Legault Blasted The PQ Leader For Mentioning His Sons, Says His Wife Was 'Shocked'

On Thursday morning, Premier François Legault called outParti Québécois leader Paul Saint-Pierre Plamondon for mentioning his sons during remarks at the National Assembly.

"What shocks me and what I want to say to Mr. Saint-Pierre Plamondon," the premier said, "is that politics is pretty hard. [...] we should leave children out of it."

Editor's Choice: This 3-Bedroom House For Sale In The Laurentians Costs Less Than A Montreal Condo (PHOTOS)

“

We should respect the family of politicians.

François Legault

The dispute stems from comments the PQ leader made to reporters on Wednesday. 

"François Legault doing snowboard in his backyard, by the way, with his children in the backyard... is a violation of Public Health rules because they're not living in the same household," Saint-Pierre Plamondon said.

His comments were referring to a widely-circulated photo of the premier sliding down a makeshift snow ramp in his yard.

The leader accused Legault of staging the photo, pointing to it as an example of what he called the CAQ's communications strategy. 

"François Legault didn't come up with that on the corner of his breakfast table," Saint-Pierre Plamondon continued.

"No, no. This is planned. You have several contracts that are given to publicists who are imagining ways of bringing the message of the Government."

After critics pointed out that Legault's sons live with him, Saint-Pierre Plamondon later took to Twitter to "withdraw" his statement.

"We had other information indicating that the PM's two sons did not live at his home. Mr. Legault confirms that his children live in his home, I believe his word."

But Legault had strong words for the PQ leader on Thursday.

He called both the accusation that the photo was staged and the assertion that his children don't live with him "a lie." 

"We don't have contracts... it was one of my sons who took the photo."

Legault further described his wife as "shocked" by the public discussion. 

"To speak of family, to speak of children, I think that we shouldn't see that in politics. We should respect the families of politicians," he concluded.