{"id":734,"date":"2026-09-16T21:00:19","date_gmt":"2026-09-16T13:00:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/btbitcoin.net\/index.php\/2026\/09\/16\/caq-leader-christine-frechettes-record-comes-under-attack-in-quebec-debate\/"},"modified":"2026-09-16T21:00:19","modified_gmt":"2026-09-16T13:00:19","slug":"caq-leader-christine-frechettes-record-comes-under-attack-in-quebec-debate","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/btbitcoin.net\/index.php\/2026\/09\/16\/caq-leader-christine-frechettes-record-comes-under-attack-in-quebec-debate\/","title":{"rendered":"CAQ Leader Christine Fr\u00e9chette’s record comes under attack in Quebec debate"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Coalition Avenir Qu\u00e9bec Leader Christine Fr\u00e9chette greets supporters as she arrives to an election debate in Montreal, on Tuesday, Sept. 15, 2026. THE CANADIAN PRESS\/Christopher Katsarov – The Canadian Press <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

MONTREAL \u2014 Coalition Avenir Qu\u00e9bec Leader Christine Fr\u00e9chette was the main target in the first debate of the provincial election campaign on Tuesday as the five main party leaders sparred over the economy, Quebec sovereignty and immigration. <\/p>\n

From the first moments of the debate, Fr\u00e9chette’s rivals criticized the last eight years of her party’s governance. <\/p>\n

Parti Qu\u00e9b\u00e9cois Leader Paul St-Pierre Plamondon said his party would end years of “CAQ waste,” while Quebec Liberal Leader Charles Milliard said Fr\u00e9chette’s party hadn’t taken care of the economy and businesses, and “doesn’t in any way represent the changes Quebecers need.” <\/p>\n

Fr\u00e9chette took no time in distancing herself from her predecessor and former premier. <\/p>\n

“I am not Fran\u00e7ois Legault. I am Christine Fr\u00e9chette, and I come with my own way of doing things,” she said. <\/p>\n

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Parti Qu\u00e9b\u00e9cois Leader Paul St-Pierre Plamondon greets supporters as he arrives to an election debate in Montreal, on Tuesday, Sept. 15, 2026. THE CANADIAN PRESS\/Christopher Katsarov <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Conservative Leader \u00c9ric Duhaime and Qu\u00e9bec solidaire’s Ruba Ghazal were also on the stage for the two-hour debate, hosted by Quebec’s TVA television network. <\/p>\n

Host Paul Larocque urged the leaders to stay respectful as the debate got underway. <\/p>\n

The debate focused on three main themes: the economy, taxes and public services, and the future of Quebec. <\/p>\n

It also featured a head-to-head format, with two leaders being paired off to debate most of the questions. <\/p>\n

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Qu\u00e9bec solidaire co-spokesperson Ruba Ghazal greets supporters as she arrives to an election debate in Montreal, on Tuesday, Sept. 15, 2026. THE CANADIAN PRESS\/Christopher Katsarov <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

St-Pierre Plamondon, Milliard and Duhaime accused the Coalition Avenir Qu\u00e9bec government \u2014 and Fr\u00e9chette as a minister and more recently premier \u2014 of having presided over ballooning state spending and a growing debt, as well as scandals around the now-defunct Northvolt electric battery plant project and cost overruns at the province’s auto insurance board. <\/p>\n

Fr\u00e9chette said her government could create stability and predictability, and touted deals such as the recent tentative energy agreement reached with Newfoundland and Labrador. <\/p>\n

In one testy exchange, Fr\u00e9chette said Duhaime’s plan to cut $47 billion in state spending over the next five years would hurt working mothers. <\/p>\n

“It seems that for Mr. Duhaime, financial independence stops at women because he doesn’t actually want to increase the number of spots in (daycares),” she said. <\/p>\n

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Quebec Liberal Party Leader Charles Milliard greets supporters as she arrives to an election debate in Montreal, on Tuesday, Sept. 15, 2026. THE CANADIAN PRESS\/Christopher Katsarov <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Duhaime shot back, saying he was only proposing what amounted to a five per cent spending cut. <\/p>\n

“Five per cent, people who are listening at home do that every week.” <\/p>\n

St-Pierre Plamondon also faced criticism over his promising a sovereignty referendum in the next four years if his party forms government. <\/p>\n

Fr\u00e9chette said a Parti Qu\u00e9b\u00e9cois government would focus on sovereignty rather than other priorities such as health. <\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

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“We see that their priority, in fact, is to create a new Quebec currency, to create a Quebec army, and wait, a Quebec space agency. So I would like to say to Mr. Plamondon: come back down to earth and work on real priorities,” she said. <\/p>\n

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Liberal Party of Quebec supporters await the arrival of co-spokesperson Ruba Ghazal, to an election debate in Montreal, on Tuesday, Sept. 15, 2026. THE CANADIAN PRESS\/Christopher Katsarov <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The Parti Qu\u00e9b\u00e9cois leader, in response, targeted Fr\u00e9chette’s refusal to say whether she’d vote yes or no in a sovereignty referendum, and her attempts to distance herself from her party’s past. <\/p>\n

“You can ridicule, Ms. Fr\u00e9chette, if you want, the aspiration of a people to go toward more equality and more respect between people. Me, I’m in politics, I don’t hide my convictions, I don’t hide the name of my party,” he said. <\/p>\n

Milliard also criticized Fr\u00e9chette’s refusal to say how she’d vote in a referendum, saying she had people in her party supporting both sides of the sovereignty debate and describing her position as “unworthy” of leadership. <\/p>\n

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Quebec Conservative Leader Eric Duhaime greets supporters as she arrives to an election debate in Montreal, on Tuesday, Sept. 15, 2026. THE CANADIAN PRESS\/Christopher Katsarov <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The leaders were also questioned on their stances on immigration. Ghazal criticized St-Pierre Plamondon for earlier comments linking immigration to overcrowded schools and the decline of the French language. <\/p>\n

“This really touches me because I have six nieces and nephews who are second-generation Quebecers, and they aren’t the ones causing schools to overflow,” she said. “The reason our schools are overcrowded is underinvestment.” <\/p>\n

St-Pierre Plamondon said Ghazal was twisting his words. <\/p>\n

“You’re falsely implying that I blamed children. Obviously, I didn’t do that. I was talking about the CAQ’s immigration thresholds.” <\/p>\n

Tuesday’s debate was the first of three involving the main party leaders. They return for a second debate Wednesday, and a third on Sept. 23. <\/p>\n

Quebec voters go to the polls Oct. 5. <\/p>\n

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 15, 2026. <\/p>\n

Morgan Lowrie, The Canadian Press <\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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