Quebec election: Leaders go ‘face-to-face’ in first election debate tonight

Polls have shown the Coalition Avenir Québec with a sizable lead over its four main opponents ahead of the so-called "face-to-face" debate on TVA network.

The first of two French-language leaders debates during the Quebec election campaign takes place in Montreal Thursday night, and it will be the first contest as party leader for four of the five participants.

Polls have shown the Coalition Avenir Québec with a sizable lead over its four main opponents ahead of the so-called “face-to-face” debate on TVA network, which will pit one leader directly against another.

CAQ Leader François Legault, the incumbent premier and the only participant who has debated before as a provincial party leader, told reporters this week he recognizes he’ll be the target.

“I expect the four leaders to attack me; it’s a bit normal, when you look at the polls,” Legault said Tuesday. “So we try to predict these attacks, predict responses.”

In the 2018 election, there were only four parties involved in the face-to-face debate; the Conservative Party of Quebec did not hold any seats at the time and wasn’t invited. Thursday’s debate will feature Legault, Liberal Leader Dominique Anglade, Québec solidaire spokesman Gabriel Nadeau-Dubois, Parti Québécois Leader Paul St-Pierre Plamondon and Conservative Leader Éric Duhaime.

“It will be the first time we will be five and it’s an additional challenge because it gives less time to each leader to assert themselves,” Duhaime said Wednesday, adding that he’s very confident going in.

Nadeau-Dubois, whom Legault has singled out several times during partisan speeches in recent days, said he’ll take the exercise seriously but also wants to have fun. “It’s well known that the debates are an important moment for any political campaign,” Nadeau-Dubois said.

Speaking this week in Rouyn-Noranda, Que., 630 kilometres northwest of Montreal, Nadeau-Dubois said the debate will also be important for voters. Many have come to him on the campaign trail unsure of who to vote for, he said, adding that Thursday’s contest will be a chance to crystallize that choice.