Conservative leader Eric Duhaime said he was driven by the same will as the fathers of the Quiet Revolution when he launched his campaign and unveiled his party’s slogan on Tuesday.
Accompanied by some of his candidates, Éric Duhaime unveiled the slogan of the Conservative Party of Quebec before the National Assembly.
It is: “Libres chez nous”, an avowed nod to Jean Lesage’s “Maîtres chez nous”, in 1962. The party had it written on its campaign car, an SUV, which will travel the province this summer.
“Obviously, I am not Jean-Lesage, we are not in 1960, we are certainly not liberals, said Éric Duhaime. But there is still something that unites us there.
“At the time, the idea was for Quebec to be more in control at home, within Canada. This was essentially the message of the liberals who started the Quiet Revolution. Today, our message is that we want Quebecers to be more free at home, within Quebec,” he added.
The Conservative Party of Quebec (PCQ) has thus become the first political party to unveil its slogan in view of the elections on October 3.
A second quiet revolution
The Conservative Party is proposing “significant changes” and “respectful of Quebecers”, believes Éric Duhaime. “I think you might say it’s a quiet revolution too,” he said.
What would be the flagship measures of the “revolution” that the PCQ would bring regarding?
“Significant” tax cuts, a reform of the health system to allow users to go to the public or private sector, a direct allowance for parents who do not have a place in a CPE or who choose an “alternative mode” to ensure the care of their children, are among the examples given by Éric Duhaime.
The Conservative Party also wants to allow companies to further exploit hydrocarbons on Quebec territory, and set up free buses in Quebec City rather than building a tramway which it considers “useless and expensive”.
The PCQ’s electoral platform will be made public in August.
Surveys
While an Angus-Reid poll places him in second position for the first time in voting intentions across the province, Éric Duhaime said he was confident of having several Conservatives elected on October 3.
According to the same poll, the Conservatives would collect 32% of voting intentions in the Quebec City region, while the CAQ is at 34%.
“The Quebec region has always been the most fertile region for conservative ideas even before the recent rise of the PCQ. It was the case at the time of the ADQ, it was the case at the time of the Conservatives of Stephen Harper, and it is the case today,” commented the leader of the PCQ, adding that he will “fight tooth and nail” in the constituencies of the region.