Legault Accused Montrealers Of 'Looking Down' On People From Quebec City & Levis

Yes, he actually said that.

In a televised interview with Radio-Canada this Sunday, Legault answered a series of questions as part of a special ahead of the coming election. Among a range of more normal conversations with the journalists, the leader of the CAQ responded... strangely to questions about the controversial "third link" — a project that would connect Quebec City to Lévis more directly by car and public transit.

When TV news anchor and co-host of the special Céline Galipeau asked Legault whether he thought the third link would increase traffic, the CAQiste leader said no. Galipeau's follow-up pressed Legault to explain why CAQ-led studies on this subject have yet to be publicly released.

Legault waved this off, saying that the data needs to be "updated" due to changes caused by the pandemic. He confidently asserted that, for him, "there’s an obvious need for a third link." This is where things started to go off the rails.

"I don’t see why people in Montreal should have more bridges than people in Quebec City," he thoughtfully concluded.

Both Galipeau and co-host Patrice Roy immediately pounced. First, Galipeau, with a reminder that when comparing Montreal to Quebec City, "it's not the same population, Mr. Legault." Then, Roy, almost speaking over her, points out that Montreal has a particular need for bridges: "it's an island!"

Legault was unfazed, interrupting Roy to continue with an assertion that unspecified "projections" for future population sizes definitively prove the importance of the third link. After a moment's pause, Legault followed up with the real kicker:

"Montrealers need to stop looking down on people from Quebec City and Lévis," he exclaimed, with zero context or follow-up. Galipeau continued with her questions about the traffic, but it's hard to move past such an objectively amusing statement.

Where did it come from? What group of Montrealers is Legault referring to? Could it be a sense of entitled superiority that lies behind the construction of additional bridges in Montreal?

It's understandably difficult to fathom a guess at what was happening in the CAQiste leader's head during this moment. Clearly, there are some unresolved challenges between Montrealers and other Quebecers. To divide the province along the lines of bridge privilege during an election – a time when we should be coming together to choose our collective futures – is an interesting strategy indeed.