With summer in the rear-view mirror, campaigns shift into high gear
CBC News | Posted: September 4, 2018 11:00 PM | Last Updated: September 4, 2018
Except François Legault had a bit of a breather over the weekend
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As summer draws its last gasp, the parties have taken their shows on the road.
Leaders racked up kilometres spreading their message, and upping their photo op game outside city limits. How much will the regional wooing affect the parties at the polls? That's still to be seen.
Fasten your seat belts — this campaign is about to shift into high gear.
Here's what you need to know on day 13.
The Breakout
By Jonathan Montpetit, @jonmontpetit
After 10 days of campaigning, François Legault took a day off. The Coalition Avenir Québec leader was the only one who didn't hit the trail Saturday.
Maybe it was simply the front-runner's prerogative. As the ancient philosopher Ferris Bueller once noted: "Life moves pretty fast. If you don't stop and look around once in a while, you could miss it."
But the decision to play hooky so early raised a few eyebrows. Journal de Montréal columnist Antoine Robitaille devoted several hundred words to analyzing Legault's "strange day off."
It came following a tough week for Legault. One high-profile candidate dropped out, a longtime ally was mired in controversy, and Legault was outfoxed by his rivals.
On Friday, the leaders of the Liberals, the PQ and Québec Solidaire all stood side by side with a farmers' group in Longueuil to pressure NAFTA negotiators against making concessions on supply management.
Legault, though, was stuck in the Saguenay. He had to phone in his support — literally.
A few bad days won't kill the CAQ's campaign. Polls suggest the desire for change remains high.
But Legault's margin of error just got slimmer.
The mic
Finish this sentence: I want my future government to...
"I want my future government to really improve transportation services for regions that are isolated from the big centres and make it accessible to everyone." -Myriam Beebe, New Carlisle
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The Breakdown
- The Parti Québécois has been trying to shore up support in the regions, and today the party leader actually went to the shoreline to do it. During a campaign stop in the Gaspé, Jean-François Lisée said he would make fishing permits free for youth and cut the cost of hunting permits.
- The Liberals, also courting rural voters, promised to bring government jobs in natural resources to the regions. Bureaucrats who deal with mines would be based in Abitibi-Témiscamingue, for instance, while those who deal with fish farms could be based in the Magdalen Islands.
- Québec Solidaire, in keeping with the regional theme, said it would do more to protect the province's softwood lumber industry from U.S. President Donald Trump. Manon Massé said the party would propose changes to the province's building code to encourage the use of local wood.
The Trail: Dispatches from the road
I hear hubbub in English from a back table as I walk into the Tim's in Paspébiac, on the Gaspé coast. A dozen members of the MacWhirter clan are chatting over coffee, and I barge right in.
Everyone has an answer when asked what the main issue in the Gaspé is.
Bessie Craig is a senior, and she is thrilled — she has a new doctor: ''He speaks English. And he listens." Bessie has friends who have travelled four hours to Rimouski for cancer treatment. People at the hospital there make an effort, she says, but it would be nice to have more services in English.
Linda MacWhirter, a teacher for 35 years, wants to hear more about the CAQ's plan for school boards. She wonders if a central office would save money that could go to services in the classrooms, guidance counsellors or professionals to test the kids.
One of Linda's daughters, Penny, walks in.
"I have a niece who's enrolled in CEGEP in Gaspé and transportation is one of the biggest worries." On weekends, she can take a bus from school, but the final stop is in Chandler. Anyone who lives west of there — which is her niece's case — has to find another way to travel that last leg home.
Bessie tells me the family gets together every other day for a coffee and a catch-up. I'm thinking if the candidates drop by the Paspébiac Tim's during this campaign, they could end up staying awhile.
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À la prochaine,
-Melinda Dalton, social media editor