It was not yet 11 a.m. and the three waitresses of the La Cage restaurant in Gatineau were watching, out the window, at Éric Duhaime’s supporters waiting for the restaurant to open.
We were supposed to be 35, but I think we were more, launched the leader of the Conservative Party of Quebec, with a smile. Attending his gatherings is information he wants to share: Whenever we have an event, there are always two to three times the number of people coming.
This includes world who arrived on Saturday morning, we saw, at the back table, Ronald Philippe, who was teaching his wife, their two sons and the youngest sleeping peacefully in the car seat, very close to the bowl of corn explosions : Mr. Duhaime most represents me in my valueshe explains.
For some time Ronald also had other politicians he found not bad at the top. Pierre Poilievre, the Ontario MP running for the leadership of the federal Conservative Party. Like Mr. Duhaime, […] he represents our style of people. He looks like ushe said, in his black and white cotton sweatshirt.
Ronald, by the way, did not vote blue in the last federal election, but would be prepared to do so if Mr. Poilievre won.
Same thing for Guy, sitting at some table, who prefers not to give his last name. According to him, the leader of the Conservative Party of Quebec and the federal candidate of Ontario have the same stamp: For the town, for the town.
Pierre Poilievre, he was brilliant, very concise. He knows his business, Guy added. Last September, as Ontario MP not in the picturevoted by Guy Maxim at the federal level, but Mr. Poilievre’s arrival as leader of the Conservatives may change his mind.
Not an isolated phenomenon
Analyst Philippe J. Fournier was not surprised to see right-wing Quebec voters, who turned to Maxime Bernier and the People’s Party of Canada (CPAP) for the last time, challenged by Pierre Poilievre’s message.
” The polls we have indicate that Pierre Poilievre has the ability to persuade former Conservatives to switch to PPC. “
According to the creator of Québec125, what is often described as a leader in the leadership career will find voters in 5% won by Maxime Bernier in previous electionsperhaps more than those blue liberalsor the more centrist liberals: The numbers Pierre Poilievre tells us may be more leaning to the right.
Furthermore, Philippe J. Fournier sees important points of convergence between Pierre Poilievre and Éric Duhaime – not only in their speech devoted to the defense of individual freedoms, but in their style in which they are not playing defense.
The best defense, he says, is attack. Yes [les deux politiciens] Being able to be cornered by journalists or opponents on an idea or something they said, they change the subject and they approach it.
This tactic, described by the analyst as populist is very difficult to master. But the two politicians ordered it, he believes: Éric Duhaime has been doing this for a long time, like a fish in water, you can’t catch him.
Eric Duhaime remains cautious
Unlike many of his supporters, Eric Duhaime is careful not to say which candidate he wants to win the federal leadership career: Me, I have no biashe launched at the beginning, noting that people like Vincent Guzzo, the owner of the cinemas, who supported him were with Jean Charest and with others Pierre Poilievre.
This is particularly the case of Conservative Senator Leo Housakos, a longtime friend of Éric Duhaime, who co-chairs Mr. Poilievre’s national campaign.
For Mr. Housakos, the two men represent change in Ottawa and Quebec, among other things because they are authentic, that they say what they think […] and they are not politically correct all the time.
However, the senator remains wary of comparisons, noting that they are different parties, with very different fields of competence. Furthermore, Éric Duhaime does not want a formal alliance with any political party in Ottawa:
” I want my autonomy as a party in Quebec. Then it seems like we don’t want to be a branch or be under the tutelage of anyone. “
However, the leader of PCQ believe that there may be sharing at the grassroots level. There are even, he pointed out, constituents that work partially at the organizational level. […]but not at the formal level, not at the leadership level.
So Éric Duhaime wanted to continue flying alone, even though the wind that was driving him seemed to want to blow Pierre Poilievre as well.
Source: Radio-Canada
