DESPERATE PQ SLAMS “EXTREME” ADQ

QUEBEC, May 29, 2002 (LSN.ca) – Scrambling after a poll that placed the Action Democratique at the top earlier this week, Parti Quebecois members tried to compare the ADQ to French nationalist Jean-Marie Le Pen, who has been vilified by the European left as an extremist.  The ADQ, while not officially pro-life, are not as antagonistic towards life issues as are the PQ and the Liberals.  The poll results rated Mario Dumont as the most popular Quebec party leader, with 35-per-cent approval. Bernard Landry trailed at 22.8 per cent, behind Liberal leader Jean Charest at 27.7. This seemed to confirm a trend found in an earlier poll, in early May, that placed the ADQ at an impressive 31 per cent, just behind the Liberals at 33, with the PQ trailing at 25.  In response, PQ member David Payne told reporters before entering a caucus meeting that, “I think there are some ideas that resemble Le Pen more than [PQ founder] Rene Levesque.” Leader Bernard Landry has also made the comparison. France’s Le Pen wants illegal immigrants to be deported and abortion to be abolished. The ADQ platform calls mainly for a smaller state, tax cuts and a more decentralized federal system.  To read Canadian Press coverage see:  https://www.canoe.ca/NationalTicker/CANOE-wire.PQ-Slams-ADQ.html