Quebec leaders gird for crucial debate

This is from the Globe and Mail.
Dumont must be using reverse psychology by admitting he has floundered as a leader of the ADQ. Maybe he should pull a Dion and claim he is underestimated! This should assure his failure! So far Charest seems to be on his way to doing what Harper found impossible, to gain a majority.


Quebec leaders gird for crucial debate

NELSON WYATT
The Canadian Press
November 24, 2008 at 1:41 PM EST
MONTREAL — Quebec's political leaders were honing their rhetorical skills Monday in preparation for the crucial debate that some are calling the real start to the provincial election campaign.
With Jean Charest's Liberals holding a comfortable lead in the polls, observers point to the televised debate Tuesday as perhaps his opponents' final chance to turn the campaign around.
One Parti Québécois MP — Bernard Drainville — told a television talk-show panel that the real campaign was about to begin.
PQ Leader Pauline Marois will be making her leaders' debate debut while Mr. Charest and Action démocratique du Quebec Leader Mario Dumont have already squared off in previous elections.
Mr. Charest put up a lacklustre performance in 2007, but until then had earned a reputation as a fiery debater. His performance on debate night in 2003 quickly turned a tight race into a rout that vaulted his Liberals into power.
Mr. Dumont is aiming to build his credibility among voters after having admitted he had floundered as Opposition leader.
Mr. Marois was the only leader to stick her head out of debate prep on Tuesday, taking a potshot at the Liberals to accuse them of being amateurs in their handling of investment forecasts.
Citing a newspaper report, the PQ Leader said the Liberal government overestimated by $11-billion the sums companies planned to invest in Quebec.
Finance Minister Monique Jerome-Forget replied that the government figures were on target, and provincial public servants supported her claim.