{"id":170623,"date":"2026-08-17T06:00:01","date_gmt":"2026-08-17T06:00:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/170623\/"},"modified":"2026-08-17T06:00:01","modified_gmt":"2026-08-17T06:00:01","slug":"nice-try-quebec-liberal-leader-brushes-aside-pqs-attempt-to-woo-anglos-as-election-call-looms","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/170623\/","title":{"rendered":"‘Nice try’: Quebec Liberal leader brushes aside PQ’s attempt to woo anglos as election call looms"},"content":{"rendered":"

The leader of the Quebec Liberals has mocked the Parti Qu\u00e9b\u00e9cois leader\u2019s attempt to curry favours with the English-speaking community as nothing more than blather.<\/p>\n

And arguing \u201cQuebecers like an underdog,\u201d 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.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think it\u2019s a nice try,\u201d Milliard told reporters Saturday in reference to an open letter to anglophones written by PQ leader Paul St-Pierre Plamondon<\/a> that was published this week in the National Post.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s not much to say. The English-speaking community knows very well what the PQ thinks of the community. I think one open letter won\u2019t change anything. It\u2019s been 50 years of trying to divide Quebecers.<\/p>\n

\u201cI trust the intelligence of Quebecers.\u201d<\/p>\n

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 Coll\u00e8ge Durocher in St-Lambert.<\/p>\n

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\u2019s plans to hold an independence referendum<\/a>.<\/p>\n

St-Pierre Plamondon, however, argued francophones and anglophones have plenty in common and both want a good government in power.<\/p>\n

He does not pledge to drop his referendum plan but notes the PQ\u2019s recently published blue book on independence<\/a> includes vows to protect the rights of minorities.<\/p>\n

But the focus of the Liberal convention is on the upcoming general election, which Premier Christine Fr\u00e9chette is expected to call either Aug. 27, 28 or 29 for a vote Oct.5.<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

\"CharlesCharles Milliard speaks at the Quebec Liberal Party Youth Commission in St-Lambert on Aug. 15, 2026. Evan Buhler \/ Montreal Gazette<\/p>\n

Some of the questions were puff: He prefers coffee over tea, cats over dogs and often has a hankering for BBQ Fritos corn chips.<\/p>\n

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\u2019s lead in the polls<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u2018We are in a good position,\u201d he told interviewer Marlot Marleau. \u201cWe are second in all the polls. Several givens do not change. People are strongly undecided so election campaigns count.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe 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\u2019t want a referendum. They are looking for an alternative.<\/p>\n

\u201cPeople don\u2019t want the CAQ (Coalition Avenir Qu\u00e9bec). 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.\u201d<\/p>\n

Asked about the comment later, Milliard added: \u201cWe\u2019re a strong second in most of the polls and I think Quebecers like an underdog. I\u2019m sure we\u2019re done with the CAQ, I\u2019m sure Quebecers are done with the CAQ.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey\u2019re looking for a replacement, they want to see who I am, what I am proposing and who is on my team.\u201d<\/p>\n

There were about 80 of the Liberal candidates on hand, attending a series of closed-door election preparation workshops.<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

\"CharlesCharles Milliard speaks with party members at the Quebec Liberal Party Youth Commission in St-Lambert on Aug. 15, 2026. Evan Buhler \/ Montreal Gazette<\/p>\n

The Liberal youth wing has tripled in size since 2024 and now counts 1,700 members. About 400 members \u2014 many of whom supported Milliard in both recent leadership races \u2014 were on hand.<\/p>\n

\u201cMost of you will probably only ever have known the CAQ (as a government),\u201d Milliard said. \u201cI am telling you another Quebec is possible and that\u2019s exactly what we are going to offer.<\/p>\n

\u201cSome 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.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are already in the campaign and we need you all over the ground. As of Oct. 5, we\u2019ll form a Liberal government.\u201d<\/p>\n

Electoral battle in Orford heats up<\/p>\n

\"Low-angleCharles Milliard speaks at the Quebec Liberal Party Youth Commission in St-Lambert on Aug. 15, 2026. Evan Buhler \/ Montreal Gazette<\/p>\n

Milliard also responded to criticism from the candidate the CAQ is running against him in the riding of Orford.<\/p>\n

On Friday Fr\u00e9chette announced Allison Turner, a Montreal lawyer and expert in international law and human rights would run in the Eastern Townships riding.<\/p>\n

Standing beside Fr\u00e9chette for the announcement, Turner wasted no time ripping into Milliard over the Liberal Party\u2019s recent ethics and fundraising controversies.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn the last months, serious questions have been raised in this regard,\u201d Turner said. \u201cI 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?\u201d<\/p>\n

Turner, who is a strong supporter of the CAQ\u2019s Bill 21 on state secularism, also pledged to \u201cbuild bridges,\u201d between the English-speaking community and the CAQ government.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s going to be a very interesting battle in Orford,\u201d Milliard responded. \u201cI think the people of Orford, being francophone or anglophone, know very well how the CAQ has treated anglophones in the past eight years.<\/p>\n

\u201cShe won\u2019t be turning that around instantly.\u201d<\/p>\n

Turner ran for the New Democratic Party in the riding of Ville-Marie-LeSud-Ouest-\u00celes-des-Soeurs in the 2015 federal election. She lost to Liberal Marc Miller.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The leader of the Quebec Liberals has mocked the Parti Qu\u00e9b\u00e9cois leader\u2019s attempt to curry favours with the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":170624,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[50,129,130,131],"class_list":["post-170623","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-montreal","tag-montreal","tag-quebec-elections","tag-quebec-liberal-party","tag-quebec-politics"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/170623","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=170623"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/170623\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/170624"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=170623"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=170623"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=170623"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}