(Longueuil ) Six months before the general election, one of the last strongholds of the Parti Québécois has fallen: the riding of Marie-Victorin, in Longueuil, is taken over by the Coalition avenir Québec with the victory of Shirley Dorismond.
Updated yesterday at 10:36 p.m.
“Today we got there. Shirley Dorismond, the girl who grew up in Marie-Victorin, the one who lived your reality, goes down in history. I’m making history,” said the trade unionist and nurse, who will become the 76and Member of the Legault government in the National Assembly.
With 35% of the vote, Mr.me Dorismond, 45, came first ahead of her Parti Québécois (PQ) opponent, Pierre Nantel (30%). For the Liberal Party (PLQ), the defeat was brutal: the official opposition in Quebec ended up behind Éric Duhaime’s Conservative Party (PCQ), with 7% for the PLQ and 10% for Anne Casabonne, of the PCQ. Québec solidaire finished third with 14% of the vote, a worse performance than in 2018.
Shirley Dorismond will therefore represent this riding on the South Shore of Montreal, whose voters have been orphaned since the departure of former PQ MP Catherine Fournier, who became independent before being elected mayor of Longueuil last fall.
” To look forward ”
For Prime Minister François Legault, who accompanied Mme Dorismond Monday evening in Longueuil, this victory carries several messages.
PHOTO HUGO-SÉBASTIEN AUBERT, THE PRESS
François Legault, Premier of Quebec
This evening, after having elected a PQ deputy for 40 years, the voters of Marie-Victorin have decided to put it back and look to the future, to send the CAQ and Shirley to the National Assembly.
François Legault, Premier of Quebec
According to Mr. Legault, voters also support a change in the health network, and they agree to “put money back in [leur] portfolio,” he explained. “They told us something else: the people of Quebec don’t like extremes. The Quebec people want change, but they want it to be done in an orderly fashion, and in a responsible manner, with the CAQ,” said the Prime Minister, in front of a handful of activists, political employees and relatives of Ms.me Dorismond gathered in a small pizzeria in Longueuil.
A first since 1985
Marie-Victorin voters turned their backs on the PQ on Monday for the first time since 1985. Despite everything, PQ leader Paul St-Pierre Plamondon told rabid activists in a Place Longueuil restaurant that the result of the sovereigntist formation was a good omen for the election on 3rd October next.
“Tonight, I think we can be proud. We can be proud of the campaign we conducted, but we can also be proud of the results obtained. […] It’s a result that is close and I tell you, it’s only a postponement, “he said in front of the crowd who demanded” a country “.
“The Parti Québécois remains the real alternative to the Coalition avenir Québec,” declared Pierre Nantel, who confirmed in the same breath that he would be a candidate for the PQ in the fall during the general election. “When we get to 5% of the winner, and we very clearly have double the party that is just below us, it’s going well,” he added.
PHOTO HUGO-SÉBASTIEN AUBERT, THE PRESS
The disappointment could be read on the faces in the camp of candidate Pierre Nantel, of the Parti Québécois, after the announcement of his defeat.
A tight fight
By sending the caquiste Shirley Dorismond to Quebec, the voters of the riding of Marie-Victorin forgave her her reversals on several subjects, in particular her criticisms of the management of the pandemic by the Legault government or her recognition of systemic racism, a reviled theme. of the CAQ.
With the general elections in October fast approaching, this election has been the subject of a major political battle. All the party leaders campaigned, and the CAQ mobilized its Council of Ministers to go door-to-door. At the caquiste gathering, ministers Nathalie Roy, Jean-François Roberge, Christian Dubé, André Lamontagne, Simon Jolin-Barrette and Ian Lafrenière were present.
Quickly after the victory was announced, the CAQ’s parliamentary leader, Mr. Jolin-Barrette, explained how he interpreted this result: support for the government and a clear message to the opposition parties. “People want us to work for them and stop the partisanship,” said the man who controls the legislative agenda.
The tone has been bad in the Assembly on the part of the oppositions since the beginning of February. It’s a message from the people to say: listen, until June, get the bills passed, work on the bills.
Simon Jolin-Barrette, parliamentary leader of the CAQ
For the PQ and the CAQ, the by-election in the riding of Marie-Victorin represented an important electoral test. One wanted to win to remind that he was still alive, and the other, to prove that his good polls of recent years would materialize on the ground.
Next meeting in October
Pierre Nantel therefore failed to convince voters to once again trust the Parti Québécois. At the PQ rally, the initially festive atmosphere quickly changed as the results came in. For the PQ, this defeat is a very bad signal six months before the general elections. With a new leader, Paul St-Pierre Plamondon, who is himself still not elected, the party will have to explain to its activists over the next few days how it lost such a crucial stronghold to the CAQ.
For Conservative leader Éric Duhaime, it’s a “big victory” to have outstripped the PLQ, “the official opposition which has millions of dollars a year in the budget and which is not even in the picture”. “Our first objective was to beat one of the parties” represented in the National Assembly, he recalled.
“As for the Parti Québécois, Québec solidaire and the Liberal Party, they get a lower percentage. And the only opposition party that is making considerable progress, because we started from 0% and have reached 10.5%, is the Conservative Party of Quebec. And Marie-Victorin is not necessarily an easy riding for conservative ideas in Quebec,” he added.
With Tommy Chouinard, The Press