It was in an overall consensual atmosphere that the first debate organized between the candidates for the by-election in Marie-Victorin took place, which will take place on April 11.
Pierre Nantel (Parti Québécois), Émilie Nollet (Liberal Party), Shophika Vaithyanathasarma (Québec solidaire) and Martine Ouellet (Climat Québec) were present during this on the whole consensual debate. Two major candidates were however absent, including curator Anne Casabonne. The Coalition Avenir Québec (CAQ) candidate and current leader in the polls, Shirley Dorismond, was isolated while awaiting a PCR test result. The four candidates spoke in front of about thirty spectators in a large, mostly empty room on the Longueuil campus of Sherbrooke University.
The crowd, rather young and silent, rallied a few times for timid applause, especially directed at Martine Ouellet and Pierre Nantel. The liveliest moment pitted the head of Climat Québec against Liberal Émilie Nollet, who said her party wanted to develop green hydrogen production, to which Ouellet retorted: “Green hydrogen is is a bit of a miracle solution! The gas, you have to get it out. »
The segment on systemic racism, an often polarizing issue, created little discord between the various candidates. First to answer the question “Do you recognize the existence of systemic racism in Quebec?” », the Liberal candidate, Émilie Nollet, did not hesitate for long. “Yes, and I am not embarrassed to say it”, launched the one who was, according to her own words, in her first political debate.
Only the PQ candidate, Pierre Nantel, preferred to speak of “institutional racism”, specifying that “semantics don’t matter to me”. At the end of the segment, the solidarity candidate launched, with a smirk: “I see that we all somewhat agree on the issue of systemic racism, there is just the person concerned who is not there. . “The remark, referring to the CAQ candidate who was the great absentee of the evening, caused bursts of laughter in the room.
Ms. Vaithyanathasarma did it again during a segment on climate change, during which François Legault’s environmental policies came under fire from all four candidates. “The debate should be called ‘We miss Mrs. Dorismond’,” she joked. The absence of the latter was deplored on several occasions by the candidates during the evening.
Student issues and public transit in the spotlight
A segment dedicated to student issues allowed candidates to address a topic that is making headlines on this tenth anniversary of Maple Spring, namely that of higher education tuition fees. “I am proud to be in a party that wants free education,” said Ms. Vaithyanathasarma, before pleading for the creation of more housing “for everyone, including students” in Longueuil. Ms. Nollet for her part stressed that her party wanted to limit the indexation of tuition fees.
In a segment on public transport, the PQ, Pierre Nantel, pleaded for the city of Longueuil to be better served. “We need structured public transport from east to west, particularly on boulevard Taschereau,” he said. For her part, the liberal Émilie Nollet delivered a plea for greater accessibility of public transport to the “poorest”, who according to her are “excluded from the development of public transport”.
The former PQ minister and founder of the Climat Québec party, Martine Ouellet, made Quebec independence the leitmotif of her evening. On several occasions, she mentioned the “Republic of Quebec” as a way, in particular, of better integrating immigrants and argued that independence would be a way of emancipating from “oil Canada” and “Canadian interests” in university research.
The event was organized by the University of Sherbrooke Graduate Student Group and the University of Sherbrooke Student Federation. The themes of violence of a sexual nature, the carbon exchange and the awarding of scholarships were also discussed. Another debate, in which the Conservative and CAQ candidates have so far confirmed their presence, is scheduled for April 8. In all, twelve candidates are campaigning for the April 11 by-election.