Drainville questions Fréchette’s ability to govern as last debate gets emotional
Sparks flew in the Coalition Avenir Québec leadership debate Saturday when Bernard Drainville accused his opponent, Christine Fréchette, of being indecisive and waffling on important matters such as calling for Michael Rousseau’s resignation.
But Fréchette fired back later, noting Drainville’s own numerous political flip-flops, including seeking the leadership of the Parti Québécois in 2014 before joining the CAQ and making a dramatic shift to the right.
In their last face-to-face debate before CAQ members start to vote April 7, Fréchette and Drainville took swipes at each other on a series of issues, but it was on the language and identity issues where things got emotional.
Drainville accused Fréchette of being slow to call for Air Canada CEO Rousseau’s resignation this week and not pressing the federal government enough to close the clandestine Roxham Road border crossing when she was Quebec’s minister of Immigration.
Fréchette’s initial position on Rousseau on Thursday morning was it was up to the board of Air Canada to decide his fate. Later in the day, she added her voice to those calling for him to resign.
“I don’t think we can allow ourselves to have a premier who hesitates and procrastinates,” Drainvile fired across the stage during the debate held in a Laval hotel ballroom.
He also called out Fréchette over her plan to relaunch for two years the popular Programme de l’éxperience Quebecois (PEQ) and give immigrant workers already registered an acquired right.
On three occasions, Drainville asked how many more new arrivals that would mean in Quebec. He was so aggressive he got booed a few times by some of Fréchette’s supporters in the hall.
“I didn’t hear any answer to my question,” Drainville said, to which Fréchette responded by saying her opponent is tying to “scare people.”
“You are making insinuations,” Fréchette said. “You are really over the top now.”
She insisted her plan would respect Quebec’s current total target, which is 45,000 a year, even if the PEQ programs is extended. Drainville’s plan for the PEQ is to only allow immigrants in certain categories to stay in the program. His total number of new temporary new arrivals is 18,000.
Later, at a news conference, Drainville brushed off the booing he got as “part of the game” in a leadership race.
But he returned to his theme Fréchette is not ready for prime time, even asking CAQ members who they see as the best person to take on the other candidates in a real election leadership debate.
“What I am saying is on Roxham she said one thing, and then she said the opposite,” Drainville said. “On Michael Rousseau, she said one thing and then the opposite. On the PEQ, she said a grandfather clause was not possible and then changed her mind.
“If you want to be a premier, if you want to be a leader, there are some issues upon which you have to be very decisive and you have to take a stand.”
At her own post debate news conference, Fréchette dismissed Drainville’s attempt to portray her as someone who shifts positions on a whim.
She reminded reporters Drainville once ran to be leader of the PQ and was so far to the left he once proposed merging the PQ with Québec solidaire.
Today, his views are closer to those of Quebec Conservative Leader Éric Duhaime because he argues in favour of more private health care and against job security in the public sector, Fréchette said.
“If you want to talk about a girouette (a weather vane), you have material in there,” she said.
Fréchette said if there was one person who pressured Ottawa over the Roxham Road situation and got results it was her.
Asked if she has the right stuff to be premier, Fréchette was blunt.
“I invite people to have a look at the debate today,” she said. “I think I can be a fighter.”
The final debate, which drew about 300 people to Laval, in addition to being broadcast on the CAQ website, arrives as the campaign to replace Premier François Legault as CAQ leader and premier of Quebec enters the final phase.
Voting starts April 7 and runs to 3 p.m. April 12, after which the winner will be declared at a Drummonville convention. About 20,000 CAQ members are eligible to vote.
Fréchette arrived for the debate by announcing a new supporter, former social affairs minister Lionel Carmant. He now sits as an independent after quitting the CAQ in the fallout over the negotiations with Quebec’s medical specialists.
But in a message on social media, Carmant said after a long discussion with Fréchette he believes she is the right leader and would like to rejoin the CAQ caucus should she win the race.
His arrival brings the total number of CAQ MNAs supporting Fréchette to 37. Drainville has 15.
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