THE CANADIAN PRESS

Liberal Leader Jean Charest and Francois Legault of the Coalition for Quebec's Future kicked off their televised debate on Tuesday night by defending the ethics of their respective parties.
   
Legault immediately attacked Charest for being too lenient with Tony Tomassi, a Liberal cabinet minister who was responsible for the province's daycare program.
   
Tomassi was forced to quit politics and now faces criminal charges over his use of a credit card supplied by a company that received government business.
   
Charest retorted that he acted quickly once he found out about Tomassi's activities.
   
The Liberal leader then challenged Legault to defend Jacques Duchesneau, a Coalition candidate who, according to Radio-Canada, received anonymous financial donations when he was a municipal politician in Montreal in 1998.
   
The two men squared off with two weeks left before Quebecers go to the polls Sept. 4.
   
Charest debated Parti Quebecois Leader Pauline Marois on Monday night, while Marois and Legault, former PQ cabinet colleagues, will clash Wednesday night.
   
The only debate featuring all the main party leaders on the same stage occurred Sunday night.
   
The debates are considered a key test for Legault, who has much less experience than his political rivals when it comes to the cut and thrust of political exchanges on live TV.
   
The former PQ cabinet minister is a pivotal player in the three-way race that has emerged.
   
His level of support will likely be decisive in many riding battles, with his party in a position to play the role of spoiler even in areas where it's not likely to win.
   
The fear of vote-splitting is intense enough on the federalist side that a long-time Liberal organizer in Quebec City is urging party supporters, through different media interviews, to rally behind the Coalition for this one election.
   
The Coalition is targeting an anglophone electorate that historically votes massively for the Liberals.
   
Ever since calling the election at the beginning of the month, Charest has hammered away at Legault's political past in which he was a boisterous supporter of Quebec independence.
   
In a desperate bid to hold on to the federalist vote in the province, Charest's mantra regarding Legault during the campaign has been to portray him as a sovereigntist who for years and years wanted a sovereignty referendum.
   
Legault left the PQ to create his new party, which has no official position on the independence question and promises not to discuss the issue that has dominated Quebec politics since the late 1960s.
   
Legault says he will not hold a sovereignty referendum for 10 years and that he would even vote No if a referendum were held right now.