Premier Philippe Couillard tried to woo voters in Quebec City on Monday at a Chamber of Commerce luncheon.
Couillard was the keynote speaker; he underscored how well the Quebec economy is doing under a Liberal government, even if recent polls suggest his message isn’t getting through.
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The most recent Leger poll again shows the Liberals trailing the CAQ by nine points in voter intentions (26 per cent to 35 per cent respectively).
The premier said that despite this, he’s optimistic that Quebecers will recognize his government’s good track record when it comes time to vote.
“Robert Bourassa used to say, ‘In order to redistribute wealth, you first have to create it,’ and that’s what we’ve done,” Couillard said.
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In a speech to the Quebec City Chamber of Commerce, Couillard touted Quebec’s low unemployment, saying economic growth is possible because of the Liberals’ balanced budgets.
He said Quebec now has the means to invest in things like a provincial anti-poverty strategy and modern public transportation projects.
“We like hockey in Quebec, so when you have a winning team on the ice, you don’t change the team, you keep the same team; you make it better, you do some trades, but you keep the same team on the ice,” Couillard explained.
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Beyond his message that Quebec needs to stay the course the Liberal government has charted, he also criticized some of the CAQ’s policy ideas —namely, he said lowering immigration numbers, as the CAQ says it wants to do, would inhibit employers from finding much-needed workers and hurt the economy.
With four and half months to go to the election, the premier is hoping his government’s accomplishments will be enough to convince voters to give him a second mandate.