Québec Solidaire Leader Françoise David has denied asking the Green party to back away from two Montreal ridings in order to shore up support for her own.
David told Radio-Canada on Monday she never formally requested the Greens pull out of the Gouin and Mercier ridings in order to consolidate left-leaning votes.
Québec Solidaire co-spokeswoman Françoise David, shown in a Sept. 2006 photo, says her party is more progressive than the Parti Québécois.
(Jacques Boissinot/Canadian Press)
But she said she's disappointed the Greens won't discuss an alliance to prevent vote-splitting in the two ridings, where Québec Solidaire is expected to perform well.
David, who is running in Gouin, said she and her colleague and co-spokesperson Amir Khadir are giving the Parti Québécois a run for its money in the two urban ridings.
David said sovereigntist voters feel disenfranchised by the Parti Québécois and leader André Boisclair, whom she criticized for distancing himself from the party's grassroot values.
Boisclair isn't as progressive as he thinks, said David, because he essentially agrees with the ADQ on health care, and doesn't support electoral reform before a referendum.
Québec Solidaire is a better home for progressive voters than the PQ, she said.
The party is also more organized than the ADQ, which is having trouble putting numbers to its platform. Québec Solidaire will fund its policies by "going to get money where it already exists in Quebec," notably from big businesses and the wealthy, David said.
Khadir defends automated telephone survey
Campaigning in Trois-Rivières on Monday, Amir Khadir said any goodies reserved for Quebec in the federal budget should be used to pay down the debt and promote clean energy sources.
Khadir fielded questions about his decision to use an automatic telephone survey to gauge support for his campaign in his Mercier riding.
Khadir said the practice isn't illegal and has been used by several other parties including the ADQ in the last Quebec election, and in Ottawa's last municipal vote.
Party promises free tuition, breaks for bankrupt students
Québec Solidaire candidate Sujata Dey told students at l'Université de Montréal on Monday that her party is the only one that wants to reduce and eventually abolish tuition fees.
Providing free tuition is more affordable than Quebecers think, Dey told students in her Outremont riding. Free tuition would cost about $400 million and that money could be found within the income tax system.
The party would also release bankrupt students from their university loan obligations.
With files from the Canadian PressRelated
| Party | Elected | Leading | Total | Vote Share |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| LIB | 48 | 0 | 48 | 33.08% |
| ADQ | 41 | 0 | 41 | 30.80% |
| PQ | 36 | 0 | 36 | 28.32% |
| QS | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3.65% |
| GRN | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3.89% |
| OTH | 0 | 0 | 0 | .26% |
| Last Update:March 27, 12:52:21 AM EDT | ||||
Quebec Votes 2007 Headlines »
- Que. Liberals take minority win with grain of salt
- Quebec Premier Jean Charest said he'll build bridges with the Parti Québécois and the Action Démocratique du Québec to ensure a stable minority government.
- Dumont will work with Quebec Premier Charest
- Quebec's new Opposition Leader Mario Dumont said he wants stability at the national assembly and pledged to work with the Liberal minority government on a case-by-case basis.
- Boisclair remains at helm after PQ finishes 3rd
- André Boisclair is staying on as leader of the Parti Québécois and vowed to help rebuild the fractured party after it suffered major losses in Monday's provincial election.
- Quebec election result 'good news' for Canada: PM
- Stephen Harper says voters in the Quebec election have used their ballots to reject calls for another referendum in a "great result" for Canada.
- Charest keeps seat as Liberals cling to power in Quebec
- Quebecers are waking up to a minority Liberal government — the first minority in the province in 130 years — and a new official Opposition.