Quebec party leaders scale back activities to prep for key TV debate
Last Updated: Monday, November 24, 2008 | 10:56 AM ET
The Canadian Press
Quebec's political leaders scaled back their election campaigning Sunday as they prepared for their potentially crucial TV debate.
Tuesday's debate should ignite what has so far been a snoozer of a campaign, some political analysts said.
"This debate will kick off the campaign," said Christian Dufour, a professor of political science at Montreal's École nationale d'administration publique, a graduate school for studies in public policy.
Quebecers, who go to the polls Dec. 8, have to date reacted indifferently to the campaign, so it's a chance for the three major party leaders to engage voters, he said.
Jean-Marc Léger, president of the Léger Marketing polling firm, is also bargaining on an explosive debate.
Léger said Action Démocratique du Québec Leader Mario Dumont may deliver a shocker similar to his 2007 debate stunt, when he unveiled a Transport Quebec letter detailing the crumbling state of a Montreal-area overpass that had collapsed and killed five people only a few months prior.
This time around, Dumont's party is trailing badly in the polls while the Liberals are riding high, so Liberal Leader Jean Charest has the most to lose, Dufour said, adding that Charest's rivals see the debate as an opportunity to pounce on him in front of a captive audience.
In fact, Dumont started early, bashing his opponents on Sunday for financial irresponsibility during an economic downturn. Charest and Parti Québécois Leader Pauline Marois are the province's "royal couple" who enjoy mingling with the rich and famous and who swan around in "golden carriages" making millions of dollars in promises, Dumont said.
ADQ abandons hopes of governing
With his party's stagnating poll numbers, Dumont has abandoned talk of forming a government, instead asking Quebecers to send a strong ADQ team to the provincial legislature.
The debate won't be a cakewalk for Marois either. She's facing her first debate while Dumont and Charest are both entering their fourth. Still, Leger thinks she may be the dark horse.
"The fact that she's a woman changes everything," he said. "The feminine approach is softer, more subtle, less confrontational, and this may have an impact."
Marois left the campaign trail early Saturday to ready herself. "I'm going into the debate with confidence, but also with a lot of humility," she said. "The two other party leaders have much more experience than me."
Charest also took a break from the campaign on Sunday and met with some of his counterparts from other provinces and representatives of the Canadian Football League.
According to Radio-Canada, CBC's French-language service, Charest, New Brunswick Premier Shawn Graham and Alberta Premier Ed Stelmach discussed the possibility of new football teams in Moncton and Quebec City.
Charest was also scheduled to attend the Grey Cup game between the Montreal Alouettes and the Calgary Stampeders.
