With the Liberals having announced plans in March to pay down C$10 billion in debt over five years, the CAQ wants to go even faster -- by making a C$10 billion payment before the end of March 2019. That could help the province save as much as C$300 million a year in interest, Eric Girard, a former National Bank of Canada executive who is running for office with the CAQ, said by phone this week. The party is committed to a Liberal target of reducing debt as a proportion of gross domestic product to 45 percent by March 2026.