Liberals, CAQ make final campaign push in neck and neck race

With Quebec’s election only two days away, the race is too close to call: the latest Global-Ispos poll puts the Liberals and the Coalition Avenir Québec (CAQ) only one point apart.

On Saturday, party leaders were campaigning in some of the most competitive ridings, where votes are crucial in the Oct. 1 election.

READ MORE: Quebec parties head into last weekend of tight campaign

Philippe Couillard began campaigning Saturday in the Quebec City riding of Louis-Hebert, a riding the party wants to win back. It used to be a Liberal stronghold, but the CAQ’s victory in last year’s byelection appeared, for some, to be the beginning of a CAQ wave in the capital.

Geneviève Guilbault, a young mother, has become a party heavyweight and will likely be offered a ministry position if the CAQ forms the next government.

“I see the panic in that,” said Julie-Maude Perron, Liberal candidate for Louis-Hebert, saying she thinks a recent news story speculating that Guilbault could be named the deputy premier if the CAQ is elected on Oct. 1 is a tactic to entice the electorate.

Perron, 32, is also a young mother. This is her first election.

“The feeling I’m getting on the ground is positive, sincerely, (for the Liberals),” she said.

Tweet This Click to share quote on Twitter: "The feeling I'm getting on the ground is positive, sincerely, (for the Liberals)," she said.

Couillard shared Perron’s confidence in the riding’s Liberal support.

“We have a record that speaks highly for itself and proposals that stem from this record that we can afford, on which we can attach numbers. Unlike what Mr. Legault and the CAQ proposes, that doesn’t hold. There’s nothing that holds in his financial framework,” he said.

READ MORE: Quebec Liberals won’t apologize for accusing CAQ of ‘ethnic-based nationalism’

However, CAQ leader François Legault is hoping Quebecers will give a failing grade to the Liberals’ record in office. On Saturday, he was campaigning in the eastern townships, where the race is so close in some ridings that it could go either way.

“The only party that can beat the Liberals is the CAQ,” he said.

Tweet This Click to share quote on Twitter: "The only party that can beat the Liberals is the CAQ," he said.

He called on Quebecers to “vote massively” on Monday night if they want change.

In Montreal, Québec Solidaire co-spokesperson Gabriel Nadeau-Dubois made a similar plea to young voters to join what he said is a growing movement and to vote “in historic numbers.”

“We have to go vote!” he said.

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The Parti Québécois has seen large crowds of supporters at its events throughout the campaign, but it has not been able to rise above third place.

“There were so many things we did in opposition for the good of the people,” said PQ leader Jean-François Lisée. “If we’re in that position, we’re going to continue waking up every day and do the best for the people and limit the damage.”

Lisée is in a tight race in his own riding of Rosemont against Québec Solidaire candidate Vincent Marissal.