Parti Qubcois leadership hopefuls target Alexandre Cloutier during 1st debate

Parti Qubcois candidates faced a bumpy ride during several parts of the party's first official leadership debate in Sherbrooke last night.

Martine Ouellet went after frontrunner Alexandre Cloutier for having voted in favour of the contract to exploit oil on Anticosti Island last spring

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But he struck back, pointing out Ouellet was the natural resources minister when that agreement was signed.

Ouellet also accused her competitors of running a fear campaign against her promise to hold a referendum in short order if she gained power, saying they're using scare tactics and citing misleading statistics about support for a referendum.

She said a referendum is like an exam that no one wants to take, even though everyone wants the degree.

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Sharp exchanges

Jean-Francois Lise, who is second in the polls, also held a few sharp exchanges with Cloutier.

At one point, Lisesaid Cloutier's plan to ask the PQ members whether they would want to hold a referendum six months before the next election would lead the party into crisis.

They also got into a heated argumentregarding Lise's plan to privatize Hydro-Qubec the two candidates shouted over each other while trying to make their points.

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Cloutier, Lise, Ouellet and lawyer Paul St-Pierre Plamondon are vying for the PQ's top job.

They faced off in an unofficial debate last week, organized by students at Universit de Montral.

The next debate will be held Sept. 25 in Montreal.