Charest1.pdf -

Please enable JavaScript to view the full PDF

No alliance on right: Charest: Tory leader won't work with Reform because of Manning's anti- Quebec stance Riga, Andy . The Gazette ; Montreal, Que. [Montreal, Que]. 04 June 1997: A.10. ProQuest document link FULL TEXT Conservative leader Jean Charest yesterday made clear he's going to be his own man in the next Parliament, again ruling out the possibility of a right-wing alliance with the Reform Party and dismissing an invitation to team up with Prime Minister Jean Chretien on the national-unity issue. In the wake of a campaign that gave the Tories a base in the East and Reform a base in the West, some observers have speculated about a Tory-Reform merger that would create a strong, pan-Canadian right-of-centre party. Asked about the possibility yesterday, Charest said he can't work with Preston Manning because the Reform leader ``allowed himself in this campaign to speak to an argument that was bigoted'' against Quebecers. By running ads suggesting that Canada needed a non-Quebecer as prime minister, Manning ``literally wrote off a whole part of his own country,'' Charest added. Leads 20-MP Team Charest was speaking to reporters at a press conference a day after he was able to take his party from a two-seat rump in the House of Commons to a 20-MP team with official-party status. That status will give him more resources and more exposure in the daily political battles in Ottawa. After blasting Manning, the Conservative leader offered up some harsh words for Chretien, who suggested in his Monday-night victory speech that he and Charest could work together to help persuade Quebec to stay in Canada. Charest said Chretien made the pitch because he's desperate. ``Objectively, he knows he has real difficulties here in Quebec on how to persuade Canadians here that Canada remains the right choice,'' he said, adding that Chretien is ``one of the reasons people vote for the Bloc Quebecois.'' Charest wouldn't respond directly to questions about whether he will campaign on the same stage with Chretien should there be another sovereignty referendum. ``He has his work cut out for him,'' was all Charest would say of Chretien's national-unity options. It's clear that some of Chretien's campaign tactics angered Charest. PDF GENERATED BY PROQUEST.COM Page 1 of 4 Yesterday, he accused Chretien of deliberately helping the Bloc in a bid to hinder the Tories in Quebec. Charest said the prime minister did that by telling an interviewer late in the campaign that he would not accept a simple majority in the next referendum. That, coupled with Manning's perceived anti-Quebec stance, may have crippled the Conservatives in Quebec by encouraging soft nationalists to jump back to the Bloc to protect Quebec interests in Ottawa, Charest said. ``I don't believe in coincidences. I think he did that deliberately to repolarize the debate.'' Charest had hoped to win more than 40 seats in Quebec, but had to content himself with five, including a stunning victory in Chicoutimi, a sovereignist stronghold that was snatched away by Andre Harvey, a former minister under Brian Mulroney. Tories were also hoping to make inroads in Ontario, but only managed one seat there. Yesterday, Charest was looking on the bright side. He noted that he was able to bring the party back from ``the abyss.'' And, he added, his caucus includes MPs from six of 10 provinces, allowing the Tories to again claim that it's a national alternative to the governing Liberals. ``With the tools, we made great strides,'' Charest said. He was particularly proud of his victory in Chicoutimi. ``In the riding of Chicoutimi, there lies a signal and symbol that, yes, this country can work. And if you offer Canadians in all parts of Quebec the right leadership, there is no doubt in my mind that Canada will never fail.'' Charest steered clear of questions about what he would do differently if he could relive the election campaign. Nor would he discuss which parts of his campaign platform might have hurt him. `Mulroney Effect' He did, however, dismiss speculation that he was hurt by a newspaper story that reported he regularly discussed campaign issues with former prime minister Mulroney, still an unpopular figure, especially in English Canada, four years after he left office. Charest said ``the Mulroney effect'' was a creation of the news media. ``I'm convinced that that was not a factor in the campaign.'' Since taking over as party leader soon after the Tories were trounced in 1993, Charest has been relentlessly crisscrossing the country trying to rebuild the party. Now that he has brought his party back from the brink and regained the official-party status that opens the door to more resources and more exposure, Charest said he won't be spending nearly as much time on the road. All that party-building has been a strain on his family. Charest, 38, said he plans to spend a lot more time in his Eastern Townships riding and more time with his family. ``I'm going to be able to get to know my kids a little better,'' said Charest, who has two daughters and a son. *** Infomart-Online *** Illustration PDF GENERATED BY PROQUEST.COM Page 2 of 4 Black &White Photo; PHOTO: TOM HANSON, CP; PROGRESSIVE CONSERVATIVE LEADER JEAN CHAREST GAVE THE THUMBS-UP FOLLOWING HIS POST-ELECTION PRESS CONFERENCE IN SHERBROOKE YESTERDAY. Credit: THE GAZETTE DETAILS Publication title: The Gazette; Montreal, Que. Pages: A.10 Number of pages: 0 Publication year: 1997 Publication date: Jun 4, 1997 Dateline: SHERBROOKE 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 ofpublication: English Document type: NEWSPAPER ProQuest document ID: 433196494 Document URL: https://www.proquest.com/newspapers/no-alliance-on-right-charest-tory-leader- wont/docview/433196494/se-2?accountid=5705 Copyright: (Copyright The Gazette) Last updated: 2017-11-15 Database: Canadian Newsstream PDF GENERATED BY PROQUEST.COM Page 3 of 4 LINKS Database copyright  2022 ProQuest LLC. All rights reserved. Terms and Conditions Contact ProQuest PDF GENERATED BY PROQUEST.COM Page 4 of 4