Both the Parti Québécois and the Liberals are slamming the ADQ's platform spending estimates as irresponsible and full of fantasy, as polls suggest Mario Dumont's popularity is on the rise.
The ADQ leader showed most of his cards Tuesday when he detailed his $1.7-billion election platform that includes broad measures for family policies and a promise to slash provincial spending by one per cent.
'Mario Dumont, he's the Peter Pan of politics with his dreams.'—André Boisclair
That earned him indignation from PQ Leader André Boisclair, who attacked Dumont repeatedly during a boisterous party rally in Gatineau Tuesday night.
"Mario Dumont, he's the Peter Pan of politics with his dreams," Boisclair said, earning loud cheers from hundreds of supporters attending the event.
Dumont's spending promises will hurt farmers, forestry workers and the sick because the ADQ forecasts a smaller budget that still doesn't make a lot of sense because Dumont hasn't fully explained it, Boisclair said.
The PQ leader, who started the campaign on the Liberal offence, has shifted gears to focus on the ADQ as polls suggest Dumont's party is garnering up to 40 per cent of popular support in the key Quebec City ridings.
ADQ platform flighty: Liberals
The Liberals, who are also feeling ADQ pressure, dismissed Dumont's spending framework as irresponsible.
The ADQ is offering spending details for 86 different policies but the $1.7 billion price tag attached to the platform just doesn't add up, said Monique Jérome-Forget, president of Quebec's Treasury Board.
The ADQ hasn't factored in the cost of hiring new doctors, investing in post-secondary education or reducing income taxes, Jérome-Forget said.
"If you feel that health care, education, and lowering taxes are three of your priorities, then Mr. Dumont is not the person to vote for."
Two budget columns for ADQ
Dumont defends his spending details and claimed Tuesday he was the only leader to propose a budget with two columns, that account for both expenses and revenues.
"We say where we will find the money. We weigh where we will put the money. For [my opponents] the 'where do they find the money' is a big question mark in that column," he said Tuesday at a campaign event in a Lévis high school east of Quebec City.
Dumont insists he can deliver family-friendly programs and cut Quebec's expenditures by one per cent by weaning 25,000 people off social assistance, and cutting back on business grants and subsidies.
"We have to review every single program, every single place, where expenditures are done, to make sure that we [track] carefully every single dollar that is provided by the population of Quebec."
Dumont said if he's elected he can deliver his first spending promises within the nine first months of his mandate.
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| 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.