Brett Thoms
Gatineau July 13, 2022
The Conservative Party of Quebec (CPQ) announced that Terrence Watters will represent their party in the Pontiac during the upcoming provincial election in a press conference in Gatineau on Wednesday.
Watters, who lives in Aylmer, is a real estate broker and former casino manager.
Watters’ candidacy was announced by CPQ leader Éric Duhaime along with other . . .
CPQ candidates in the Outaouais. Currently the CPQ holds one seat in the national assembly, though polls suggest it has received a spike in popularity in the lead up to the election.
“The Pontiac is the area where I raised my family, that’s where I live, that’s where we bought our cottage and that’s where I want to see my kids grow up,” said Watters about why he’s running.
Watters said the covid mandates sparked his desire to get involved in politics. “I think I can do more than sell houses to people,” he said. “Selling houses is a basic need, it provides a service for families. That’s a great job but I think I can do more for people.”
Duhaime spoke to THE EQUITY during both the press conference introducing Watters and afterwards in a short interview.
“The Outaouais region is the fourth region where we have a full team and I’m very proud today to introduce them,” said Duhaime during the press conference. “Our message today is to say, as we said for months, we need to lower taxes on gas to give a break to drivers. It’s time for Mr. Legault to do what Alberta did, what Ontario did and what many states did south of our borders. It’s time to lower the taxes because it’s having a bad impact on people.”
On healthcare Duhaime said:
“The Conservative Party of Quebec is proposing three main things. First off, we want to make sure that [the healthcare system is] decentralized. Healthcare decisions should be taken at the local level. So, we’re going to push for decentralization. The second thing is we want to have institutions that are competing against each other. As conservatives, we believe that competition is good and fair. And thirdly, we want to add the contribution of the private sector to the Canadian healthcare system.”
On Bill 96 Duhaime said:
“We’ve been against Bill 96 from day one. We were actually the first party to come out against Bill 96. And the reason was not even a linguistic issue. The reason why we came out against it is because if you read this property one of the first articles says that 38 articles of the Charter of Rights and Freedoms of Quebec should not apply to that bill, after what we’ve been through over the last two years, we should not deprive citizens of their basic rights. We don’t want to give them such power to the government. We’re not saying that everything is bad. But what we’re saying is that if somebody feels that their rights and their freedoms are violated, they should have a right to appeal in front of our courts. This is the way this country is managed. So we voted against the 96. And we didn’t flip flop, unlike the Liberals.”
To be clear the one conservative MNA in the national assembly, Claire Samson, did vote against Bill 96.
On rural issues Duhaime said:
“[Gas prices are a] problem for you guys because when you’re in Fort-Coulonge it’s not a choice between having a car and taking the subway. We are a party who does believe in laissez-faire and we think the best way to help those regions is to give them more money in their pockets and let them do what they want. In rural areas especially you don’t have the nanny state doing everything for you. You don’t have access to many services, everything is far away. The government is not as present and is not as generous with you. So, you’re used to that but to make you even freer we think that the best way to help you out is to give you even more money in your wallet and less interferance in your life and not dictate to you what to do and what not to do.”
On trying to attract the anglophone vote Duhaime said:
“We’re by far the second-best party right now among non-francophones. We’re even doing better among non-francophones than francophones right now, which is very surprising for us because we didn’t target that audience at the beginning. But I think our message does resonate because the Liberals betrayed the anglophone community, and because the CAQ has been trying to push a quasi-separatist agenda. The anglophone community was taken for granted by the Liberal Party of Quebec; I think it could change in the upcoming election which is good news. No matter what you believe in democracy. It’s always good news when you’re not a hostage of a party, and when they have to fight for your love and for your vote.”
On whether or not the Canadian Party of Quebec will throw a wrench into the CPQ bid for anglophone voters, Duhaime said:
“I understand people who are frustrated with the Liberals and are thinking that it’s better to go their own way. But what I’m telling them is the best way to beat the CAC and the Liberals it’s not voting for a fringe party. If you want to be part of a new government and if you want to make sure that we beat as many CAQ members and Liberals as possible, you need to vote for the Conservative Party.”
Duhaime said the CPQ plans to release their full platform in the coming weeks, where they will have specifics on how they plan to approach Bill 96 and other issues.
Going back to the Pontiac candidate Watters, when asked how he liked his chances going up against Liberal incumbent André Fortin, he said:
“I know the guy I’m against is a very good guy, ‘’ said Watters. “The thing is, he did nothing for the last two years. Liberals did nothing against the Legault government.”
Next week THE EQUITY will release an interview with the Green Party of Quebec Candidate Pierre Cyr, with more profiles of both the parties and their candidates to follow.
