Last Conservative debate in Laval | Charest warns against ‘pseudo-American’ Poilievre

(Ottawa) The last debate on the Conservative Party’s leadership career saw a steady exchange between the three candidates – Jean Charest, Pierre Poilievre and Patrick Brown – while the other three opponents – Leslyn Lewis, Roman Baber and Scott Aitchison – mainly played an additional role due to their poor command of the French.

Considered the leader of the race, Conservative MP Pierre Poilievre was both mocked and applauded when he once again criticized Jean Charest’s record as Quebec’s premier, as he has done since the start of the race. Mr. replied. Charest by defending the decisions made during his three terms and invited his main opponent to switch advisers because he obviously did not know about the tax rate for Quebecers and the waiting times in the system. taxes. health.

However, Mr. took advantage. Charest made his final statement to warn Conservative Party members against the temptation to focus their eyes on Mr. Poilievre by asserting that the latter is betting on American style politics to control the party.

“The question that has arisen and is very serious is this: will we, in the Conservative Party, tread the path of American style politics, the politics of attack, the politics of opposition from one group to another, politics in which we commit slogans, where all the answers are dodges? “, Launched by Mr. Charest.

“I’m not offering to be a pseudo-American. This is not what we want as a nation. We want a leader who can unite the party and have discretion, who doesn’t start with conspiracy theories, who doesn’t start with theories about the Bank of Canada or bitcoin, ”he added.same breath.

Since the career began, Mr. Poilievre has promoted cryptocurrency as a way of escaping inflation, vowed to fire the Governor of the Bank of Canada if he becomes Prime Minister and recently said there will be no minister in the future Conservative government under of his leadership attended the World Economic Forum in Davo, Switzerland.

“Mr. favor. Poilievre on digital cash to hedge against inflation. I disagree with him. He’s on the potato ”, also dropped Leslyn Lewis reading her notes, causing laughter in the room.

During the two -hour debate, candidates were asked to comment on several topics, including immigration, the environment, public safety, official languages, inflation, trade, health and the methods the Conservative Party uses to make money. in Quebec.

But in passing, the candidates also spoke of two laws enacted by the Legault government, these are the State Secularism Law (Law 21) and Law 96 aimed at protecting the French language. The three non -French -speaking candidates indicated that they strongly opposed these two laws.

As he has done since the career began, Mr. Poilievre has made himself an apostle of freedom, especially expressing his opposition to the forced vaccinations required during the pandemic by the federal government and the provinces to go to restaurants and in public places.

The debate also resulted in a longer tussle between Pierre Poilievre and Patrick Brown. The latter notably accused Mr. Poilievre that he was unable to unite the party and of showing hypocrisy by taking advantage of the support of a Huawei employee in Canada when he criticized Jean Charest for his work back then for the communications giant in China.

Support for Jean Charest

“I came to support Jean Charest,” Laurent Benarrous exclaimed, minutes before the debate began. I think it’s time for the Conservative Party to change their recipe and put a more center-right candidate, this is the only way for the Conservatives will oust the Liberals, “added the man who proudly wore a” Jean Charest “crest on his jacket.

Kathy Laframboise followed. “I went to see Jean Charest. I want to encourage him, ”she said.

Pierre B. Fortin went to the Château Royal in Laval to learn more about the candidates ’ideas. But the outcome of the debate will have little impact on his choice. “Jean Charest is for sure. He is the best candidate right now who can replace Mr. Justin Trudeau, “he judged.

A few meters away, Sherwin Edwards was more in love with Pierre Poilievre. “He resonates with my convictions and my ideas, but I’m waiting to see if his actions will follow his chops,” said the man, who is participating in a debate for the first time.

The next party leader will be known on September 10.

With Alice Girard-Bossé, The Press