Fréchette plans to remain CAQ leader as party faces annihilation. Follow for live updates

Québec solidaire (QS) spokesperson Ruba Ghazal took advantage of her visit to Trois-Rivières, Que. on Friday to show her support for Siemens workers and announce her party’s intention to ban lockouts.

Surrounded by local candidate Steven Roy Cullen and members of the Métallos union, affiliated with the FTQ, Ghazal mingled with the crowd in front of one of the Siemens plants, which imposed a lockout at its two Trois-Rivières plants last April.

“Lockouts are a practice from a bygone era,” said the Québec Solidaire candidate, noting that the multinational corporation—“which has made $16 billion in profits”—decided to “lay off about 100 employees,” many of whom were picketing on Friday after six months of labor dispute.
   
“At Québec Solidaire, we have a very clear commitment, and we will continue to fight for workers’ rights. We want to ban lockouts, which are completely at odds with workers’ rights,” said Ghazal.

She pointed out that this practice is prohibited in several European countries.

The Quebec provincial election on Oct. 5 could have a "determining effect on the future of our lives together and on Canada itself," writes Tom Mulcair, former leader of the federal New Democratic Party and CTVNews.ca columnist.

Mulcair points to Parti Québécois (PQ) leader Paul St. Pierre Plamondon's campaign promise to hold a referendum during his term in office, if his party forms government.

"The Parti Québécois is set to win on Monday and its headstrong leader, Paul St-Pierre Plamondon (or PSPP as he is known), is promising a destructive push for a referendum and a unilateral declaration of independence, even if he only gets a minority," Mulciar wrote in an new opinion piece.

"That would fly in the face of the Canadian constitution and the Supreme Court ruling on secession, but that’s not the type of subtlety that will stop PSPP or the hard-bitten, right-wing nationalists who are the core of his team."

Read the full column on CTVNews.ca. 

In the final days of the election campaign, some political parties are taking aim at the Parti Québécois (PQ), which is still leading in the latest polls. 

On Friday, Quebec Conservative Party leader Éric Duhaime unveiled two buses with 1995-era "Oui" and "Non" signs, in reference to the last referendum in Quebec. 

The Quebec Liberals did the same on Thursday, with leader Charles Milliard standing behind a new podium decked out with "Oui" and "Non" political slogans. 

The PQ has vowed to hold a third referendum in Quebec once U.S. President Donald Trump leaves office. 

With less than 72 hours to go before Election Day, PQ leader Paul St-Pierre Plamondon downplayed on Friday the statements made by several business leaders calling on the next government to make collective wealth creation a top priority.
   
Among these prominent entrepreneurs, Groupe Dynamite’s controlling shareholder, Andrew Lutfy, pointed out that Quebec ranks last in wealth creation. The business leaders said their statement was apolitical, but at a press conference in Quebec City, the PQ leader warned them against attempting to influence voters.

"I haven’t seen (their statement). But right off the bat, I’d say that four or five billionaires telling Quebecers how to vote two days before the election—I’m not sure that’s going to be well received. As for the rest, I want to review it, and then I’ll be happy to comment afterward," St-Pierre Plamondon said at a press conference Friday morning in Quebec City.
   
The business community has often been perceived as hostile to the PQ and its pro-independence stance. St-Pierre Plamondon also pledged on Friday to be the premier for all Quebecers if he is elected. At the end of a sometimes contentious campaign in which his opponents accused him of dividing Quebecers, he said that once the campaign is over, if he is elected to lead the government, he will govern for everyone, even those who did not vote for him.

“In my mind, it’s very clear that once the election is over, if the people give you the mandate to be premier, you have a moral obligation to be the premier for absolutely everyone,” he said. 

With 72 hours to go before the election, Quebec Liberal Party (PLQ) Leader Charles Milliard is rushing to Montérégie to visit five districts he considers winnable.
The Liberal leader said he is convinced he can make gains in the region at the expense of the Coalition Avenir Québec (CAQ).

“The CAQ means ‘game over,’” he said in Boucherville, where his Montarville candidate, Mathieu Lavoie, is trying to unseat CAQ candidate and previous speaker of the National Assembly Nathalie Roy.
The Liberal campaign bus then headed to Saint-Hubert.
The Vachon riding is currently held by Internal Security Minister Ian Lafrenière.

Liberal candidate Affine Lwalalika previously served as a city councillor for the City of Longueuil with Catherine Fournier’s team.
Stops are also planned in the ridings of Saint-Jean, La Prairie and Huntingdon before concluding in Blainville.
“There is one region that holds the seeds of renewal, and that is Montérégie," said Milliard. "I think important things are going to happen in Montérégie."

