Candidates for Conservative Leaders will gather tonight for the final official debate of the competition – a French language competition that will challenge the candidates’ language skills as they compete for the top spot.
The debate tonight in Laval, Que. is the last pre-election event in which candidates will have a chance to persuade future voters to withdraw from party membership before the June 3 deadline. Anyone who wants to cast the ballot to elect the next Conservative leader must be on the party’s list by that date to receive the ballot for the September 10 vote.
CBCNews.ca will broadcast a translated version of the live debate, starting at 20:00 ET.
Tonight, the six candidates will make a direct appeal to Quebec’s Francophone residents, a voting bloc that does not usually lean on conservatives in the federal election. Although there may be relatively few Francophone conservative members, these party members will have much to say about the end result of this leadership race.
The last two debates were sometimes as challenging as the leading contenders – Conservative MPs Pierre Poalievre and Leslin Lewis, Brampton, Ont. Mayor Patrick Brown and former Quebec Prime Minister Jean Charest have exchanged chatter about everything from abortion to bitcoin.
Sharp personal exchanges have revealed how much bad blood there is between Poilievre, a more solidly right-wing candidate, and his centrist opponents Brown and Sharest.
Two of the other candidates in the race – Conservative MP Scott Aichison and Ontario Independent MP Roman Baber – have taken a more conciliatory approach, calling for party unity at a time when conservative divisions have never seemed so sharp.
Poilievre, right, gestures as Charest listens to the debate over the British leadership of the Conservative Party of Canada in Edmonton on May 11. (Jeff Mackintosh / Canadian Press)
Tonight’s debate will be different from the previous exchange of campaigns between the candidates, because three of them – Aichison, Baber and Lewis – do not speak French.
Lewis, who is also running for the 2020 race, came across the French debate one last time by reading notes.
Rudy Husney, a prominent Quebec conservative and former employee of former Prime Minister Stephen Harper, said the language deficit “will obviously make the debate less interesting”.
“This is a problem and it is not good for the image of the Conservative Party in Quebec when you have candidates who do not speak perfectly bilingual,” Husney said.
As the English-speaking candidates are eliminated, Charest and Poliever are ready to dominate the debate.
Hussney said the race in Quebec is already taking shape as a contest between the two candidates, although Brown has shown strong performance in some ethnic communities in the Montreal area.
The French debate is “critical” – a former Scheer employee
Mark-Andre Leclerc, a former employee of former Conservative leader Andrew Scheer, said he had a “question mark” in front of Brown for Francophone voters. His language skills are largely unknown, Leclerc said.
“This is key for all members of the party in Quebec – our leader must speak in French and debate in French. The French debate during the federal campaign is always critical. We want to see someone who can fight Mr Trudeau and Yves-François Blanche, “he said, referring to the Prime Minister and leader of the Quebec Bloc.
Brown, who aggressively courted ethnic and religious minority voters in the race, was also a staunch opponent of Quebec’s Bill 21, which forces government officials to remove religious clothing while at work, a controversial law still popular with many residents. of Quebec.
Charest also vowed to fight the law in court if elected.
“This is a key issue for all candidates. That will be a big part of the debate, “Leclerc said.
Brown gestures to the Conservative Party of Canada for the British Leadership Debate in Edmonton on May 11. (Jeff McIntosh / Canadian Press)
Hussney said Charest, who has been Quebec’s prime minister for nine years, is a number, and expectations are high for him because “he plays at home.”
“Mr Charest must call for action to the people of Quebec who know him – to become a member. That is his goal in this debate and in the next 10 days, [to] to persuade as many Quebecers as possible to get a card, “Husney said.
“This is his path to victory. He needs strong results in Quebec.”
Husney said Poaliever should introduce himself to an electorate that may be less familiar with him.
Hussney said he expects Poilievre to repeat some of the speaking points used by Eric Duheim, leader of the Conservative Party of Quebec.
Quebec Conservative Party leader Eric Duheim speaks at a press conference in the legislature in Quebec City on June 18, 2021 (Jacques Boissino / Canadian Press)
This small party has grown dramatically since its leader criticized public health measures during the pandemic, something Polyaur also did.
“You will hear a lot of the words ‘freedom’ and ‘freedom’. This will be part of the message he will want to send in tomorrow’s debate on the people that Mr Duheim has already attracted, “Husney told Poilievre.
Duhaime has grown from a party with no official ties to the Federal Conservatives, from just 500 to more than 70,000 since taking office last year.
Hussney said all federal contenders are eager to touch those Duheim supporters who are concentrated mainly in the Conservative-minded Quebec area.
Quebec Conservative members have helped resolve the last two Conservative leadership races.
The leader of the then Federal Conservative Party Andrew Sheare spoke at the congress for leaders of the Nova Scotia PC party in Halifax on October 27, 2018 (Ted Pritchard / Canadian Press)
Andrew Scheer, a proponent of supply management, won the competition in 2017 in part because of his appeal to dairy farmers in Quebec.
Erin O’Toole defeated alleged leader Peter McKay in the last leadership race because of his organizational strength in riding in Quebec, where there were relatively few Conservative members.
O’Toole won a group of gun owners who were drawn to his promise to ease federal gun restrictions.
While some of the riders in the province have only a small number of conservatives with cards, their votes have a huge impact in a system that gives almost equal weight to each region of the country.
“Quebec is very, very critical,” said Leclerc, a former Scheer employee.
“O’Toole did very well in Quebec and that was a big surprise for everyone, in my opinion. Everyone thinks Quebec is mostly progressive and that Peter McKay was perfect, but O’Toole got a lot of support because he had a good playing position. “
Leclerc said some prominent conservative organizers who supported O’Toole, such as Quebec Senator Leo Hussakos, are now in Team Poilievre.
“For the ‘real blue’ conservatives in Quebec, Poilievre is very attractive. “For many of these Quebecers, Mr Charest is not an ally – he is more of an enemy,” Leclerc said.
Leclerc said Charest was a frequent enemy of former Prime Minister Stephen Harper while in office; there was a quarrel between the two over a multibillion-dollar transfer payment and cuts in arts and culture funding. Charest also did little to support Scheer and O’Toole in their candidacies for prime minister, Leclerc said.
“People don’t forget that and that’s why some people are crazy. Charest needs a big, big, big result and a great performance in Quebec,” he said. “If not, he’s out.”
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