Charest staying neutral: Not taking sides in Conservative-Alliance battles Gamble, David . The Gazette ; Montreal, Que. [Montreal, Que]. 19 May 2000: A7. ProQuest document link ABSTRACT (ABSTRACT) After a speech to a joint meeting of the National Press Club and Canadian Club, [Jean Charest] gave only muted support to the party in which he cut his political teeth under Brian Mulroney. He didn't take any shots at the new Canadian Alliance party, which has been raiding Tory ranks lately, both within and without Quebec. Despite being in Ottawa, Charest did not use his speech to criticize the federal referendum clarity bill, now before the Senate. Charest later explained to reporters: "We've given our position on that on several occasions. We continue to say that Bill C-20 is not a useful law and the Quebec government's response, Bill 99, is equally useless. They legalize questions which should be political," he said. Photo: TOM HANSON, CP / Quebec Liberal leader Jean Charest hugs federal Tory MP Elsie Wayne upon his arrival at the National Press Club in Ottawa yesterday. ; FULL TEXT Quebec Liberal leader Jean Charest was back in his old stomping ground yesterday, insisting that he cares deeply about the beleaguered Progressive Conservative Party he once led - but made it clear that he just doesn't want to talk about it. After a speech to a joint meeting of the National Press Club and Canadian Club, Charest gave only muted support to the party in which he cut his political teeth under Brian Mulroney. He didn't take any shots at the new Canadian Alliance party, which has been raiding Tory ranks lately, both within and without Quebec. "The (Progressive Conservative) party has deep roots and it wants to be a national party, which is important. I'm far from concluding that the Conservative Party is about to disappear," Charest said. "It interests me a great deal, but I also have a role to play as the leader of the Quebec Liberal Party." Out of the Fray Charest said he must stay out of the fray because the Quebec Liberal Party is a "coalition party" with no official ties to any federal party. He refused to fire any shots for or against Tory leader Joe Clark or the rival Canadian Alliance, and he said he has not been asked to come to the aid of his former party. "I wish success to any party that wants to have national scope; it's in the interest of Quebec," said Charest, who refused to criticize the recent decision by six members of his 1997 federal election campaign team to join the staff of Canadian Alliance leadership candidate Tom Long, a former federal Conservative. PDF GENERATED BY PROQUEST.COM Page 1 of 3 "That's very much a decision I had nothing to do with. A number of people decided to work with Mr. Long and I know a number of people remain active with Mr. Clark," Charest said. "I know nothing of the Alliance's campaign in Quebec because I'm not at all involved in it," Charest said, also begging off demands for his opinion of Canadian Alliance leadership hopeful Stockwell Day. Charest dodged a question about whether he is happy to have left Ottawa considering the current state of the Conservative Party. "Certainly things have changed a lot," Charest said with a nervous chuckle. "I'm so busy doing what I'm doing now, I don't have a lot of time to think about the past. I'm very much focused on what I have to do in the future." Charest's speech, to the crowd of about 150 people, including many of the Conservative MPs and senators he worked with in Ottawa, amounted to a rambling review of the last 40 years of Quebec history. `Heir to Jean Lesage' Charest underscored the coming 40th anniversary of the Quiet Revolution, the period of intense political and economic change in Quebec that began with the election of the Jean Lesage Liberals on June 22, 1960. Describing himself as the "heir to Jean Lesage," Charest repeated a theme from his 1998 election campaign by re- issuing his call for a "new Quiet Revolution" - with accent on reducing the role of the state in Quebec. Despite being in Ottawa, Charest did not use his speech to criticize the federal referendum clarity bill, now before the Senate. Charest later explained to reporters: "We've given our position on that on several occasions. We continue to say that Bill C-20 is not a useful law and the Quebec government's response, Bill 99, is equally useless. They legalize questions which should be political," he said. Illustration Photo: TOM HANSON, CP / Quebec Liberal leader Jean Charest hugs federal Tory MP Elsie Wayne upon his arrival at the National Press Club in Ottawa yesterday. ; DETAILS Publication title: The Gazette; Montreal, Que. Pages: A7 Number of pages: 0 Publication year: 2000 Publication date: May 19, 2000 Dateline: OTTAWA PDF GENERATED BY PROQUEST.COM Page 2 of 3 LINKS Database copyright 2022 ProQuest LLC. All rights reserved. Terms and Conditions Contact ProQuest Section: News Publisher: Postmedia Network Inc. Place of publication: Montreal, Que. Country of publication: Canada, Montreal, Que. Publication subject: General Interest Periodicals--Canada ISSN: 03841294 Source type: Newspaper Language of publication: English Document type: NEWSPAPER ProQuest document ID: 433602464 Document URL: https://www.proquest.com/newspapers/charest-staying-neutral-not-taking- sides/docview/433602464/se-2?accountid=5705 Copyright: Copyright Southam Publications Inc. May 19, 2000 Last updated: 2017-11-15 Database: Canadian Newsstream PDF GENERATED BY PROQUEST.COM Page 3 of 3