Quebec Conservative Leader Eric Duhaime said he is looking forward to the upcoming provincial election, as he believes his party has put forward principled policies. .“I am running for the Quebec Conservatives because I’m a centre-right guy who has been very disappointed by Francois Legault and the CAQ (Coalition Avenir Quebec) over the last four years,” said Duhaime in a Sunday interview. .“He’s offering us a government that’s quite on the left.” .He said what makes Quebec conservatism distinct is it is less socially conservative. He is the first openly gay leader of a provincial or federal conservative party. .Duhaime said the Conservatives will tackle inflation by enacting the heaviest income tax cuts in Quebec history. He promised to raise Quebec’s basic personal tax exemption from $15,000 to $20,000 and cut the income tax rate by 2% for people making between $20,000 and $92,000. .The Quebec Conservatives will suspend the provincial fuel tax. He said suspending the fuel tax will “have a domino effect on everything we are consuming.” .Duhaime went on to say he will expand competition in healthcare by including more private providers. He added private providers will make healthcare more efficient. .The Conservative leader said he is opposed to reinstating COVID-19 restrictions if case counts rise. He said the government’s role is to “protect the most vulnerable, but we would have let all the others decide for themselves.” .Another proposal he said he is proud of is introducing a school voucher system. This voucher program, he said, will “create some pressure on the system to make sure that they answer better the will of the parents.” .338Canada shows the Conservatives winning three seats. While it is unlikely the party will form government, Duhaime said it shows how much progress has been made. .When he ran for the Conservative leader, it had 500 members and was polling at 1%. Now it has 60,000 members and has been polling in the double digits. .“I’m very confident that we will be properly represented at the national assembly,” he said. .“It’s very important because over the last few years, there was unanimous consent at the national assembly, but there were tens of thousands of people protesting outside.” .Duhaime spoke with Western Standard Parliament Hill bureau chief Matthew Horwood about why the Quebec Conservatives have been successful at the Canada Strong and Free Network National Conference in May. .READ MORE: EXCLUSIVE: Éric Duhaime Conservative Party of Quebec.“People are just fed up,” he said. .“The government has been way too interventionist over the past two, three years.”
