Ottawa | Pierre Poilievre and Jean Charest dropped their gloves during the first debate of the Conservative leadership race on Thursday, setting the stage for a long and difficult battle.
Read more: Quite a fight
The two, considered the leaders of the Conservative Party’s race for the soul, did not shake hands on the stage of an event organized Thursday evening in Ottawa by the conservative network Canada Strong and Free.
Throughout the evening, the member for Carleton showed his disgust by questioning the Conservative allegiance of the former Liberal Premier of Quebec, but also questioned his ethics.
Bringing back to the table the long-abandoned corruption investigation against the Quebec Liberal Party and the lobbying mandate given by Jean-Saurest to Huawei, “a trucker in a convoy has more honesty in a little finger than you and your entire government,” Mr. Poilievre scolded harshly. .
“You’re talking about law and order, your party, your Liberal party, considering that you took half a million dollars in illegal donations when you were in charge, it’s a little stronger.”
Charst shouted
He declined to say how much the Chinese company paid him. Scharest accused his opponent on several occasions, especially of his “American” approach to politics and his support for the “illegal siege” of the capital. Convoy of trucks.
But this earned him obvious poses from a good section of the crowd, instead of his obligation to take health measures and vaccinate.
However, Jean Saurest attacked the Quebec state secular law and snatched applause.
“I fought against the separatists. It’s not that guy [Poilievre] On stage threatening me. – Jean Scharest
“Is there anything more important than religious freedom? I do not think so, ”he said, accusing her of not protecting her rival.
Laughing and not being distracted by the opponent’s constant attacks, Mr. Zarrest said he was very happy with the aggression towards him.
“It means something. I will not be attacked if my candidacy is not considered a threat in this contest,” he said after the debate.
Abortion under the rug
Candidate Leslie Lewis sought to draw attention by asking other candidates to take a clearer stance on abortion. She is one of only six chefs interested in promoting an anti-abortion agenda.
But purchasing power, energy and the party and the unity of the country have dominated the debate.
The other two candidates, neither Roman Baber nor Scott Itchison, could not stand alone on the ground. According to the sixth candidate, Patrick Brown, he refused to attend the evening and wanted to dedicate himself to adding new members to the field.
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