Quebec Liberal leader Philippe Couillard says the Parti Quebecois has manufactured a crisis.
Speaking before his party's caucus meeting in Quebec City, Couillard said Quebecers should be focused on the economy, but are instead wasting time and energy because of the provincial government's wrongheaded ideas.
Kathleen Weil, former justice minister and families minister, said people very worried about the charter had been calling her office to express their concerns.
She is worried that the more the PQ does to hurt Quebec, the more likely it is that skilled Quebecers will leave the province.
"I say look, we live in a democracy, we've got freedom of speech, we've got freedom of the press. We've got a vigorous opposition, a national assembly, a parliament. We also have the courts. All these are safeguards because what I am very concerned about is that people are just going to up and leave," said Weil.
Meanwhile Couillard, who has been campaigning in the Gaspé region with the Liberal candidate for Bonaventure, Damien Arsenault, said people recognize that the PQ's charter is not important.
"We've said basically what we have to say about this subject, now we're going to move to the main topic for the citizens. Damien has been campaigning in Bonaventure and Gaspé and there are people who want to talk about jobs, not about the charter," Couillard said.
The Coalition Avenir Quebec also says the whole religious rights debate is nothing but a smokescreen to distract Quebecers from the poor state of the economy.
Finance critic Christian Dubé said he believed the latest economic information shows the Parti Quebecois government will be an additional $500 million in the red.
