAQ's first party convention in Victoriaville, the violence in Montreal took centre stage.

"I think that this afternoon we didn't have a premier in Quebec," stated a very serious Legault. "I think he should apologize about that. You don't make jokes about a conflict that has been there for 10 weeks now.

"I think he should ask them to sit with him on Monday morning and do something, we cannot afford to continue like that in Quebec. It is our young people, our children, that are in the streets."

Charest's speech

Well behind schedule, Charest finally began a speech that some had expected might serve as a precursor to an election, which the premier must call by late next year.

Charest earned a standing ovation as he walked on stage.

After thanking the crowd for its patience, the premier quickly slipped into his prepared text and described northern development as an inter-generational project deeply embedded in Quebecers' "DNA," sharing his own family history with the north.

He said the plan, which focuses on mining and energy production, would help create thousands of new jobs and "move Quebec forward."

Speaking with reporters afterward, Charest insisted he will not back down on $325-a-year tuition hikes. Even with the increase, Quebec would still have among the lowest tuition rates in the country.

"The social disruption is unacceptable," Charest told reporters after his speech. "I've had ministers' offices ransacked. We've had ministers who have had tanks of gas put on the grounds of their homes. Molotov cocktails in front of their offices. Death threats.

"And they refuse to condemn violence? In 2012, in Quebec? That's unacceptable."

Premier says he was quoted 'out of context'

Sticking to his guns after his speech, the premier's office responded later on Friday evening after social media and pundits were nearly universally critical of Charest's quip.

"What I said during my speech was quoted out of context and interpreted by some individuals as though I was taking the situation lightly. That wasn't the case," said Charest in the statement. "The people in that room understood quite well. Some of them were roughed up on their arrival."

The premier reiterated his invitation for two of Quebec's three main student federations to meet with Education Minister Line Beauchamp. The more militant of the three groups, CLASSE, wasn't invited to the negotiation table because it has so far refused to condemn the violence seen during some student protests.

With Charest calling Friday's violence "disgraceful" and CLASSE spokesperson Gabriel Nadeau-Dusbois stating that "this increasing violence must be stopped," the militant student federation has planned a weekend retreat to review its position on violence.

With files from The Canadian Press.