After more than two weeks of daily press conferences, meetings with voters and campaign publicity, political party leaders will work away from the cameras on Wednesday, the 18th day of the election campaign, to prepare for the first televised debate.

François Legault (CAQ), Dominique Anglade (PLQ), Gabriel Nadeau-Dubois (QS) and Paul St-Pierre Plamondon (PQ) have all confirmed they are not planning any public activities on Wednesday to focus on their preparation for the TVA’s “Face-to-Face” which will take place on Thursday evening.

Only Éric Duhaime of the Quebec Conservative Party (PCQ) will meet the press in Laval this morning to present his party’s financial framework. The PCQ is the last party to volunteer for the exercise.

The “Face-à-Face” format of the program aims to give two executives the opportunity to engage in a debate of ideas on a topic. The event will be chaired by news anchor Pierre Bruneau, who will come out of retirement for an evening to mark the occasion – he will also be hosting election night on October 3 over the VAT airwaves.

Just over a week ago, the five chefs took part in Radio-Canada’s “Cinq chefs, une lection” show, where they took turns answering questions from journalists Patrice Roy, Céline Galipeau and Anne-Marie Dussault.

However, TVA’s face-to-face will be their first opportunity to cross swords head-on. Another debate is scheduled on Radio-Canada exactly a week later on September 22nd.

On Tuesday, Mr Legault admitted he expected to be the target of attacks during Thursday night’s debate.

“It’s a bit normal if you look at the polls. We try to (…) give answers. Get some rest too, because there’s a certain amount of stress,” he told reporters.

François Legault is the only head of state to have participated in a televised election debate during prime time.