The Bloc Québécois’ breakthrough in the Liberal stronghold of LaSalle-Émard-Verdun has provoked varying levels of enthusiasm in Quebec City. While the Parti Québécois (PQ) is celebrating a “truly historic victory for the independentists,” the defeat suffered by Justin Trudeau’s troops leaves the Quebec Liberal Party (PLQ) “neither hot nor cold.”
“Against all odds,” a sovereignist party won a riding that seemed to be won by the party in power before the election. This is a refrain familiar to the ears of PQ leader Paul St-Pierre Plamondon, “which is reminiscent of Jean-Talon” and the triumph of his own ranks against the CAQ in the capital.
“What happened yesterday is not insignificant” in the eyes of PSPP. “It is an important message to Justin Trudeau, he believes, who has played politics on the backs of Quebecers, on the backs of francophones.”
The PQ leader still could not digest, Tuesday, the remarks made by Justin Trudeau on CJAD on Monday, saying that the Quebec government was “attacking English speakers” to protect French.
“It’s a lie that deteriorates the social climate in Montreal for no reason,” Mr. St-Pierre Plamondon decried in English. “Who wants a person like that as prime minister?” […] This says a lot about the true nature of this government: when it is under pressure, it does not hesitate to spread disinformation of this kind.”
The Bloc Québécois dyed LaSalle-Émard-Verdun blue with 28% of the vote and a narrow victory of 248 votes over its Liberal pursuer, who won 27.2% of the vote. The New Democrats won 8,262 votes in this three-way race, or 26.1% of the vote.
The slap in the face inflicted on the federal Liberals, for the leader of the PQ, embodies “a broader response to what voters think of the federal regime […]which is disrupting Quebec society and which does not respect the democratic will of Quebecers.” The role of the party and its leader is to “support” the Bloc.
“You saw me in Verdun, LaSalle, Ville-Émard. I went, and we have PQ activists who participate, and vice versa. So, obviously we help each other, and that’s how it will be for the future.”
The Quebec Liberals do not have the same affinities with their federal counterparts. In the aftermath of the defeat, the interim leader of the PLQ, Marc Tanguay, wanted to distance himself from Ottawa.
The result leaves him “neither hot nor cold,” he insisted. “There is only one brand that concerns me, and that is the Quebec Liberal Party, a great party that is 157 years old and has always supported Quebecers.”
“The Liberal Party of Canada is not our big brother,” added Saint-Laurent MP Marwah Rizqy. And the presence of candidates from the ranks of the federal Liberals for the leadership of the provincial party, she insists, should not make us think otherwise.”
“We’re going to let Mr. Trudeau manage his caucus,” she concluded. “We have our own leadership race to manage, so we’re going to focus on what’s most urgent and important — for us.”