Milliard tells Quebec: elect Liberals to stop another referendum

SHERBROOKE — Quebec Liberal Leader Charles Milliard says he and his party are the only true federalists left in the province, and the only sure way to avoid another referendum is to elect his party to office. In a hard-hitting speech closing a two-day party general council, Milliard ripped into both the Coalition Avenir Québec and the Parti Québécois. The CAQ has spent eight years “dragging Quebec into a path of decline and debt” while the PQ is only obsessed with referendums, said Milliard in

a 40-minute speech to 500 Liberals gathered for a party general council. He mocked recent comments by two CAQ cabinet ministers. Canadian Relations Minister Jean Boulet said a few weeks ago that he was a federalist, and Culture Minister Mathieu Lacombe said he was for the Yes side. At the same time other CAQ members sit on the fence, leaving voters guessing about their intentions. Premier Christine Fréchette, Liberals note, hasn’t said whether she would vote Yes or No in a referendum. “On the referendum

questions, the Caquistes dither,” Milliard said. “Some say they are in the No camp. Others are proudly for sovereignty. “But on such a fundamental issue as the future of our nation, there cannot be camps of ‘NOUI.’ “We in the Liberal Party of Quebec are regionalist, nationalist, federalist,” Milliard said. “Fully, clearly, without ambiguity. “To all those who do not want another referendum, to all those who believe Quebec has more important challenges to tackle, let me be very clear: The best way to avoid

a referendum is to elect a Quebec Liberal government.” He had a blunt message for Parti Québécois Leader Paul St-Pierre Plamondon, too. The PQ leader has promised to hold a third independence referendum if he is elected in the fall. “We, Mr. St-Pierre Plamondon, we don’t want to separate Quebec. We want to repair Quebec.” Milliard’s speech, his first to a major party function since being acclaimed leader in February, capped a weekend when the party moved to get its election machine in gear at

the same time as refocusing on an area of traditional strength. “The Liberal Party of Quebec is re-becoming the only true party of the economy,” Milliard said. Noting the $8-billion surplus the Liberals left the CAQ eight years ago when they lost power is now an $8-billion deficit, Milliard said the Liberals will do better because they know how to govern. “That’s why we must stand up and fix Quebec,” Milliard said. “We have ambition. We want Quebec to start to see big, to dream

big, to build big.” Milliard ended his speech by inviting nine new candidates for the Oct. 5 general election to join him on stage, bringing the total to about 50. Parties need 125 each for the campaign. And in a dramatic twist during the council, two new members walked in to the convention, refugees from other rival parties. First to show up was the former president of the CAQ youth wing, Victor Pelletier, who ran for the party in the riding of Saint-Henri—Sainte-Anne in 2023.

Former CAQ premier François Legault made a big deal out of the catch, describing him as “brilliant, involved and devoted.” After having worked for the CAQ since 2016, Pelletier told reporters he is leaving the party because he is disappointed by the CAQ’s string of seven deficits and their “less than friendly” attitude to immigrants. And later, another political figure, former Quebec Conservative candidate Ange Claude Bigilimana, who ran in the Terrebonne byelection and is a former party president, was also spotted mingling with Liberals.

He said he found party leader Eric Duhaime erratic and decided to join the Liberals. “He is someone who fires on anything that moves,” Bigilimana told reporters. “That does not represent my values.” Neither Pelletier nor Bigilimana have any current roles in the Liberal party, but their arrival suited the party’s weekend renewal theme. The Liberals seemed to have even weathered, for now, controversy over its language policy, with anglo MNAs telling the media they are on board with Milliard’s soon-to-be-released “better” language policy. “Have

a look around you,” Milliard said, opening his speech. “We all feel something has changed.” “We are going for the Stanley Cup,” party president Rafael P. Ferraro said in earlier remarks. “Not just a win in a series.” The choice of Sherbrooke to hold the council, the last major gathering of Liberals before the fall election, was strategic. The Liberals are hoping for a much-needed breakthrough in the regions, including this one: the Eastern Townships. The party was largely held to seats on the island

of Montreal in the 2022 election but has recently been moving up in the polls. All three big parties are now considered contenders for government. On hand for the council, the former Liberal MNA for the riding of La Prairie, Richard Merlini, said an election with three main parties going for the crown is difficult to call. In such a context, a minority government is possible, he said. “It won’t be a walk in the park for anyone,” Merlini said. “The question is, who will

hold the balance of power.” Sherbrooke also has great symbolic value for the party because it was the home riding of former leader Jean Charest. Milliard himself will run in the riding of Orford. The party’s star Sherbrooke candidate is the former rector of the Université de Sherbrooke, Pierre Cossette, who delivered a passionate speech praising the traditional excellent relations between francophones and anglophones in the region. The Liberals currently hold 18 seats in Quebec’s 125-seat legislature.

Charles Milliard, Quebec Liberals, federalist, referendum, CAQ, Parti Québécois, Paul St-Pierre Plamondon, Oct. 5 election, Sherbrooke, Victor Pelletier, Ange Claude Bigilimana, language policy