5 things that happened during the first 2 debates of Quebec election campaign

1:56 Priorities of many undecided voters vary widely in Quebec election

After getting some moderate attention and a few feisty exchanges during the first debate of the Quebec election campaign, the prospects of another referendum on sovereignty became a hot topic in round two, one night later.

The two debates this week were the first high-profile events of the campaign. The leaders of the Coalition Avenir Québec, the Parti Québécois, the Quebec Liberal Party, Québec solidaire and the Conservative Party of Quebec return for a third debate Sept. 23 in the lead-up to the Oct. 5 election.

So far, the campaign has largely been dominated by topics such as Canada’s trade war with the U.S., the cost of living, immigration and language politics.

But the referendum topic came up frequently in Wednesday’s debate — even when it wasn’t expected.

Here are five things we learned after the first two debates:

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1. Christine Fréchette tried to use the threat of a referendum to frame the election as a choice between her Coalition Avenir Québec party and the Parti Québécois. On Wednesday, she repeatedly brought the subject of the debate back to a sovereignty vote, even when questioned on other subjects. Parti Québécois Leader Paul St-Pierre Plamondon and Liberal Leader Charles Milliard, meanwhile, attacked Fréchette for refusing to state how she’d vote in a referendum.

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2. Even as Fréchette tries to distance herself from the last eight years of Coalition Avenir Québec rule, her rivals have repeatedly sought to blame her for an administration that had become deeply unpopular by the time her predecessor François Legault resigned early this year. Throughout the two debates, the other party leaders have sought to portray Fréchette’s party as wasteful and scandal-ridden, pointing to cost overruns at the auto insurance board and a major investment in an electric battery plant that failed.

3. The trade war with the U.S. continues to be an X-factor in the campaign. Fréchette has positioned herself as the voice of stability as some industries face looming layoffs and consumers continue to see their cost of living driven up by tariffs. Fréchette has also touted her track record of brokering deals in government, such as the recent tentative energy agreement reached with Newfoundland and Labrador. Her rivals say a change of government is needed to face the escalating threats.

4. Québec solidaire’s Ruba Ghazal and Conservative Leader Éric Duhaime have each presented their ideologically-opposed parties as the only ones representing true change. Ghazal highlighted her party’s commitment to the environment and a plan to boost public services by taxing the ultrarich, while Duhaime promised to deviate from the “old bureaucratic model” by cutting taxes and what he calls bureaucratic waste. The pair also had some lighthearted exchanges during debates. In the first debate, Duhaime prompted Ghazal to laugh after saying he disagreed with her plan for publicly funded grocery stores by suggesting bureaucrats shouldn’t be the ones to stock tomatoes on shelves. In the second debate, Duhaime’s proposal to make the province rich and reduce greenhouse gas emissions by exploiting natural gas led Ghazal to say Quebec has more to offer the world than gas.

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5. Some of the leaders were asked after Wednesday’s debate to comment on an earlier Superior Court decision ordering Élections Québec to mail voting reminder cards in both French and English, after the authority had announced voter material would be in English only. Fréchette said she would take time to read the decision, adding she was committed to promoting the French language and protecting the English community. Milliard welcomed the decision, calling it “a great thing for our democracy.”