The leader of the Bloc Québécois and a dozen MPs travelled to LaSalle – Émard – Verdun on Wednesday evening to encourage Bloc activists and lend a helping hand to the riding candidate, a few days before a by-election that has the appearance of a leadership test for Justin Trudeau.
“It smells good, it smells very good!” said Yves-François Blanchet as he entered the campaign office, to the applause of dozens of volunteers.
“We have reached the point where we are running towards the finish line, without looking at the distance of those who may be behind,” said the Bloc leader, who was accompanied by his candidate, Louis-Philippe Sauvé.
If he wins the by-election, he would be the second Bloc MP on the island of Montreal. Mario Beaulieu, who represents La Pointe-de-l’Île, is the only one currently elected.
“We know that our organization has performed very, very well,” but “don’t let yourselves be fooled by the polls, which are good,” the leader told activists.
Polls from the start of the campaign show a tight race between the Liberal Party, the New Democratic Party and the Bloc Québécois.
If Justin Trudeau’s party bites the dust in this riding, it would be, after the by-election in Toronto – St. Paul’s, a second defeat in a few months in a riding considered a Liberal stronghold. Next Monday’s election is therefore crucial for Justin Trudeau’s leadership.
Whatever the outcome of the by-election, Yves-François Blanchet believes “that Mr. Trudeau has no intention of leaving, but that could change his strategy.”
“It’s certain that if the Bloc Québécois wins in LaSalle – Émard – Verdun, it will send a very strong message to Ottawa,” indicated candidate Louis-Philippe Sauvé.
Just before the evening rally with the leader and volunteers, the Bloc candidate went door-to-door accompanied by MP Alexis Brunelle-Duceppe.
A mother of two young children told Bloc politicians she was “debating” her vote. She said she was very concerned about climate change and that she liked some of Justin Trudeau’s policies on the issue and was concerned for her children’s future.
“But what really scares me is Pierre Poilievre,” the woman said.
The Bloc candidate told him that “it’s certain that the Conservatives are not our plan A.” Should we conclude that the candidate has a preference regarding the party that leads in Ottawa?
“No, we work with those who advance our issues,” Louis-Philippe Sauvé told The Canadian Press. Yves-François Blanchet maintains that he is on the same wavelength, but he had a different way of expressing it to his activists Wednesday evening.
“The Conservatives are bad for Quebec, I will not replace a viper with a tarantula or vice versa,” said the Bloc leader. He was responding to the Conservative leader, who challenged him to support a motion of censure that he plans to table in order to bring down Justin Trudeau’s government.