Martine Biron the journalist officially gave way on Wednesday to Martine Biron the politician and she claims to have been “ethical from start to finish”.
She claims to have been approached for the first time by the Coalition avenir Québec (CAQ) in January, but that she had immediately closed the door. However, the context was different when the party returned to the charge in recent weeks.
“When the CAQ approached me this summer, I was at a crossroads,” she said at a press conference on Wednesday, mentioning that she had just completed a master’s degree in political science and will soon be 60. year.
“I was ready for a new challenge. […] I always felt, even when I was young, that I would contribute one day,” she said. The decline in the right to abortion in the United States would also have convinced her that more than ever women were needed in politics to defend their rights.
Last week, representatives of the other parties wondered if Martine Biron was already thinking when she spoke with them about their strategies as a journalist.
Asked about this, she says she stopped taking their calls as soon as she was approached. She claims to have immediately left for her vacation in Gaspésie.
With the help of Marc Picard
Prime Minister François Legault stressed that she was committed to education and the place of women. “He is a person appreciated by deputies, ministers and his colleagues. »
The official announcement of the candidacy took place in a hotel in Saint-Nicolas near the highway on the South Shore of Quebec, in the presence of many elected officials and candidates from the CAQ. The group included Bernard Drainville, who is running in the neighboring riding of Lévis and who, like Mr.me Biron, worked at Radio-Canada before entering politics.
Mme Biron succeeds MP Marc Picard, a veteran of the CAQ and the Action Démocratique du Québec (ADQ). A relatively discreet but locally appreciated deputy, Mr. Picard reigned supreme over the riding of Chutes-de-la-Chaudière for 19 years. In the last election, he won by nearly 20,000 votes over his closest rival, the Liberal Party of Quebec.
However, it does not disappear from the landscape since Mme Biron announced that he would help him campaign, calling him “an ace in his game”.
Legault would have liked the 3rd link project to “move faster”
Two days ago, in the same room, it was the turn of the Conservative Party of Quebec (PCQ) to present its candidate in Chutes-de-la-Chaudière, Mario Fortier, a former municipal councilor.
The leader of the PCQ, Éric Duhaime, then described Martine Biron as a candidate “parachuted” from Sillery, describing her as “a journalist friend” of the government. He had also quoted past chronicles of Mrs.me Biron in which she was critical of the Québec-Lévis tunnel project.
It is precisely this subject that Prime Minister François Legault wanted to talk about first when announcing the candidacy of Martine Biron.
“Yes, I would have liked the work to progress more quickly,” he said. “I don’t see why there is so much contempt on the part of the opposition to provide the infrastructure necessary for this great city, this great metropolis that is greater Quebec. »
He also pointed out that his candidate knew the South Shore of Quebec well, in particular because his mother had lived there and was a school principal there for years. “The little children she taught and trained are now moms and dads who need us,” said Martine Biron.
In addition to Mr. Fortier, Martine Biron will face Caroline Thibault of Québec Solidaire, a public service employee. As for the Parti Québécois and the Liberal Party of Quebec, they have not yet presented their candidates in this riding.
Remember that the elections must be called between August 25 and 29 in view of the October 3 ballot.