Hochelaga, Rosemont, Longueuil, part of the Outaouais and “perhaps a bit of Laval”: many areas are now open to the Bloc Québécois, according to its leader, who on Tuesday savoured his narrow victory in LaSalle-Émard-Verdun.
“If the Bloc Québécois can convince the people of LaSalle-Émard-Verdun, imagine […] people who will say, it’s true, that there are other constituencies [comme] in Châteauguay or in Estrie” where voters could opt for his party, declared Yves-François Blanchet, during a press conference organized Tuesday morning in his campaign office in Verdun.
In an excellent mood, the leader suggested that the proof of this new frontier for his party could make the minority Liberal government, with which he is preparing to negotiate, “change the strategy” and become an important player in its survival. He specifically named the ridings of Hochelaga and Longueuil–Charles-LeMoyne, held by Liberal elected officials, and Rosemont–La Petite-Patrie, in NDP territory, as being in his sights for the next election.
At his side was the new Bloc MP for LaSalle-Émard-Verdun. Louis-Philippe Sauvé, elected a few hours earlier, was still emotional and stunned by a short night he spent lying on three chairs pushed together. In English, the former political employee described it as “great” (awesome) the fact of now being able to enter the federal Parliament through the front door.
The one who becomes the 33e Bloc Québécois MP in Ottawa, and only the second on the island of Montreal, is described by his leader as “endearing”, with a speech delivered “in a very intellectual way”. These are the reasons, in addition to his long days spent door-to-door, which would have allowed him to seal his narrow victory in the early hours of Tuesday morning, after an election night full of emotion that gave the lead in turn to the New Democratic Party (NDP) and the Liberal Party of Canada (LPC).
“It’s refreshing for politics!” said Mr. Blanchet enthusiastically, who only last week described his victory in the southwest Montreal riding as “possible.”
Warning for Poilievre
The Bloc Québécois is not afraid to repeat the exercise during a general election, says its leader. A federal campaign could be launched at any time in the absence of a partner willing to support Justin Trudeau’s minority Liberal government.
However, there is an opportunity for the Bloc to “get things out of this situation,” Mr. Blanchet summarized Tuesday. His party plans to collaborate with the Liberals, while keeping in its hand the card of defeating the government if it does not obtain a concession, notably on the improvement of the pension for seniors, aged 65 to 74.
Monday’s by-election allowed “to take the real measure of what the Conservatives are obtaining in the Montreal region,” Yves-François Blanchet stressed. They arrived in 4e position with 11.6% of the votes.
The leader of the official opposition, Conservative Pierre Poilievre, has been relentlessly attacking the Bloc Québécois for over a year, going so far as to insinuate at times that the party is in a “radical coalition” with Justin Trudeau’s Liberals.
“Someone should point out that in three general elections, the Bloc had three different Conservative leaders, with conclusive results in favour of the Bloc. I invite an adaptation of the level of language and to acknowledge that politics is also done with a certain humility.”
The Bloc leader was not kind to the NDP, which he said has a “mutually toxic” relationship with the Liberal Party, in reference to the pact between the two parties made two years ago and broken two weeks ago. Jagmeet Singh’s party ultimately came in third in LaSalle-Émard-Verdun after believing for a time Monday night that a victory would be a prelude to the formation of a NDP government.
Canadian Prime Minister and Liberal leader Justin Trudeau said on Tuesday that he was “reflecting” on his strategy, the day after a narrow defeat for his candidate, Laura Palestini, in what was considered a Liberal stronghold.