Liberal leader Dominique Anglade accused the Parti Quebecois of being insensitive in forcing the Quebec Solidaire spokesperson to say the N-word during the first leaders' debate.
PQ leader Paul St-Pierre Plamondon accused the Liberal party of trying to "get votes" by bringing the issue into the public arena.
Anglade commented on the debate segment in an editorial interview with "La Presse" on Wednesday.
She said she felt that St-Pierre Plamondon lacked sensitivity.
"Certainly, and beyond that. It does not advance the debate. Me, I am able to say it, you, are you able to say it?" Come on! Seriously?" she said.
St-Pierre Plamondon persisted with his point.
"I'm surprised because everyone seemed to agree that we should be able to name any work and that freedom of expression is a fundamental value," he said during a press scrum in the east end of Montreal.
"When Gabriel Nadeau-Dubois and Dominique Anglade say that and, afterwards, to get votes say the opposite: 'I did it, but I didn't really want to do it and we should all feel uneasy.' There is a question of honesty and consistency in this story," said St-Pierre Plamondon.
The PQ leader would not go so far as to say that Anglade acted out of political expediency in talking about the subject.
"I wouldn't say that. I would say that there is really, in Québec Solidaire and the Liberal Party, a very inconsistent speech, a double speech, where on the one hand they say that freedom of expression is important and that the name of the works should be able to be named because it is very important. And then they say exactly the opposite," he said.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published in French on Sept. 28, 2022.
