The leader of the Quebec Liberals has mocked the Parti Québécois leader’s attempt to curry favours with the English-speaking community as nothing more than blather.
And arguing “Quebecers like an underdog,” Charles Milliard said his party is actually in a good position and has a chance to form the next government because so many voters remain undecided.
“I think it’s a nice try,” Milliard told reporters Saturday in reference to an open letter to anglophones written by PQ leader Paul St-Pierre Plamondon that was published this week in the National Post.
“There’s not much to say. The English-speaking community knows very well what the PQ thinks of the community. I think one open letter won’t change anything. It’s been 50 years of trying to divide Quebecers.
“I trust the intelligence of Quebecers.”
Milliard made the comments at a news conference wrapping up the first day of a two-day Liberal Party youth wing convention being held at Collège Durocher in St-Lambert.
In the letter, St-Pierre Plamondon extended a hand to the English-speaking community which traditionally flocks to the Liberals in election campaigns because they fear the PQ’s plans to hold an independence referendum.
St-Pierre Plamondon, however, argued francophones and anglophones have plenty in common and both want a good government in power.
He does not pledge to drop his referendum plan but notes the PQ’s recently published blue book on independence includes vows to protect the rights of minorities.
But the focus of the Liberal convention is on the upcoming general election, which Premier Christine Fréchette is expected to call either Aug. 27, 28 or 29 for a vote Oct.5.
With polls showing many Quebecers do not know the Liberal leader, who is new to the political game, the party staged a leadership love-in including a chatty question and answer session for Milliard.
Charles Milliard speaks at the Quebec Liberal Party Youth Commission in St-Lambert on Aug. 15, 2026. Evan Buhler / Montreal Gazette
Some of the questions were puff: He prefers coffee over tea, cats over dogs and often has a hankering for BBQ Fritos corn chips.
He said Quebecers will be seeing a lot more of him in the coming weeks and, with the election close at hand, moved to reassure the nervous party that the Liberals are still a political force despite the PQ’s lead in the polls.
‘We are in a good position,” he told interviewer Marlot Marleau. “We are second in all the polls. Several givens do not change. People are strongly undecided so election campaigns count.
“The second thing is yes the PQ is first, but it never goes up. You know what else never goes up: support for sovereignty. Quebecers don’t want a referendum. They are looking for an alternative.
“People don’t want the CAQ (Coalition Avenir Québec). In the coming 50 days, you will see my face on television a lot. I think we are in a good position and the victory is at hand.”
Asked about the comment later, Milliard added: “We’re a strong second in most of the polls and I think Quebecers like an underdog. I’m sure we’re done with the CAQ, I’m sure Quebecers are done with the CAQ.
“They’re looking for a replacement, they want to see who I am, what I am proposing and who is on my team.”
There were about 80 of the Liberal candidates on hand, attending a series of closed-door election preparation workshops.
Reminding the crowd that he himself got his start in politics in the youth wing in 1998, Milliard did not arrive empty-handed for the convention.
He promised to launch an estates general on education within the first 100 days of taking office, to make youth issues his responsibility should he become premier and to start paying salaries to young people who do internships in the public sector.
Charles Milliard speaks with party members at the Quebec Liberal Party Youth Commission in St-Lambert on Aug. 15, 2026. Evan Buhler / Montreal Gazette
The Liberal youth wing has tripled in size since 2024 and now counts 1,700 members. About 400 members — many of whom supported Milliard in both recent leadership races — were on hand.
“Most of you will probably only ever have known the CAQ (as a government),” Milliard said. “I am telling you another Quebec is possible and that’s exactly what we are going to offer.
“Some want to use the next election as a launching point for another referendum. I want it to be the launching point for a new generation of builders.
“We are already in the campaign and we need you all over the ground. As of Oct. 5, we’ll form a Liberal government.”
Electoral battle in Orford heats up
Charles Milliard speaks at the Quebec Liberal Party Youth Commission in St-Lambert on Aug. 15, 2026. Evan Buhler / Montreal Gazette
Milliard also responded to criticism from the candidate the CAQ is running against him in the riding of Orford.
On Friday Fréchette announced Allison Turner, a Montreal lawyer and expert in international law and human rights would run in the Eastern Townships riding.
Standing beside Fréchette for the announcement, Turner wasted no time ripping into Milliard over the Liberal Party’s recent ethics and fundraising controversies.
“In the last months, serious questions have been raised in this regard,” Turner said. “I ask one simple question. How you (Milliard) ask Quebecers to hand him the province (to govern) when you have not put order in your own house?”
Turner, who is a strong supporter of the CAQ’s Bill 21 on state secularism, also pledged to “build bridges,” between the English-speaking community and the CAQ government.
“It’s going to be a very interesting battle in Orford,” Milliard responded. “I think the people of Orford, being francophone or anglophone, know very well how the CAQ has treated anglophones in the past eight years.
“She won’t be turning that around instantly.”
Turner ran for the New Democratic Party in the riding of Ville-Marie-LeSud-Ouest-Îles-des-Soeurs in the 2015 federal election. She lost to Liberal Marc Miller.