Tuesday marks the final day of a PQ leadership campaign that took six months and saw three candidates drop out.
With 71,000 members of the Parti Quebecois eligible to vote starting Wednesday, two of the remaining three candidates are trying to convince party members that they can force a run-off vote against frontrunner Pierre Karl Peladeau.
Leadership candidate Alexandre Cloutier said he made his pitch and now hopes a desire for change can push him over the top.
“I'm very confident they're going to get it right this time,” he said, adding that he believes he'll force Peladeau into a run-off vote and pull off a surprise victory on the second ballot.
Cloutier said his proposals are closer to the party's centre-left roots.
“Of course, I want the Parti Quebecois to have a new approach on sovereignty,” he said.
That approach, he said, is more inclusive because he would set up a registry to gather 1 million signatures for sovereignty before a calling referendum.
Leadership candidate Martine Ouellet said both her rivals aren't moving fast enough on that issue.
“For me it's really important to be clear we have seven years over 10, that when you talk about 10 years and over, it's just like the CAQ,” she said.
The PQ’s lack of clarity on independence helped the party lose last year, she said.
“If we're not sure ourselves that we can achieve it, if we're afraid, we won't be able to convince anyone,” she said.
Ouellet has launched a YouTube video to push the issue.
Peladeau, meantime, spent the day in the Saguenay with supporters. If the polls are right, the only question now is how much Peladeau will win by and how nasty the tone will get when he's opposition leader.
The Liberals are setting their sights beyond the leadership race, taking full aim at Peladeau, whose style and harsh words, they say, are not dignified.
“Mister Peladeau doesn't seem to bring the general debate at a high level,” said Energy Minister Pierre Arcand.
Peladeau's defenders say Liberals should butt out.
“The members are going to have to decide who's going to be the leader of the party,” said PQ MNA Pascal Berube. “Thank you Mr. Arcand, but it's none of your business.”
