Christine Fréchette on the defensive over CAQ record during Quebec debate | CBC News

Coalition Avenir Québec Leader Christine Fréchette was the main target in the first debate of the provincial election campaign on Tuesday as the five main party leaders sparred over the economy, Quebec sovereignty and immigration.

From the first moments of the debate, Fréchette's rivals criticized her party's last eight years of governance.

Parti Québécois Paul St-Pierre Plamondon said his party would end years of “CAQ waste,” while Quebec Liberal Leader Charles Milliard said Fréchette’s party hadn’t taken care of the economy and businesses, and “doesn’t in any way represent the changes Quebecers need.”

Fréchette took no time in distancing herself from her predecessor and former premier.

“I am not François Legault. I am Christine Fréchette, and I come with my own way of doing things,” she said.

Conservative Leader Éric Duhaime and Québec Solidaire's Ruba Ghazal were also on the stage for the two-hour debate, hosted by Quebec's TVA television network.

Host Paul Larocque urged the leaders to stay respectful as the debate got underway.

The debate focused on three main themes: the economy, taxes and public services, and the future of Quebec.

Fréchette under fire as another Quebec IT project threatens to run over budget

It also featured a head-to-head format, with two leaders being paired off to debate most of the questions.

St-Pierre Plamondon, Milliard and Duhaime accused the Coalition Avenir Québec government — and Fréchette as a minister and more recently premier — of having presided over ballooning state spending and a growing debt, as well as scandals around the now-defunct Northvolt electric battery plant project and cost overruns at the province’s auto insurance board.

Fréchette said her government could create stability and predictability, and touted deals such as the recent tentative energy agreement reached with Newfoundland and Labrador.