LÉVIS — Premier Christine Fréchette says if Montreal’s hockey teams have been able prove their naysayers wrong this season, so can her Coalition Avenir Québec party and win the fall general election.
Noting analysts and columnists have been predicting the demise of the CAQ for months, Fréchette told troops at a general council meeting Saturday the party still has some fight left in it. Two fresh polls have shown the party under her leadership is gaining momentum.
Quebec Premier Christine Fréchette Fréchette has not ruled out spending more than the $250 million budgeted for the winner of the CAQ leadership race to spend on campaign promises. Evan Buhler / Montreal Gazette
“To prove the predictions wrong, I will need you, each of you,” Fréchette told delegates in the hall. “I need you to convince Quebecers, to convince your families, your friends, your neighbours, your work colleagues.
“We must meet each Quebecer. We must shake every hand and knock on every door. We will have to say, loudly and strongly, why Quebec needs our coalition to defend our autonomy and propel our economy.
“If we do this, we’ll resemble our hockey teams, our Victoire of Montreal, and the Canadiens of Montreal. We will prove all the predictions wrong, and we’ll win the next elections. Let’s get to work and Go Habs Go.”
The crowd of 650 CAQ members — many of them dressed in hockey jerseys — loved it, breaking into a chorus of Bell Centre style Olé Olé Olé chanting. Fréchette herself arrived for the meeting, the last one before the next election, wearing a Victoire jersey.
When she visited Montreal Mayor Soraya Martinez Ferrada in April, Fréchette sported a Canadiens jersey.
It’s unclear the CAQ as a political organization can get a bounce out of the current good mood of Quebecers, but Fréchette seems ready to tap in.
She is also continuing to put more and more distance between her “new” government and the unpopular one headed by former premier François Legault.
In a 15-minute speech, she ran down a long list of what she has accomplished in the 40 days she has been premier; from money for hospitals, tax cuts for small- and medium-size businesses and farmers, to economic missions to Ottawa, Washington and Paris.
She added to the list new legislation to renew the notwithstanding clause shielding Bill 96 from court challenges.
“We did all this in 40 days, imagine what can do in four years,” Fréchette told the crowd, which stood banging thunder sticks and waving signs.
After saying the new No. 1 priority now is helping Quebecers deal with the soaring cost of living, Fréchette announced a new measure: the government is cutting the provincial sales tax on certain products at the grocery store and pharmacies.
The list of products that will not be subject to the tax includes prepared fruits and vegetables, granola bars, muffins, nuts and bathroom tissue. The initiative will be announced Monday at a news conference in Sherbrooke.
The sales tax cut will mean savings of about $50 a year per household, but cost the treasury about $100 million. Other measures are also in the works.
Fréchette said she wants to give Quebecers “a bit of air and the hand” they need.
“Despite all we have done we have to do still more,” Fréchette said. “We have to go still further.”
Her speech was also an effort to stimulate the troops for the battle ahead.
It was all positive spin for the CAQ and all negative for the two main opposition parties, which she said want to bring Quebec back 30 years in time with their talk of federalism vs. independence.
She said Quebecers on Oct. 5 will have three options: voting for resignation, illusion or ambition.
Resignation is represented by the Quebec Liberals, which she said are weak on language, laicity and even the fight against corruption.
The Parti Québécois represents the illusion of another referendum, which two-thirds of Quebecers don’t want.
“Hello, planet Earth,” Fréchette quipped.
She said only the CAQ, representing ambition, remains the best option for Quebecers.
“Only a month ago, people did put much stock in our prospects,” Fréchette said. “Even today, there is a lot of doubt that we have a chance to win the next election.
“I’m convinced we can do it and I am convinced we will do it.”
Her speech came on the same days as Frechette said she has not excluded spending more than the $250 million her finance minister, Eric Girard, left in the March budget to cover her leadership campaign promises, including the sales tax cut.
“We need to help Quebecers because the cost of living is very difficult for Quebecers,” Fréchette told reporters in the morning. “We need to take actions to answer the needs.
“We need also to manage public finances in a responsible way. Both are my objectives. We need a good balance between the two.
“We’ll see how it evolves. So far, we have been respecting the envelope that was set out. We will announce new actions in the coming days.”
Fréchette specifically did not rule out spending more than the $250 million and she has already used some of it. She has announced the government would refund the welcome tax for first-time home buyers at a cost of $140 million.
She announced a tax cut for small- and medium-size businesses at a cost of $50 million for 2026. Refunding the carbon tax for agricultural producers, another promise, will cost the treasury $40 million.
The $100 million cost of cutting the sales tax will bring the total of Fréchette’s recent spending to $330 million.
But in an email sent by Girard to Fréchette and obtained by Radio-Canada, Girard appears to warn the premier he is worried about her spending.
“I have to underline that I am worried about the number of announcements made by the government since your election,” Girard wrote.
He added Quebecers are “intelligent” and “know how to count” and prefer a premier who acts responsibly and not spend wildly, a perception Quebecers had of the government when François Legault was premier.
The email is dated May 2, which was two weeks after Fréchette was sworn in as premier.
Fréchette, however, downplayed the email.
“Mr. Girard is doing his job, I am doing mine,” Fréchette said. “We have to find the balance between managing the public finances as well responding to the needs of Quebecers in a difficult situation.
“Right now we are within the allocated amount that was foreseen. We will see how it evolves in time.”
But she added there is a lot of pressure on the finances of Quebecers, caused by multiple factors that are lasting longer than anticipated.
Fréchette mentioned the continuing blockage of the Strait of Hormuz, which is pushing gas prices ever higher.
“The situation is not easy for Quebecers whether we consider the cost of living, the cost of groceries, the price of housing and rents. All this puts pressure on them, including the price of gas.”
Meeting reporters earlier, Girard downplayed the importance of the email, adding in his career he has written many similar emails as part of his job.
“I assume my responsibilities, it’s my job. I am the guardian of public finances,” he said.
Girard added, however, people need to be aware of the context. In his March budget, Quebec projected that the Strait of Hormuz would be reopened in six weeks.
It is now Week 13 and the conflict is not resolved and the price of gas keeps rising.
“To date, what has been announced is within the $250 million,” Girard said. “Other acts are being considered. The impact (of the world context) on Quebecers is real. The price of gas is visible at the pump.
“So we need to take the right actions at the right time to help Quebecers.”
Behind closed doors, the party held workshops to prepare for the election.
Responding to critics who have said the party appears to be slow in announcing the names of its election candidates, CAQ party director general Brigitte Legault said the roll out is proceeding normally.
She noted of the 79 remaining CAQ MNAs, between 55 and 60 have decided to seek re-election. Some have decided to not run again, but Legault said all will be settled by the end of May.
She dismissed speculation the party is having trouble finding candidates given its low standing in the polls.
“It’s not because they are not announced that we don’t have them ready,” Legault told reporters. “We are a banner which is still attracting candidates.”
Asked if new faces are approaching the party, Legault said: “Big time, big time.”
“People are coming forward, people are enthusiastic, we have women, we have youth. We have people from all over Quebec.”
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