Parti Quebecois rules out coalition government with Coalition Avenir Quebec

The survey of 1,010 Quebecers was conducted Aug. 24-28, with the campaign having begun Aug. 23.

A majority of respondents believe a minority government will be elected in five weeks and Lisee said he will respect the choice of Quebecers.

“If Quebecers elect a PQ minority government, we will respect that and we will govern for four years,” he said.

That would require the support of other parties on key votes such as the adoption of a budget.

Lisee, meanwhile, said his sovereignty plans wouldn’t necessarily be shelved in such a minority scenario and that he would still allocate money to update sovereignty studies.

“Would they overthrow the government because we want to update studies that (late Liberal premier) Robert Bourassa ordered?,” he asked.

The PQ has promised to not hold an independence referendum in its first mandate but would lay the groundwork for one after the 2022 election.

Elsewhere on the campaign trail Wednesday, controversies overshadowed commitments as both the Coalition and the PQ had to deal with candidate missteps.

Just as the Coalition was shaking off Tuesday’s abrupt departure of party president and Montreal-area candidate Stephane Le Bouyonnec, leader Francois Legault was hit with news of another candidate’s transgressions.

Le Journal de Quebec reported that Eric Caire, a longtime Coalition member, accepted a $55,000 personal loan from the mayor of L’Ancienne-Lorette, a community in his Quebec City-area riding.

Caire, who often speaks on ethics-related matters at the legislature, didn’t seek the advice of the province’s ethics commissioner before cashing the cheque.

He was warned in April he could be in potential conflict of interest.

Caire has since paid back the money.

Legault called Caire’s conduct a lack of judgment — but not corruption.

“It’s normal for friends to help financially someone who needs it, so I think that’s what was happening here,” he said. “But it was not a good idea … perhaps he should have consulted with the ethics commissioner beforehand. But it’s settled, he’s repaid it.”

Meanwhile, the PQ tried to focus on changes to the Quebec Parental Insurance Plan but instead had to field questions about a candidate’s anti-Muslim ramblings on social media.

In a blog post on xaviercamus.com early Wednesday, several screen captures were presented as proof of comments made by Pierre Marcotte.

The 2015 captures showed that Marcotte called for the banning of Islam “like pit bulls and sawed-off rifles” and recommended also that new arrivals to the country “be obligated to eat a few good slices of bacon.”

Marcotte’s Facebook page was removed Wednesday, the same day he was to formally be named as PQ candidate in Drummond-Bois-Francs, located between Montreal and Quebec City.

He told L’Express newspaper in Drummondville he wasn’t given a chance to explain his comments and that the bacon reference was meant as a joke.

“There are things I would say differently,” he said. “I’m an atheist. I have a hard time when I see people doing degrading acts in the name of religion. I feel like I’m being punished because I denounced those acts and because I kindly mocked that religion.”

After dumping Marcotte, Lisee said he was disgusted by the comments and said someone in the party structure had admittedly not done a proper job of vetting the would-be candidate.

“We fundamentally disagree with some of his opinions, his writings,” a visibly irritated Lisee told reporters. “We consider that Islam is a religion as respectable as others.”

Elsewhere, the Quebec Liberals promised to raise the starting salaries of teachers by about 18 per cent to $53,134 beginning in 2020-2021, following the end of the current collective agreement.

While the Coalition has also promised to raise teachers’ salaries to similar levels, Liberal Leader Philippe Couillard insisted his party’s overall education platform was vastly different.

It was Couillard’s third education-related promise this week.

— with files from Vicky Fragasso-Marquis in Nicolet, Que,; Melanie Marquis in Saint-Georges-de-Beauce, Que.; and Julien Arsenault in Riviere-du-Loup, Que.

Sidhartha Banerjee, The Canadian Press

by Canadian Press

Parti Quebecois rules out coalition government with Coalition Avenir Quebec

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