Fréchette defends CAQ record as rivals trade attacks in first leaders’ debate

Coalition Avenir Québec Leader Christine Fréchette found herself on the defensive during the first leaders’ debate of the provincial election campaign Tuesday, as the four other party leaders attacked the CAQ’s record after nearly eight years in power.

In opening statements, Parti Québécois Leader Paul St-Pierre Plamondon said his party would end years of “CAQ waste,” and highlighted the government’s most recent cost overrun scandal: the cost of an information technology project at Santé Québec which ballooned from an initial budget of about $96 million to roughly $1 billion.

St-Pierre Plamondon, Liberal Leader Charles Milliard and Conservative Leader Éric Duhaime accused the CAQ government, and Fréchette both as a minister and more recently premier, of overseeing rising government spending, growing debt and controversies surrounding the now-defunct Northvolt electric battery plant project and the province’s auto insurance board, known as the “SAAQclic fiasco.”

Fréchette distanced herself from her predecessor, former party leader and Premier François Legault. “I am not François Legault, I am Christine Fréchette, and I come with my own way of doing things,” she said.

TVA host Paul Larocque moderated the debate, which featured a head-to-head format pairing leaders against one another on each topic.

The debate focused on the economy, sovereignty, the French language and immigration.

Asked about the future of the French language, Fréchette said the CAQ had made significant gains during its time in office and would continue those efforts if re-elected. She said a CAQ government would extend Bill 101 to vocational training and adult education and renew the notwithstanding clause to protect the place of French in Quebec.

Milliard, the son of a French teacher, accused the CAQ of trying to sow division over language issues. He said a Liberal government would invest $400 million over four years to accelerate French-language training for immigrants.

Fréchette responded that the CAQ had tripled the number of people receiving French-language integration services.

She then challenged Milliard on whether he would use the notwithstanding clause if elected. Milliard replied that he could do so following consultations but said invoking the clause would not be an objective.

St-Pierre Plamondon also came under pressure over his promise to hold a sovereignty referendum within a first mandate if the Parti Québécois forms government.

Fréchette argued that a PQ government would prioritize sovereignty over pressing issues such as health care.

“We see that their priority, in fact, is to create a new Quebec currency, to create a Quebec army and, wait, a Quebec space agency. So I would like to say to Mr. Plamondon: come back down to earth and work on real priorities,” she said.

The PQ leader fired back by criticizing Fréchette’s refusal to say how she would vote in a future referendum and her efforts to distance herself from the CAQ’s past.

“I don’t hide my convictions,” St-Pierre Plamondon said.

Milliard also criticized Fréchette’s refusal to say how she’d vote in a referendum, saying she had people in her party supporting both sides of the sovereignty debate and describing her position as “unworthy” of leadership.

The leaders also clashed over immigration policy. Québec solidaire Leader Ruba Ghazal criticized St-Pierre Plamondon for previous comments linking immigration to overcrowded schools and pressure on the French language.

“This really touches me because I have six nieces and nephews who are second-generation Quebecers, and they aren’t the ones causing schools to overflow,” she said. “The reason our schools are overcrowded is underinvestment.”

St-Pierre Plamondon accused Ghazal of misrepresenting his comments.

“You’re falsely implying that I blamed children. Obviously, I didn’t do that. I was talking about the CAQ’s immigration thresholds.”

Earlier in the week, the party leaders had slowed down their announcements and public appearances to prepare for the debate, followed by another one the next day.

A few hours before the debate got underway, the Parti Québécois promised to balance the province’s budget by 2028-29 as it became the final party to unveil its financial framework.

The PQ’s plan includes $6.5 billion in new spending and $6.6 billion in spending reductions over five years.

Tuesday’s event was the first of three debates involving the major party leaders. They will meet again Wednesday before a final debate on Sept. 23.

Quebecers head to the polls on Oct. 5.