Pubdate: Thu, 22 Sep 2005
Source: Globe and Mail (Canada)
Copyright: 2005, The Globe and Mail Company
Contact:  http://www.globeandmail.ca/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/168
Author: Rheal Seguin
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/coke.htm (Cocaine)

PQ TRIES TO MOVE PAST COKE SCANDAL

Members Ask To Focus On Sovereignty, Not Drug Use, At All-Candidates Meeting

SHERBROOKE -- Parti Quebecois members in Sherbrooke closed ranks last 
night, trying to put a lid on the cocaine scandal involving the 
front-runner in the party's leadership race and turn the public's 
attention to Quebec sovereignty.

"As a party we have to turn the page, we need to have a real debate," 
said Jacques de Grandmont, 62, who would like to return to old days 
when the party rallied around PQ founding leader Rene Levesque.

During last night's first all-candidates debate, Andre Boisclair 
orchestrated a show of force to help distance himself from the 
admission he used cocaine while a minister in the late 1990s.

There were no banners, no posters, no placards to identify his 
supporters; one of the fringe candidates, Jean-Claude St-Andre, 
succeeded in having all signs of support barred from the room. And 
the party hierarchy adopted strict rules banning all personal attacks.

The debate was often animated but offered little room for a clear 
confrontation of ideas among the front-runners, Pauline Marois, 
Richard Legendre and Mr. Boisclair.

A good portion of the 1,500 members gave Mr. Boisclair the longest 
applause and the loudest cheers as a measure of their loyalty to the 
beleaguered candidate.

"Tonight I came to see how people are reacting to this cocaine 
affair," said Boisclair supporter Philippe Verroneau, 42. "I still 
think he is the most talented. He came clean and I think people 
realize that we have to move on."

Claire Gregoire, 60, has been a PQ member for 10 years. She said the 
cocaine revelations only reinforced her resolve to keep supporting 
Mr. Boisclair.

"I don't like mudslinging campaigns. Quebec is a tolerant society and 
I believe in the adage 'live and let live,' " she said.

But for the few undecided voters in the crowd, the cocaine scandal 
will have a negative effect on Mr. Boisclair and his ability to build 
support within the party. "What it shows is that he is someone who 
took certain liberties with his ministerial responsibilities. People 
expect more from someone like him," said Jean-Alfred Renaud, 59, a 
long-time PQ member who said he was still undecided.

The debate format did not leave room for any major confrontations 
between Mr. Boisclair and the other eight candidates. He was able to 
discuss issues such as poverty, education and taxation without having 
to outline a clear vision of how he would use Quebec sovereignty to 
achieve his social and economic agenda.

Ms. Marois was able to subtly deliver her message that she was the 
most experienced and credible candidate to lead the PQ to an election 
victory. If the level of applause was any indication, she appeared to 
attract a great deal more support than what public opinion has given 
her in the past.

The arguments from such a wide field of candidates were often 
incoherent and even the theme of the first debate, "public finances 
and solidarity," became a springboard to defend social democracy and 
sovereignty.

During a news conference after the debate, Mr. Boisclair refused to 
answer questions about his past cocaine use. He was determined to 
silence critics by refusing to answer queries that his organizers 
fear could further derail an already shaken campaign.

But talk about Mr. Boisclair and drugs continues to fuel questions 
about his leadership credentials.

Mr. Boisclair's most serious rival, Ms. Marois, spent much of last 
night underscoring her experience in government. She insisted that 
party members weren't just choosing a leader -- they were also 
choosing the person who could win the next election and achieve 
Quebec independence.

"When you choose a president of a company or a CEO, you choose the 
person with the most experience, and the most qualified. So it is why 
it is important for me tell that to the party members," Ms. Marois said.

The party will conduct a telephone vote between Nov. 13 and Nov. 15 
to select the leader.
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MAP posted-by: Elizabeth Wehrman