François Legault is tuning out the criticism.
“Mr. Couillard and his team said I was a racist, a sexist, that I don’t know about the economy,” he said during a press conference Wednesday morning.
The head of the Coalition Avenir Québec (CAQ) wants to be elected as the leader with the best handle on the province’s economy.
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During his speech at a school of entrepreneurship in the Beauce, Legault also announced a CAQ government would open four new entrepreneurship schools and fund student bursaries.
“We’ve always had — for many, many years — less entrepreneurs in Quebec,” he said.
“Maybe it’s a question of religion. So we were trying to close the gap with Ontario for 20, 25 years. Unfortunately, (during) the last four years there was a decrease, so that means we have to give a second boost to convince more people to start new enterprises,” he said.
Legault stuck to his message despite the controversy surrounding two of his candidates.
Quebec City region MNA Eric Caire told media Wednesday he had accepted a $55,000 personal loan from Emile Loranger, the mayor of L’Ancienne-Lorette.
Caire explained that he obtained the loan in the midst of a separation with his partner and used the money to buy a house. The ethics commissioner said that was inappropriate and he paid back the money in April.
“We had other considerations at the time, notably to make the transition as harmoniously as possible; you’ll understand my kids were involved,” he said.
“There was no corruption, there was only a question of appearance,” Legault said in Caire’s defense.
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On Tuesday night, Stéphane Le Bouyonnec pulled out of the race and resigned as party president. He had been severely criticized for his business ties to a firm that charged high interest loans in Ontario.
Legault said this hit to Le Bouyonnec’s reputation was hurting his family. He said that neither case amounts to a scandal.
“We had some scandals with Mr. Bibeau, Mr. Hamad… with the friends of the Liberal Party,” he said.
“But I think with these two examples you have people who made errors and they corrected those errors.”
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On Wednesday, the Parti Québécois ousted its candidate in Drummond-Bois-Franc for making Islamophobic comments online.
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