TROIS-RIVIÈRES – Liberal leader Philippe Couillard is in the lead but isn’t celebrating just yet.
“I never comment polls. But the trend I feel is a desire for change,” he said on Day 21 of the election campaign.
Couillard is staying prudent, even though a new Léger Marketing poll now gives him a 7-point lead.
Forty per cent of people polled said they will vote Liberal on April 7th, 33% will vote for the PQ and 15% for the CAQ.
Furthermore, 31% of respondents said Philippe Couillard would make the best Premier, 25% said Pauline Marois and
16% said François Legault.
The polling house predicted the Liberals are poised to win a majority government.
Still, Couillard went on the offensive Tuesday, issuing a challenge to all party leaders to make their personal finances public to show they’re serious about transparency and integrity.
“People have to know who is the person there asking me to nominate him or her as premier of Quebec,” he said. “What is the character, what is the life story, what is her or his personal situation?”
Couillard said he’ll post his and his wife’s financial records online this week. Francois Legault and Francoise David promised to do the same, while Pauline Marois flatly refused.
“It’s just another way for M. Couillard to not talk about the real thing,” she said. “But you can go see my tax report in 2012 because I tabled this document.”
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“Only publishing your tax return, frankly, it’s only the tip of the iceberg,” Couillard responded from Trois-Rivières. “Assets have to include the spouse’s assets because you can easily move assets laterally as you know.”
The Liberals have been wanting to question Marois’ husband Claude Blanchet on his “deal” with the FTQ for weeks. They’re convinced the money-losing investment fattened Blanchet’s wallet while giving the FTQ leverage with Marois.
Not to be outdone, the PQ lodged a complaint with the chief electoral officer on Tuesday, asking him to investigate potentially illegal Liberal party financing.
As for Legault, he can’t believe voters are sticking to the two old parties.
“We’ve tried that,” said an exasperated Legault. “We’ve had 9 years of the Liberal party and we have to try something else.”
The leaders will get a chance to appeal to voters once more on Thursday, when they meet for the second televised debate.
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