Karim Elayoubi, star Conservative candidate in Argenteuil, invited young Quebecers under 30 to flee Quebec altogether. He then had to explain the meaning of his tweet, while ensuring that he was ironic.
• Read also: 3e link: ‘hidden’ studies favor bridge option, Duhaime suspects
• Read also: A duel between Legault and Nadeau-Dubois is emerging
• Read also: PSPP defends its oil tax … and its short stay in Sept-Îles
“Young people under 30. Run away from this place that thinks it’s the center of the planet, but depends so much on others without realizing it. Or vote for something else. However, I do not believe it for the moment,” tweeted Wednesday, late in the evening, the one who works as a general practitioner.
The next day, the latter felt the need to clarify his thoughts in two more separate tweets. “Why this election matters: 1. The current QC model is not to the advantage of young people. 2. Young people do not vote enough in elections. We have 4 parties proposing different variants of the same failed model,” he wrote.
He added that “only the Conservative Party of Quebec proposes solutions that would promote intergenerational equity in order to keep our young people here, since they are our future. 4. My initial tweet was tinged with irony, which is part of my personality. I should have clarified”.
Tough
These tweets resurfaced Monday noon, when Éric Duhaime was questioned about it on FM93.
“I haven’t seen the tweet. I heard about it, ”he reacted.
He then said he understood that many young people are “discouraged”. “There are many young people who find that tough […]. It’s having the impression that you live in a state where you will be less free and you will pay more than what you will receive and that you will be poorer than your parents.
Called to react late Monday afternoon, the Conservative leader did not throw stones at his candidate. “He wanted to say that if we want to think about the future, we have to vote for policies that will think about the youth […] There was also a dose of sarcasm. You have to put it in context,” he said.