Hard-campaigning Jean-Francois Lisee hoping for late surge as election looms
MONTREAL — It was 7 a.m. on a Sunday, but Jean-Francois Lisee was full of energy as he met with Parti Quebecois members who’d roused themselves for an early breakfast with their leader.
Less than 12 hours before, he’d bounded onto a stage in front of a packed audience, high-fiving members of his party’s youth wing who shouted “Lisee! Lisee! Lisee!” with his campaign music blaring.
“We’re acting as though we want to give people money, but secretly we want to save the planet,” he said to applause some minutes later, as he discussed his plan to subside carpooling and take cars off the road.
But outside the cheering crowds that pack his partisan rallies, polls suggest Lisee has failed to shift public opinion, despite a punishing campaign pace and two strong debate performances.