Hopeful Federal Conservative leader and former Quebec premier says he wants his party to "stop losing" I'm here.
Jean Charest may be battling trends within himself But if he becomes Prime Minister, he will challenge Quebec's Bill 21 and promote a national day care program is.
After a historic defeat in 1993, the former Quebec premier who led theFederal Conservative Partynorth of his Hatley home in Montreal. In his videoconference interview with The Gazette, he said: He wants the party to "stop losing".
After winning three elections, Stephen Harper's government lost to Justin Trudeau's Liberal Party in 2015. Andrew Scheer and Erin O'Toole have failed to win the last two elections. Charest, who is running for party leadership, said the Federal Conservative Party must now return to its centrist roots to regain power.
He intends to challenge identity politics, a key policy that led to the defeat of the liberal Quebec government in 2012. Bill 21prohibits state-employed judges, police officers, prosecutors, and primary and secondary school teachers from wearing religious attire or symbols, and the short-lived Quebec Party It is a milder version of the value charter proposed by A minority government that took over from the liberals of Charest.
"When Bill 21 came out, I frankly said I was against it. This was long before I was a candidate for leadership." He said. “Even the Trudeau administration did not say whether it would oppose the bill in the Supreme Court of Canada. The government said it would speak out (against it).
"It's not a popular position in Quebec, but in politics you have to stand for something. I've taken a position that wasn't always the case, but it felt right," he said. "A populist movement that always says what people want to hear doesn't do much. This policy of fostering anger may make people feel better, but it's not constructive."
He appears to be second in the race for the next Federal Conservative Party leader, behind the likely Pierre Poirivre. Charest, who appears to be on the sidelines, said conservatives should not oppose state-run programs. makes economic sense. He maintained agreements with the Trudeau government and states and created a national daycare program. Poilievre makes no such promise.
When he became Prime Minister of Quebec, Charest was skeptical of the state's subsidized day care program and had much political zeal to question its value. . Now, he believes he can persuade the most financially oriented conservatives to support the state-run national subsidized day care program.
"I arrived at this policy because it has had a very positive effect on the economy in particular," he said Mr Charest. “This has enabled working-age women to substantially and selectively increase their participation in the labor market. It has decreased."
Charest believes a more moderate approach to politics will usher in a new Conservative government. It was a far cry from what he called America, the attack-dog style adopted by his chief rival. It's someone's choice to lose," he said. “All the polls show that if I were the leader, I would be unbeatable.”
Mr. Charest, a native of Quebec, is committed to implementing sound economic policies and managing social programs. He said he was well positioned to strike a delicate balance between He said the party would have a lot of support in Quebec and Ontario, key to forming a government. Voting for the leadership election began in recent weeks as ballots were supposed to be received by mail. Ballots must be mailed in by September 6th and the winner will be announced on September 10th.
Charest said he has launched a final push to vote for members, especially more moderate ones. he.
"We have signed up many members, but now we have to vote," he said. "We're doing our best to get our members to vote."
He said that because each ride is equally weighted, with 100 points each, the race formula is I said I believed I would give him a good shot. With more riding in Quebec than in Manitoba, Alberta and Saskatchewan combined, where Polyvre support is strong, important support in Ontario and Quebec helps.
Charest notes that despite its social programs, Quebec has a history of conservative support, which still appears to apply to the popularity of the CAQ government and the Conservative Party of Quebec.
78} jmagder@postmedia.comtwitter.com/jasonmagder
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