PQ leader Jean-Francois Lisee was forced to answer questions about a question he posed during the leaders’ debate on Thursday.
Lisee asked Manon Masse who was really in charge of the party, even though the topic at that time was doctors.
The moderator was taken aback, but Lisee kept on pushing, implying that there was someone else pulling the strings behind the scenes.
“This party, Quebec Solidaire, a new party on the scene, they have spokespersons, but there is a chief somewhere that is more important than the spokespersons,” he said. “Why don’t we know him, why don’t we see him, why doesn’t he give interviews?”
The identity of that mysterious person is Gaetan Chateauneuf, the party’s secretary general.
Chateauneuf is a retiree who volunteers with the party, mostly arranging conferences and planning logistics.
However, Chateauneuf is also listed as the party’s leader with Quebec’s Director General of Elections.
He says that it’s a formality, because co-leaders are technically not allowed.
Lisee said he brought the issue up because he felt that Quebec Solidaire had been getting a free ride from journalists during the election, and haven’t had to answer tough questions.
“They don’t have the level of scrutiny that other parties have,” he said. “I think that’s a problem.”
