Premier Philippe Couillard took a few shots at CAQ leader François Legault Friday, referring to his party as "a joke", in English and French.
The fall parliamentary session ended Friday, and party leaders addressed the media in turn, surrounded by their caucuses, offering up their assessments of how the previous three months went.
Couillard, whose party is now trailing the CAQ in the polls, also attempted to shore up his once-impenetrable support among anglos, which had been damaged somewhat by the ongoing 'Bonjour-Hi' controversy.
He suggested Legault would do away with his government's newly-created ministry for anglo affairs, and accused him of flip-flopping on the issue of sovereignty.
"(Legault) even said recently that the secretariat (responsible for English-speaking Quebecers), he would probably remove it because he doesn't really believe in it," he said. "That's one example. When have you heard him say a good word about Canada? When have you seen him make a speech with the Canadian flag behind him?"
Meanwhile, Legault, who some polls suggest would win a majority government if an election were held now, accused Couillard of panicking.
"The way Mr. Couillard is doing politics is not what he announced at the beginning," he said. "He said that he would be respectful, that he would do politics in a different way. We all see that's not what he delivers. And it's his choice."
The Parti Québécois, lagging a distant third in the polls, says it's too early to count the PQ out yet. "Underestimating the Parti Québécois is a national sport," he said.
The three MNAs of Québec Solidaire, for their part, say they'll stay the course, insisting they represent the kind of change that Quebecers want. They also say they've managed to put the other parties on the defensive during the recently-concluded session.
-With files from CTV Montreal