The latest projections indicate the Quebec Conservative Party (PCQ) could go from zero to about 15 seats on Monday, despite some candidates making controversial statements in the past.
Friday, Conservative Leader Éric Duhaime was asked about posts by his candidate in Arthabaska-L’Érable, Tarek Henoud, on “chemtrails.”
According to the conspiracy theory, the white trails left by airplanes are not condensed water vapour, but chemicals sprayed by the government onto the population.

The question was posed: Does a person who believes the government is intentionally dropping chemicals on the population from airplanes possess the judgment to serve as a member of the National Assembly?
Duhaime replied that he would not “stoop to that level” and asked The Canadian Press if it had questioned Paul St-Pierre Plamondon about his candidate in Arthabaska-L’Érable, Alex Boissonneault, “to find out whether someone who spent 42 days in prison would be a good representative for the people.”

Boissonneault was arrested in 2001 at the Summit of the Americas in Quebec City during his involvement with an anti-capitalist group that had plotted to breach the summit’s security perimeter.

Conservative Party Leader Éric Duhaime took stock of his campaign Friday morning by standing in front of a garage with two buses parked inside.
One of the vehicles displayed a “yes” sign, and the other, a “no” sign.

In a staged scene, Duhaime and candidate Maïté Blanchette-Vézina closed the garage door, promising that the buses for a potential referendum campaign would never depart.
“We’ll make sure that the ‘yes’ bus and the ‘no’ bus remain nothing more than a fantasy for Charles Millard and Paul St-Pierre Plamondon, and that they  don’t become a nightmare for Quebecers over the next four years,” he said.
Duhaime claimed the best move of his campaign was announcing cuts to the Quebec government’s spending - $47 billion over five years.

“It made a lasting impression. People saw that we were serious, that our tax cuts weren’t just for show, and that we were ready to make sacrifices,” he said.
“Our initial strategy was a ‘stealthy’ campaign (…) we’ve been planning this for four years. We wanted to reach the peak (…) on election day. So, during that time, you have to take a step back, be a little more invisible, but quietly, you climb, you climb, and then at the last minute, you emerge, and that’s what happened — we really wanted to build momentum starting with the debates.”

He then issued an appeal to Quebecers: “I’m asking Quebecers to give me the balance of power so that my team and I can serve as the watchdog for Quebec taxpayers.”

Quebec Liberal Party (PLQ) Leader Charles Milliard reiterated at a press conference on Friday that he is committed to a long-term career in politics.

He confirmed his intention to remain at the helm of the party even if the Liberals do not win next Monday’s election.

Quebec Conservative Party (PCQ) Leader Éric Duhaime is drawing ridicule from his opponents after he admitted to using artificial intelligence (AI) for his latest book, Destination autonomie.

Le Journal de Montréal reported that 62 per cent of Duhaime’s book was allegedly written using AI, with the PCQ leader defending himself by saying it was simply a work tool.

PQ Leader Paul St-Pierre Plamondon shot back that this could undermine public trust.

Québec solidaire Spokesperson Ruba Ghazal is reiterating her party’s promise to help families, including extending parental leave for fathers and providing government-funded school lunches for children.

With just a few days left before the election, Ghazal is calling on voters — especially families and young people — to vote according to their convictions and ignore polls and commentator predictions.
Ghazal maintains that her party is the only one that would protect public services from budget cuts.

Conservative Leader Éric Duhaime says he believes Quebec can get more from Ottawa by building a stronger bargaining position — something he says François Legault’s CAQ government failed to do.

With a pro-independence party poised to take power next Monday, Duhaime is seeking to defend his vision of greater autonomy, which he says would yield greater gains for Quebec.
He argues Legault did not play all the cards he had up his sleeve.

With her party facing difficulties in the polls, Christine Fréchette says she plans to remain leader of the Coalition Avenir Québec (CAQ), even if she loses her seat in Trois-Rivières.

“I’m going to stay here (...) It’s my position, and I’m going to commit myself to it,” she said Friday on the program Toujours le matin” on Radio-Canada.

According to the Qc125 poll aggregator, the CAQ leader's seat is in danger.
Parti Québécois (PQ) candidate Jean Pellerin is projected to receive 32 per cent of the vote, while Fréchette is in second place with 25 per cent.

Qc125 is also suggesting the CAQ could be wiped off the map on Oct. 5.

Fréchette has pledged that, if she wins in her riding, she will remain a member of the National Assembly even if the CAQ does not form the government.

“My commitment, first and foremost, is to the people of Trois-Rivières,” she said.