Québec solidaire will attempt a breakthrough in the Laurentians by opposing Minister Nadine Girault, the general manager of Fairtrade Canada, Julie Francoeur.
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It was the lack of child care spaces that motivated the 37-year-old to make the leap into politics. Mother of two children, she found herself unable to obtain a place in CPE for her two-year-old son. “Some things don’t seem to be changing in Quebec,” laments the woman who got involved in the Ma place au travail movement.
“We pay a level of tax to take advantage of these services. So, I grew up saying to myself: the day when I will need it as a professional woman or for my family, it will be accessible. So it was really a shock, a big surprise. I thought it was a given in our society to have access to that, ”she says.
50 minute drive
The couple eventually found an unsubsidized daycare center about 25 minutes away by car, a distance they have to drive back and forth morning and evening. “We had to compromise on distance and cost, but there are people in my riding who just can’t find any,” adds Julie Francoeur.
In April, the CAQ government passed a bill to accelerate the development of the childcare services network. But so far, the Minister of Families has not reached his own targets to add places in CPE.
For its part, QS proposes to create an emergency benefit of $870 per month for the parents of a child under 18 months without a place in childcare and who no longer receive QPIP benefits.
Get out of cities
The general manager of Fairtrade Canada (an NPO that ensures the tracing of fair trade products) will therefore have the heavy task of beating the Minister of International Relations, Nadine Girault. In 2018, the caquist had easily won, with 41.5% of the vote, against 23.4% for the PQ and 18% for QS.
But the solidarity argue that since then, the sovereignist formation has lost feathers in the national polls, which gives them hope of being competitive this time.
Located in the Laurentians, the electoral division of Bertrand covers, among others, the localities of Chertsey, Estérel, Rawdon, Sainte-Adèle, Sainte-Agathe-des-Monts, Val-David and Saint-Donat.
Even if the region is known for its resort sites, its population has a lower income than the Quebec average. In fact, great disparities exist in the constituency.
Its voters are also older (with a median age of 53 compared to 43 elsewhere in Quebec) and are 98.5% Caucasian, according to the latest census.
A victory in Bertrand would mean a breakthrough for Québec solidaire which, so far, has elected its ten deputies in urban areas or near university campuses.