The by-election in Saint-Henri-Sainte-Anne has a “hyper symbolic” value for the Liberal Party of Quebec and for Quebec solidaire, two parties which have come closer ideologically to each other, according to an expert.
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“The last election was a disaster for the Liberals, and they need a token victory to avoid sending a signal that the slide is continuing. On the side of Québec solidaire, a victory would mean that we have not yet reached the ceiling of our support, ”explains political scientist Félix Mathieu in an interview.
“But in the end, it is not this election that will change everything, he adds immediately. In both camps, if we win, we will say that all is not lost.
The race to fill the seat left vacant by the departure of the former Liberal leader, Dominique Anglade, was officially launched on Monday. The vote will take place on March 13.
Since its creation in 1994, Saint-Henri-Sainte-Anne has been in the hands of the PLQ. However, QS had a good result in 2018, which they improved further in 2022, when lawyer Guillaume Cliche-Rivard finished second behind Dominique Anglade. Mr. Cliche-Rivard tries his luck again in this partial.
“If we follow the solidarity progression curve, they have a chance of winning,” said Félix Mathieu, adding that “it will take a big field campaign”.
To curb the progress of solidarity, the Liberals went on the offensive Monday, during the presentation of their candidate, entrepreneur Christopher Baenninger.
After criticizing the Legault government for its management of the housing crisis in Montreal, the interim leader of the PLQ, Marc Tanguay, then devoted several minutes of his speech to denouncing the inconsistencies of Quebec solidaire, about the “defense of rights and freedoms” and the national question.
“When you vote for a law that suspends all of the rights and freedoms of all Quebecers through the CAQ use of the derogatory clause, you are anything but united! And that, we will have the opportunity to demonstrate it, ”he said.
Mr. Tanguay also portrayed QS as a sovereignist party, citing as an example the deputy Sol Zanetti who would be “more separatist than the most separatist of the PQ”.
According to Mr. Mathieu, this strategy is not inappropriate since Saint-Henri-Sainte-Anne is not a traditionally separatist riding, but it could only have a modest effect.
“Québec solidaire has not put the idea of sovereignty at the forefront for several years. We can expect the Liberals to use this argument to create fear, but in light of QS’s recent performance, I’m not sure that’s going to be enough,” he said.
In a press briefing on Monday afternoon, Gabriel Nadeau-Dubois replied to Marc Tanguay that he “will not spend the campaign responding to the attacks of the Liberal Party”.
“We are going to talk about the Québec solidaire social project, added the party spokesperson. This social project is connected with what people are going through here: the housing crisis, the environmental crisis, the issues regarding immigration. These are the priorities of the people of the neighborhood and they are also the priorities of Québec solidaire.”
It is the former president of the youth wing of the CAQ, Victor Pelletier, who is running for the party of François Legault. The Parti Québécois and the Conservative Party of Quebec have not yet announced their candidate. They have until February 25 to do so.