Couillard says he felt Quebecers shift on independence
MONTREAL (CP) — Quebec premierdesignate Philippe Couillard says he sensed a political shift on the campaign trail in the lead-up to his Liberals’ crushing defeat of the pro-independence Parti Quebecois.
But the rookie Liberal captain acknowledges he wasn’t so sure the transformation would translate into votes for his federalist party. Couillard, one of Quebec’s most-pro-Canada political leaders in years, received an answer following Monday’s vote: a majority Liberal mandate that knocked the PQ from power.
“There was some movement in what I’ve called the tectonic plates of politics in Quebec,” Couillard said Tuesday at his first news conference.
“I really felt during the campaign that the young generation, the youth of Quebec, is not at all attracted by anything that limits us or prevents us from having broader horizons.”
The Liberals won 70 of Quebec’s 125 seats in the national assembly, compared with 30 for the PQ, 22 for the Coalition party and three for Quebec solidaire.
The PQ loss has been blamed on its cornerstone quest for Quebec independence, an idea a majority of Quebecers oppose. The drubbing could trigger an internal crisis for the PQ, as it comes to terms with the reality it might have to reexamine its core goal of Quebec independence. The PQ will also have to search for a new leader as it ponders renewal after Pauline Marois announced her resignation following the defeat.