PLQ leadership: François Legault targeted by aspiring Liberal leaders

Quebec Liberal Party leadership candidates, from left, Marc Belanger, Mario Roy, Charles Milliard, Pablo Rodriguez and Karl Blackburn pose for a photograph following the Quebec Liberal Party French-language leadership debate in Laval, Que., Saturday, May 3, 2025. (Christopher Katsarov/ The Canadian Press)

Premier François Legault and his government were the main targets of the Quebec Liberal (PLQ) leadership candidates who met on Saturday for a third debate in Gatineau.

The debate focused on immigration and secularism.

Unsurprisingly, the aspiring leaders took issue with the CAQ approach to immigration.

“We need to change our tone. François Legault told us that immigration was a threat,” said former federal minister Pablo Rodriguez, recalling that he was born in Argentina and did not speak French when he arrived in Quebec.

In his view, the premier is “dividing” Quebecers.

The former president of the Conseil du patronat, Karl Blackburn, said that Legault’s “patente” was his ability to accommodate immigrants.

“When he wants to divide Quebecers, he talks about capacity,” he said.

Blackburn wants more immigrants to meet the needs of entrepreneurs.

Century Initiative

Charles Milliard, former CEO of the Fédération des chambres de commerce du Québec, said that immigration was “the clearest sign of the CAQ’s failure.”

He agreed that more immigrants were needed, but that “at the same time, we have to respond to the concerns of Quebecers” who were wondering about the province’s capacity to receive immigrants.

Milliard took the opportunity to take a swipe at Pablo Rodriguez, saying that “very few Quebecers have identified with the Century Initiative, which aims to have 100 million Canadians by 2100.”

Justin Trudeau’s former minister immediately retorted: “The Century Initiative has nothing to do with the federal government. It was something else.”

The third debate showed few clear dividing lines between the aspiring leaders.

However, a discordant note was heard from tax lawyer Marc Bélanger, who proposed banning work permits for foreign students who want to come to Montreal and are unable to communicate in French.

“If they enter the job market, it will anglicise the job market,” he explained.

The leadership candidates also used the issue of secularism to flay the government.

For Rodriguez, the CAQ’s new bill to strengthen secularism in schools is just a diversion.

“Meanwhile, it doesn’t talk about the $14 billion deficit. He’s not talking about our hospitals that are falling apart. He’s not talking about our schools that are ‘maganaged,’” he maintained.

Milliard was of the same opinion: “If you lose a byelection, you have to identify yourself. If we have a deficit, we’ll show our identity. We have a financial downturn, we’re playing identity politics.”

‘Sweetshop’

Milliard also denounced the fact that the government used “too often” the notwithstanding clause to protect its laws from the courts.

“It’s like a sweet shop. And (Justice Minister) Simon Jolin-Barrette is very greedy,” he said.

For Bélanger, “the problem is the discourse, not the religious symbols.”

“We’re trying to advocate tolerance, but we can’t have a government that is more intolerant. We say to young people, look at the diversity, and then we say, diversity must not be in schools. It’s religious discourse that needs to be banned,” he argued.

For Beauce farmer Mario Roy, Bill 96 on French and Bill 21 on secularism “go too far.”

“We must not be afraid to defend the charters of rights and freedoms,” he said.

The exchange took place in Gatineau, in the Outaouais region, which the PLQ hopes to win back in the next election. For the moment, André Fortin -- elected in the Pontiac riding -- is the only Liberal MNA in the Outaouais.

Bélanger has said he would like to run in this region in the 2026 election.

Three debates remain before the election of the new Liberal leader on June 14.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published in French on May 10, 2025.