OTTAWA | The six candidates for the leadership of the Conservative Party of Canada will cross swords Wednesday evening for the first time in French, a language that only half of them speak fluently.
Only Jean Charest and Pierre Poilievre are perfectly bilingual. Patrick Brown, although Francophile, has never shown his ability to debate in French.
As for Roman Baber, Scott Aitchison and Leslyn Lewis, despite some language lessons, they will probably stick to reading boxes, predicts Rodolphe Husny, former adviser to the Harper government.
The table is therefore set for a three-way exchange during which the strategist hopes for fewer vitriolic attacks and more discussion of ideas, which has been lacking in the two previous debates in English.
Progressive-Conservatives
This is all the more important since this is the last media opportunity for the aspiring chefs to stand out: there will be no further debate before the fateful date of June 3, after which there will no longer be possible to recruit members with the right to vote for the leader on September 10th.
To stand out, Patrick Brown is campaigning against the State Secularism Act, a subject he hopes will bring people together enough to recruit the new members the party needs to win the next federal election.
The mayor of Brampton is a close ally of Jean Charest, who will be the only one to play at home, in his mother tongue, and who has the support of almost all of the party’s Quebec deputies. Expectations of him are therefore high, says Husny.
The party has fewer members in Quebec than in its western stronghold. Nevertheless, a Quebec riding has as much weight as an Alberta one, even with fewer members. Candidates for the leadership therefore cannot do without the province.
Against the champion of freedoms
However, it is in Quebec that Pierre Poilievre, who is perceived as the leader of the race, is the least known beyond his very short viral clips on social networks.
Members and strategists of the party wishing to form the next government will therefore observe it closely.
“Is he going to continue his strategy of other debates and attack the others without really coming up with new ideas? Will he be able to rise above and present himself as a unifying statesman? asks Mr. Husny.
Until now, Pierre Poilievre presents himself above all as the champion of “freedoms”. He thus makes himself the defender of the convoy of truckers or cryptocurrencies, even if this pushes him to flirt with conspiracy theories.
According to Mr. Husny, he is counting on the emerging success of his Quebec alter ego, Éric Duhaime, leader of the Conservative Party of Quebec. It received 13% of voting intentions in April, more than the Parti Québécois (9%) and barely less than Québec solidaire (15%), according to a Léger poll commissioned by Quebecor.
