The Bloc candidate in the September 16 by-election in the riding of LaSalle—Émard—Verdun plans to create a “chain reaction” that will generate “a movement towards the Bloc Québécois” on the island of Montreal.
On Wellington Avenue in Verdun, several election signs have appeared since the announcement Sunday that a by-election will take place on September 16.
“They’ve started the visual pollution,” said a man, pointing to the signs at the entrance to the Église metro station on Wednesday morning.
The man in his fifties, who “doesn’t like politicians”, rummages through the trash looking for cans and bottles with a returnable amount.
Across the street, four people who appear to have spent the night outside sit on the ground in a shaded corner near the church square, where there are sleeping bags and makeshift facilities.
Access to housing, the cost of living, homelessness and gentrification are the main issues of the election campaign in the riding, according to a 46-year-old resident walking his dog in the middle of the pedestrian avenue.
“Every Monday, at the food bank on the corner of Sixth Avenue, there is a lineup of a hundred people or more. It wasn’t like this before. It started during the pandemic, but it’s still going on,” explains Guillaume Cloutier.
“Before, we would see one or two homeless people in Wellington, we knew them, but now, there are several of them” and some “have mental health problems, drug addiction”, which leads to “problems of insecurity in the evening”, sums up the citizen who does not yet know the candidates who are running in the election.
Mr. Brown, a sixty-year-old who has lived “in Verdun for a very long time,” also does not know the names of the candidates, but he knows that he will vote for the Bloc, because the anglicization of the neighborhood, particularly in businesses, is the issue that concerns him the most.
“He could be called Shovel Handle, I’ll vote for him anyway,” said Mr. Brown, who we met on Wellington Avenue.
The Bloc wants to create a chain reaction
The Bloc Québécois is the last of the main parties to have announced its candidate in LaSalle—Émard—Verdun.
Bloc leader Yves-François Blanchet was in the Montreal riding on Wednesday morning to officially present Louis-Philippe Sauvé.
PHOTO RYAN REMIORZ, THE CANADIAN PRESS
Yves-François Blanchet, Bloc leader
This long-time independence activist is asking his fellow citizens to elect him to “send a strong message” to Ottawa.
According to him, his election could allow the Bloc to elect other candidates on the island of Montreal, which currently has only one Bloc MP.
“My election could create a chain reaction that will generate a movement towards the Bloc Québécois, I am convinced,” he said.
He intends to “conquer the hearts” of his fellow citizens by leading “a grassroots campaign,” going door-to-door. “I’m never going to be far from their backyard,” explained the man who previously worked in the parliamentary wing and research department of the Bloc Québécois before making the leap into politics.
At a press conference, he explained that he intends to put forward the issue of housing, because “it is what concerns people the most”, the cost of living, the price of food and the impact of inflation on seniors.
Its leader, Yves-François Blanchet, indicated that he was not worried about the relative anonymity of his candidate, who is not what one would call a star candidate.
“An election campaign is about becoming known. […] “When you are associated with either the Liberal Party or Projet Montréal, being known is not necessarily an advantage,” said Yves-François Blanchet, referring to his main opponents in this race.
The Liberals have chosen city councilor Laura Palestini as their candidate to succeed former Justice Minister David Lametti.
PHOTO CITY OF MONTREAL, PROVIDED BY THE CANADIAN PRESS
The Liberal candidate in the riding of LaSalle–Émard–Verdun, Laura Palestini
For its part, the New Democratic Party has proposed the candidacy of municipal councillor Craig Sauvé, who is currently on Mayor Valérie Plante’s team.
The conservatives, for their part, have set their sights on an entrepreneur named Louis Ialenti.
A castle in danger
The riding is considered a Liberal stronghold, but according to a poll conducted by Mainstreet Research three weeks ago, the Liberal Party of Canada is credited with 26.2% of voting intentions – a drop of 16.7 points since the last election.
The Bloc Québécois received 23.7%, the New Democratic Party 23.3% and the Conservative Party of Canada 11.9%. Nearly 8.7% of respondents said they were undecided.
There will likely be “a race that is just close enough to attract attention” and present the Bloc’s platform and ideas, Yves-François Blanchet indicated Wednesday morning.
“We are going to propose an acceleration of the process” to “get social housing” and student housing “off the ground” by removing “harmful intermediary jurisdictions”, the Bloc leader mentioned in particular.
“When you put the word ‘harmful’ in the same sentence as the word ‘housing,’ the word ‘Ottawa’ quickly comes up. They should just send the social housing money to the Quebec government,” he added.
The Liberals have won all three elections held in the riding of LaSalle—Émard—Verdun since its creation in 2012.
In the last election, former Justice Minister David Lametti was re-elected with 42.9% of the vote, finishing far ahead of his opponents. The Bloc candidate received 22.1% of the vote, the NDP candidate came in third (19.4%) and the Conservative candidate received 7.5%. The People’s Party candidate received 3.4% and the Green Party candidate received 3.0%.