QUESTIONS ABOUT COCAINE USE CONTINUE TO DOG BOISCLAIR

Quebec and Montreal - The admission he once used cocaine continues to
haunt Parti Quebecois leadership candidate Andre Boisclair, who
Wednesday night was hit again with questions about his unruly past
after an all-candidates debate.

Mr. Boisclair, the front-runner in the race to replace former leader
Bernard Landry, said in Saguenay that he stopped using cocaine seven
or eight years ago and that he did not obtain the illegal drug from
someone in organized crime.

"I took the drug on a few occasions and I never had an addiction
problem," Mr. Boisclair insisted, reiterating during the news
conference that he regretted taking the drug.

"You have seen me in the party since I was 20 years old. ..... Have
you at any time seen me in a situation where I was unbalanced? Have I
ever been seen in a situation of weakness?"

Mr. Boisclair told reporters that all the rumours about his lifestyle
were hurting the party. Asked who gave him the drug, he refused to
say. "How does it serve the public interest for me to tell you that?"
he responded. "I never bought any [drugs]."

He argued that his admission of using cocaine was no different than
when Premier Jean Charest said he had smoked marijuana.

"Was the person that gave Mr. Charest marijuana in contact with
organized crime? ..... Did Mr. Charest, who admitted smoking pot, say
where he bought it? Come on," he said putting an abrupt end to the
news conference and walking away from reporters.

The explanations are not likely to satisfy those in the sovereignty
movement who are worried that Mr. Boisclair's past could lead to the
demise of the separatist movement should he become leader after the
Nov. 13-15 leadership vote.

This week a high profile pro-sovereignty Quebec novelist and
television scriptwriter publicly urged Mr. Boisclair to quit the
leadership race for the good of the party. In a letter to a Quebec
newspaper, Victor Levy-Beaulieu said Quebecers should be reminded
that taking cocaine is a criminal act as he expressed concerns Mr.
Boisclair may have other skeletons in his closet.

"Can he assure me that once elected president of the Parti Quebecois,
eventually premier and leader of a referendum campaign that no other
skeleton will emerge from of the closet from this affair," Mr.
Levy-Beaulieu stated in his letter.

"By electing a leader whom we are not absolutely certain is beyond
all suspicion, the members of the Parti Quebecois, in a irresponsible
way, exposes Quebec to a future that could go very bad."

Similar concerns were expressed by one the leadership candidates,
Jean Ouimet who told the Montreal daily Le Devoir editorial board
that Mr. Boisclair's past could come back and haunt the PQ should he
be elected leader. He questioned Mr. Boisclair's judgment and
suggested that the issue was a time bomb that could go off at any time.

"When you want to go down the road towards sovereignty you need
someone who has good judgment. And I am not certain Mr. Boisclair has
the proper judgment to take the right decisions given his
experiences. And moreover he doesn't want to talk about it," Mr.
Ouimet told the newspaper.

Mr. Boisclair's refusal to explain his drug use when he was a cabinet
minister has created a flurry of rumours about his past. It has
become the nub of inside jokes in Quebec's political circles.

Even the recently appointed Governor-General, Michaelle Jean, poked
fun at Mr. Boisclair at the recent annual press gallery diner in
Ottawa. In a speech to 600 guests that included Prime Minister Paul
Martin, Ms. Jean read from a prepared text that guests at Rideau Hall
will be treated to fine wine, good food and sometimes sandwiches and Coke.

"Should Andre Boisclair decide to attend it will be coke for sure!"
Ms. Jean said in a speech that was videotaped.

"We know Mr. Boisclair always follows the party line," she added
sniffing in jest. "He would never consider crossing the line."

Yesterday, Mr. Boisclair condemned the remarks. "Everyone who saw the
images understands that they were out of place. Ms. Jean was at a
public event that was televised, recorded."

Mr. Boisclair admitted in mid September he took cocaine while he was
a cabinet minister in 1997. PQ members will choose a new leader in a
telephone vote between Nov. 13 and 15.

The cocaine issue has created doubts about Mr. Boisclair's ability to
win a decisive victory as projected by public opinion polls. However
the polls surveyed the general public and not specifically the more
than 134,000 party members who will be eligible to vote.

Last night during the debate, Pauline Marois, also considered one of
the front-runners, attacked Mr. Boisclair's education plan contending
that his numbers for his proposed education reform did not add up.

"You better go back and do your homework," Ms. Marois, a former
education minister snapped at a startled Mr. Boisclair.