There were many of them on Saturday morning passing through the doors of the Center Mont-Royal in Montreal to slip their ballot into the box for the first round of the French legislative elections.
“When there are elections, it is important to vote, but it is certain that this time we really feel an urgency,” explains Yves de Villeneuve, who came to vote. “We hope that politicians in France will become more aware.”
He deplores “the absence of alternatives” in the face of the extremes which are growing in popularity. He hopes that these elections will raise “awareness of politicians in France”.
Yves de Villeneuve says he is “very worried” about a possible coming to power of the far-right party. According to him, the consequences of such a scenario could concern French people in France as much as those living abroad.
PHOTO JOSIE DESMARAIS, THE PRESS
Yves de Villeneuve
I think it will create a harmful climate in France, I fear a lot of tensions and the possibility of riots. There will be many people who will leave France to go elsewhere, because they will feel uncomfortable in their country.
Yves de Villeneuve
The fear of dual nationals
The far-right party’s positioning towards dual-national French people worries many voters who came to vote. The National Rally (RN) wants to limit access to strategic jobs for people with two nationalities. This position worries Muriel Claude, a 77-year-old Franco-Quebecer.
PHOTO JOSIE DESMARAIS, THE PRESS
Muriel Claude
It sends the message that our culture is not respected, we have the right to want to preserve our culture and to be binational. My son is binational, but he works for an international company, if he still worked at the National Institute of Scientific Research, I would be worried about him.
Muriel Claude
Muriel Claude fears the consequences of a potential rise to power by the extreme right. This would be the country’s first extreme right-wing government since the Nazi occupation of World War II.
“I’m not sure that the RN will change the world, on the contrary it will plunge it into obscurantism,” she adds.
Adrien Simon is 28 years old and plans to apply for Canadian citizenship by the end of the year and thus become a dual national.
PHOTO JOSIE DESMARAIS, THE PRESS
Adrien Simon
“It scares me a little because even if I don’t think I will have positions of responsibility in France, I think that there are people who deserve to have this place and who will not have access to it, he said. It’s a little unclear to me what will happen to us if this government passes. »
Early elections
French expats are being urged to have their say after French President Emmanuel Macron called snap elections earlier this month ahead of the European elections.
Read Laura-Julie Perreault’s column
His party suffered a crushing defeat against the far right in the European Parliament vote.
The far-right National Rally is leading the polls, followed by the New Popular Front coalition, which includes the centre-left, the Greens and the far-left forces, and the centrist alliance of President Emmanuel Macron.
PHOTO JOSIE DESMARAIS, THE PRESS
The outcome of the vote, after the second round on July 7 and an exceptionally brief election campaign, remains highly uncertain as three major political blocs face off: the far-right National Rally, President Emmanuel Macron’s centrist alliance, and the New Popular Front coalition, which includes the center-left, the Greens, and the far-left forces.
“During the last legislative elections in 2022, we had a participation rate of around 25%. This time, we have prepared for more… we are ready to welcome a participation rate of around 50%,” said the Consul General of France in Montreal, Marie Lapierre. There is a very strong mobilization of the French community who were really ready to help us organize the vote. »
Quebec has 260,000 French citizens, including 200,000 in Montreal. During the last legislative elections in 2022, French expatriates in North America elected the presidential party Ensemble candidate, Roland Lescure, in the second round. The latter obtained 56% of the votes cast against 44% for the candidate of the New Ecological and Social Popular Union (Nupes) party, Florence Roger.
The National Rally was disqualified in the first round by collecting 2% of the votes.
With information from The Canadian Press