Marois and Legault target Charest, Liberal party record Its guilt by association, of course. But as a strategy it may yet prove to be Marois best bet. At once, it allows the PQ to lay claim to the corruption clean-up, and insinuates the idea that a vote for Couillard will return Quebec to its bad old ways. Mind you, at this juncture it also strongly suggests that Marois would rather be running against Jean Charest than Philippe Couillard. Worse, the strategy falls short the minute you consider that integrity, much like the referendum question that occupied the first weeks of the campaign, cuts both ways. Which is where Couillard went yesterday. Coming down from the high moral ground of refusing to relive the 2012 campaign (when Charest was still leader), Couillard contributed a bit of his own to the innuendo campaign. He countered the suggestion of corruption by offering to make public his and his spouses financial records, assets and all. He then called on his opponents to do the same. Couillard later claimed he wasnt trying to embarrass anyone specifically, but the manoeuvre was a sure way to revive the controversy surrounding Marois husband, Claude Blanchet, whose name was raised at the Charbonneau corruption commission in relation to an alleged influence-peddling scheme. Marois has repeatedly insisted her husband is innocent of any wrongdoing, and was quick to reject Couillards challenge, claiming he was creating yet another diversion. But then, oddly, for someone who has been trying to get off the referendum wheel with all these recent allegations, she got right back on, and accused Couillard of fear-mongering and manipulating Quebecers into believing that this election was about a referendum. This is not an election about a referendum, she said.
Posted on: Thu, 27 Mar 2014 01:01:18 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015