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CAQ in campaign mode as caucus meets in Shawinigan

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CAQ caucus meets in Shawinigan
WATCH: The Coalition Avenir Quebec is in campaign mode as it meets in Shawinigan ahead of the fall parliamentary session. Global's Raquel Fletcher reports – Aug 28, 2017

The CAQ is preparing for an early election call ahead of the election scheduled for Oct. 1, 2018.

Quebec’s opposition parties are holding caucus retreats this week to get ready for the start of the next session.

The Coalition Avenir Quebec (CAQ) had an encouraging summer when it came to the polls, showing them in second place ahead of the Parti Québécois (PQ).

READ MORE: CAQ’s new social media campaign directed at Anglo-Quebecers

The party is in Shawinigan for the next two days to discuss the best way to keep its edge ahead of the byelection in the Louis-Hébert riding in Quebec City.

It believes a byelection win in Louis-Hébert would be big for the party.

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Former Liberal cabinet minister Sam Hamad stepped down in April to work in the private sector, having been removed from cabinet a year earlier amid accusations of influence peddling in a business associated with disgraced former Liberal Marc-Yvan Côté.

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READ MORE: CAQ passes Liberals as top choice of Quebec voters: poll

He was elected in Louis-Hébert in 2014 with twice as many votes as the CAQ candidate, however party leader François Legault says the tide is changing.

READ MORE: Canadian Army sets up tents at Lacolle border to welcome asylum seekers

He argues he’s been hearing grumblings about how the provincial government is dealing with asylum seekers coming into Quebec at the Canada-U.S. border crossing in Lacolle.

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“People in Quebec City, like everywhere in Quebec, are unhappy about the way Mr. [Premier Philippe] Couillard managed this migrant situation since the beginning of the summer,” Legault said.

READ MORE: Quebec voters turning to CAQ over PQ, according to new poll

Legault wouldn’t say if he had any star candidates in mind for the 2018 provincial election.

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