Support for separation much lower than polls show, Éric Duhaime tells Corner Booth

[ad_1]

Conservative Party of Quebec Leader Éric Duhaime says support for separation in the province is much lower than recent polls indicate.

He made the comments while being interviewed on The Corner Booth by Bill Brownstein, Aaron Rand and Lesley Chesterman at the Snowdon Deli on a variety of topics, including the recent surge in popularity of the Parti Québécois as support for the Coaltion Avenir Québec government continues to plummet.

Article content

Duhaime said voters should be cautious because PQ Leader Paul St-Pierre Plamondon “is not bluffing” when he says he will call a referendum on separation if his party is elected.

“Paul St-Pierre Plamondon right now, he’s a nice guy, but he’s more radical than (former premier Jacques) Parizeau. It you look at the policies of the Parti Québécois, his commitment to hold a referendum as soon as he’s elected is greater than ever,” Duhaime said.

Duhaime’s party has yet to win a seat in the National Assembly of Quebec and under his leadership the CPQ won 12.9 per cent of the popular vote in the 2022 election. A poll that came out in January indicates that support remains the same, while the PQ has overtaken the CAQ in terms of popularity in the province. A different poll done in February shows support for separation stands at 35 per cent.

“Today, if there were an election, (Plamondon) would be elected, but only with 32 per cent of the votes. We’ve never seen that. I mean historically the PQ would lose badly when they were polling at 40 or 41 per cent. The only reason why they could get elected at 32 per cent is because we are split at five parties at the provincial level,” Duhaime said. “But if you ask Quebecers: ‘Do you want a referendum?’ It’s probably even more than 70 per cent, or it’s probably at 80 or 90 per cent who say we don’t want a referendum in the first place.”

Article content

When asked to explain why he believes support for separation is so low, Duhaime said the CAQ government’s performance across the board has left Quebecers with higher priorities to worry about.

“We have the worst deficit (in Canada). (Premier François) Legault even said last Sunday that it’s going to be even worse than expected. We have the worst deficit in our history. We have a health-care system that is in trouble, like big time. We have an education system that is in very bad shape right now,” Duhaime said. “I think we should focus on what concerns people. We have an immigration crisis right now with the refugees. We have a housing crisis in Quebec that we’ve never seen in our lifetime. Why is the (PQ’s) priority to have a third losing referendum, because that is what it would be. We’ve been splitting ourselves between Québécois for way too long. We need to unite Quebecers, not divide them. We have huge challenges ahead of us.”

Duhaime said he is “anti-referendum, period” and the last two referendums only served to leave the province weaker.

“It’s not just the people who voted yes who lost the referendums in 1980 and 1995. All Quebecers lost. We came out of those two exercises and Quebec was weaker than before,” he said. “Why should we go there for a third time? There’s no sign. If ever the Quebec population wants a third referendum and they want to separate we will know. There’s going to be a few million people out on the streets.”

When asked to weigh in on the CAQ government’s legislation to raise university tuitions in Quebec for out-of-province students, Duhaime said his party would put a stop to it if elected.

“I’m not even sure that this new legislation by the CAQ respects our Charter of Rights and Freedoms. I don’t think that, if it was in front of a court, it would pass the test. It’s more wedge politics from the CAQ,” he said. It’s going to be challenged for sure and I’m quite sure the courts are going to call it back.

“You cannot deprive students of their right to have access to education at the same cost as a francophone. That just makes no sense at all.”

Recommended from Editorial