With a new poll showing Jean-François Lisée leadership support growing, internal squabbling in the party caucus has exploded again, with one candidate saying another threatened her.
On Thursday, Lisée confirmed reports of an incident at Wednesday’s closed-door Parti Québécois caucus in which he warned rival candidate Martine Ouellet — in front of all her peers — that he would not tolerate her at times erratic, undisciplined behaviour if he becomes party leader.
“If you don’t change, how do you think I could keep you on my team,” Lisée is quoted as saying by La Presse.
On Thursday, arriving for the regular caucus meeting, Lisée was not denying the report and tried to explain himself.
“The sense of my intervention was to say Martine you have to be part of the team,” Lisée told reporters. “You are very precious. You know lots. I want you on the team. If I am elected leader, I want you on my team. If I form a government, I want you to be in the government.
“We all need to make the team work better. It’s an appeal. Things need to change.”
But Ouellet did not see things that way.
Shaken, she complained to the other leading candidate in the race, Alexandre Cloutier, that she didn’t appreciate being chastised before her peers by a competitor.
“I was not present (Wednesday) but I understand she felt threatened,” Cloutier told reporters as he arrived for Thursday’s regular morning caucus meeting. “That’s what I was told, I spoke to Mme. Ouellet right after the meeting. She told me what happened.”
Lisée dismissed Cloutier’s comments as hearsay.
Ouellet was not present Thursday to give her version of events, but internal squabbling — which is later rendered public — has become part of the party’s daily routine as the clock ticks down to the election of a new leader Oct. 7.
Ouellet has called a news conference for later Thursday.
While the fresh spat — which followed the videogate crisis of mid-week — had tongues wagging, Lisée got some good news Thursday in the form of a new poll. Conducted by CROP for La Presse, it shows the PQ would have a better chance of beating the Liberals if he was leader than Cloutier.
With Lisée as leader, the PQ would have garnered 31 per cent of the vote compared to 33 per cent for the Liberals. Under Cloutier, the PQ would have had 27 per cent of the vote compared to 36 per cent for the Liberals.
Owing to the concentration of the Liberal vote, such numbers would in theory produce a minority PQ government, pollster Alain Giguère said.
Giguère attributed Lisée’s rise to the fact he is the only one among the four candidates that has clearly stated he would not hold a sovereignty referendum in his first mandate as premier.
The same poll also asked people who support the PQ which candidate they wanted as leader. The new numbers show Cloutier’s comfortable lead in the leadership race has melted away, with Lisée now neck-and-neck.
Cloutier now has 37 per cent of the PQ support and Lisé 36 per cent. Ouellet trails with 22 per and candidate Paul Saint-Pierre Plamondon a mere 5 per cent.
Such a poll can only be seen as an indicator because it is not a poll of the actual card-carrying PQ members who will vote in the election.
But Lisée welcomed the poll.
“You ain’t seen nothing yet,” he said. “The poll shows that there is a trend, the trend started four months ago.”
He added there is now “a good probability” that he will win the leadership.
The internet poll of 1,000 Quebecers was conducted from Sept. 15 to 19. There was no margin of error analysis included in the operation.
Despite the tense atmosphere, the four candidates are scheduled to square off Sunday for a leadership debate in Montreal.
