MONTREAL - With Gilles Duceppe out of the running, Parti Québécois Leader Pauline Marois took aim at adversaries outside the party in a speech Friday that kicked off a weekend meeting in Montreal.
Marois made reference to Prime Minister Stephen Harper at least a dozen times, calling him the country's worst prime minister since Pierre Elliott Trudeau.
The PQ leader argued Harper has taken Canada in the wrong direction on issues such climate change, crime legislation, and military spending.
Quebec needs a change in direction and a government that stands up to Ottawa, she said.
Marois also took clear aim at Premier Jean Charest's Liberals and Francois Legault's popular new Coalition Avenir Québec, calling them a "tandem" that wasn't willing to stand up to Ottawa.
The PQ has said it plans to focus on policy this weekend and Marois is aiming to put questions about her leadership behind her.
Only a week ago, an embattled Marois was facing a major leadership test from Duceppe, the former leader of the Bloc Quebecois.
But he announced last weekend he wouldn't return to active politics any time soon after accusations he mishandled public funds while chief of the Bloc Quebecois.
Marois also criticized the Liberals in an area long considered their strength: the economy. She said Charest should have done more to prevent a factory closure in Montreal's East End announced a day earlier.
More than 700 jobs will be lost between now and 2014 due to the closure of Mabe Canada's dryer manufacturing plan.
with files from La Presse Canadienne
