On the way to the elections | Liberal castles threatened in the metropolis

Something is happening in the metropolis. Fights promise to be tight during the next campaign in ridings normally won over to the Liberals. Are we about to witness the fall of fortified castles? Status report.

Hugo Pilon Larose
The Press

” Everything is possible. Dominique Anglade repeats it like a mantra. The most recent polls, however, place his party in a difficult position, a few months before the elections. But “more than 40% of people” can change their minds, she says. ” Everything is possible. »

A few days after the unveiling of his electoral platform, The Press invited the Liberal leader to deliver the substance of her thoughts on the strategy she is putting forward to win back the electorate. In the most recent Léger poll, published in the Quebecor media, the Liberals garnered 18% of voting intentions. They are closely followed by Éric Duhaime’s Conservative Party, at 14%, Québec solidaire, at 13%, and the Parti Québécois, at only 8%. These results are currently far behind the Coalition avenir Québec (CAQ), at 46%.

In Montreal, new players are joining the game. Former mayoral candidate Balarama Holness founded the Bloc Montreal. He will run in the riding of Notre-Dame-de-Grâce. A jurist based in Estrie, Colin Standish, will officially launch the Canadian Party of Quebec on Monday. His attacks target the CAQ, but also the Liberals, who have fueled the discontent of some Anglophones with their back and forth in the debate on Bill 96 on the French language.

The economy and inclusion

In the closing days of the parliamentary session earlier this month, the Liberal leader and her team attacked the CAQ over its “separatist” handling of the state. The arrival of sovereigntist tenor Bernard Drainville in François Legault’s team has prompted the official opposition to return to the debates that have long made its success, in the opposition between independence and federalism.

But the Prime Minister quickly closed the door to holding a referendum, repeating that his party was nationalist, not sovereignist. In interview with The Presspolitical scientists Geneviève Tellier, of the University of Ottawa, and Valérie-Anne Mahéo, of Laval University, also recalled that the axis which separates the Quebec electorate is gradually rooted in a division between the left and the right, rather than on the question of the future of Quebec within Canada.

“For the PLQ, which in recent years had really posed as an alternative [aux souverainistes]its raison d’être becomes less salient,” says Ms.^me Maheo.

“What happened to the PQ is what is happening now to the Liberal Party,” adds Ms.^me Tellier, citing declining support for independence troops as a prelude to what might happen to the Liberals.

Dominique Anglade therefore finds himself having to find a new challenge that will allow his party to stand out from his opponents. She is betting that the work she does in the field with her candidates will bear fruit. She wants to embody inclusion and the economy.

“Our objective is truly to form the next government. Is the challenge huge? He is huge ! Is it easy? No, it’s not easy. Nothing will be easy,” she said.

Nobody said their last word

However, the Liberal leader is not alone in having this objective and in preparing the battlefield in Montreal. The Coalition avenir Québec recently announced candidates, including that of former municipal politician Karine Boivin Roy, who is running in Anjou–Louis-Riel. According to the Qc125 projection site, led by Philippe J. Fournier, the constituency held since 1998 by the Liberals could switch to the CAQ camp.

“The CAQ represents my values ​​well. I think it’s important to be in a vehicle that you’ll be comfortable in,” says Ms.^me Boivin Roy, whose CV was also sent to the Liberal Party, but who claims to have had no exchange with Dominique Anglade before finally choosing the party of François Legault.

Other liberal castles are also threatened, particularly in the constituency of Verdun. “It’s liberal, but we’re starting to say that it could become caquiste. No one, four years ago, would have even mentioned this possibility. This is an indication that something is happening,” analyzes Geneviève Tellier, of the University of Ottawa.

The leader of the Conservative Party, Éric Duhaime, also believes that his chances of being competitive outside the Quebec region are improving.

“It’s all about language issues. There has been a lot of discontent in the English-speaking community in Montreal since the adoption of Bill 96. The discontent is not only against Mr. Legault. She is also against M.^me Anglade, because of its changes of course,” adds Mr. Duhaime.

The leader of the Parti Québécois, Paul St-Pierre Plamondon, is also trying his luck in the riding of Bourget, currently held by caquiste Richard Campeau, in the east of Montreal. “Montreal is part of Quebec, and more than that, it is part of Quebec’s national destiny. It is very important for the Parti Québécois, given the very sensitive issues in Montreal, particularly on the whole question of the French language, that its leader says: “Me, it will be Montreal,” he says.

On the side of Québec solidaire, the party hopes that the assistant vice-president of the Development Bank of Canada, Haroun Bouazzi, will win the election in Maurice-Richard. With the departure of former Liberal minister Marie Montpetit, who was expelled from her party’s caucus, those in solidarity are betting big on this riding.