Legault, speaking to journalists last Wednesday, said he believes that there is a 50/50 chance of a recession in the coming month. He went further to say that if there is one then the CAQ is the best team to deal with it.

Fears of a recession are spreading after a drop in the . . .

stock market, the collapse of crypto currencies like Bitcoin and the recent increase in interest rates. These economic woes join with already high inflation.

Whether or not this will affect the election or voters’ trust in the CAQ is unclear.

The CAQ also continues to be under fire for Bill 96. This week, Quebec’s Indigenous affairs minister, Ian Lafrenière, speaking at a news conference said he would work to address Indigenous concerns with Bill 96, however failed to give specifics.

In other news, three new parties are trying to contend with the Quebec Liberals for the anglophone vote in Quebec.

Balarama Holness, former Montreal mayoral candidate and leader of the anglophone and minority rights party, Bloc Montréal (recently changed from Movement Quebec), made an announcement on Thursday.

“We will be fielding close to 30 candidates that will bring leadership and a clear vision for Montreal and Quebec at the National Assembly”, said Holness, whose efforts are focusing in Montreal.

Holness accused the Liberal Party of Quebec of being too similar to the CAQ.

The other anglophone rights party, The Canadian Party of Quebec, officially launched this week. Colin Standish, former head of the Task Force, is the leader of the new party. The party’s official platform has yet to be revealed and no other candidates have been announced.

The final party aiming for the anglophone vote in the upcoming election is the Conservative Party of Quebec.

Éric Duhaime, leader of the new right-leaning party, says his party is both federalist and opposed to Bill 96. “Anglophones have never been more bilingual as they are today, so we have to stop those old feuds, the old paradigm, one against each other, ‘’ said Duhaime.

All of these parties will come head to head with the Quebec Liberals, who are traditional recipients of anglophone votes, who come under fire for promising to amend Bill 96 if elected to government as opposed to repealing it

However anglophones only make up about 16 per cent of the population of the province, so how much of a difference these machinations will make to the final result is dubious.

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