Couillard dismisses CAQ as 'joke,' despite rival party's rise in polls
Quebec's political parties take stock as National Assembly breaks for holidays
Premier Philippe Couillard derided the right-leaning party that has eclipsed his Liberals in recent polls as "a joke," describing the Coalition Avenir Québec as a bunch of populists willing to say anything to win votes.
During a news conference Friday morning ahead of the National Assembly's holiday break, Couillard attempted to deflate his high-flying rival, CAQ Leader François Legault.
"[He is] appealing to the lower elements of human nature rather than the higher elements of human nature, the fear that we may have toward each other in society," Couillard said in English.
"I will not accept this way of communicating a political message."
Legault shrugged off Couillard's criticism as a sign that, with the provincial election less than a year away, the Liberals are in panic mode and stealing his party's policies.
"Cutting taxes and putting more money in the wallets of families — Mr. Couillard calls that populist, but in his last economic update he did it," Legault said, referring to a series of tax cuts announced in November.
The CAQ has come first in two polls this fall, and it pulled off an upset by winning an October byelection in a riding once considered a Liberal stronghold.
A dangerous middle ground
It has been a difficult legislative session for the Liberal government, despite positive economic news and a sizeable budget surplus revealed in the fall economic update.
Couillard has attempted to strike middle ground on a number of controversial issues, only to trigger backlash from one corner or the other.
In drawing up a religious neutrality law, the Liberals sought a more moderate position from those advocated by the CAQ and the Parti Québécois.
Both opposition parties sought a wide-ranging ban on the niqab and other religious face-coverings in public. Couillard settled on forcing women to unveil in order to give or receive public services.
That legislation, passed in October, has been widely denounced by civil rights advocates and a number of federal politicians. A Superior Court judge has blocked application of part of the law pending more guidelines from the government.
Couillard sought out a similar middle ground on a motion put forward by the PQ that called for the National Assembly to declare the bonjour/hi greeting, common in Montreal retail outlets, as an "irritant."
The premier managed to get the PQ to drop the word "irritant" and promptly backed the non-binding motion, along with the CAQ.
That, too, brought criticism and ridicule from outside Quebec. Inside the province, some anglophones felt the government had sold them up the river.
Backing that motion seemed to undo — or at least strain — whatever goodwill the Liberals had accrued by having created a secretariat to deal with anglophone issues in October.
"Honestly, we felt we had neutralized the issue by removing some words and kind of making it a routine thing," Couillard said of the motion.
"But we underestimated the fact that for English-speaking Quebecers, it appeared as if we wanted to remove what was said in English."
Asked whether he was concerned his party would lose Anglo support to the CAQ over the motion, Couillard predicted they wouldn't take that party seriously.
"The CAQ is a joke," he said. "When have you heard him [Legault] say a good word about Canada? When have you seen him make a speech with the Canadian flag behind him?"
Quebec's new national sport?
PQ leader Jean-François Lisée patted himself on the back earlier this week for succeeding in getting the bonjour/hi motion passed, claiming it was really a trap he laid for Couillard.
Down in the polls, staring at the possibility of a third-place finish in the 2018 election, the motion allowed Lisée to steal a few headlines for himself.
And while he acknowledged that recent polls have been unfavourable to the party, he also cracked that "underestimating the Parti Québécois is a national sport."
Lisée, nevertheless, identified a silver lining in the polls, namely the suggestion that Quebecers are finally considering options other than the Liberals, who have been in power since 2003, except for the 18-month PQ minority government between 2012 and 2014.
Under closer scrutiny, he said, voters will realize that among the alternatives, only the PQ has the necessary combination of ambition and experience to govern.
"There is a willingness to look at other options," he said. "But when you start looking at other options, look at them carefully. Look at the goods before buying."
The National Assembly resumes Feb. 4.
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