The candidates competing for the leadership of the federal Conservative Party will appear this Wednesday evening to participate in a debate in French, where the party's growing support in Quebec is expected to be among the topics discussed.
 

The event is held in Laval, QC, north of Montreal, and comes as the deadline approaches for candidates to register their supporters as party members to be eligible to vote in the party leadership election.

Former Quebec Premier Jean Charest and longtime Ottawa-area MP Pierre Poilievre are expected to dominate much of the discussion, as both can speak French fluently and outline a path to victory across the province.

Patrick Brown can also speak French and has spent the race campaigning against Quebec's controversial secularism law that bans certain public employees in positions of authority from wearing religious symbols at work, which he says is an affront to religious freedom.

Party members will also be watching to see if Leslyn Lewis has improved her French after mostly sticking to a prepared script during the 2020 French language leadership debate.

On the other hand, these elections have sparked a lot of speculation about the unity of the conservative movement in Canada, but Peterson said it is too early to talk about divisions among the candidates.
 

The winner of the federal leadership race, to be announced in September, will have to find a way to maintain the support of the Conservative caucus and address divisions, a task that seems difficult day by day. But then, they must be able to win a general federal election.

The race is also expected to largely feature personal attacks and defamation, ranging from accusations of corruption or lying to endorsing racist views.