Shirley Dorismond, a nurse by profession and former vice-president of the Fédération interprofessionnelle de la santé du Québec (FIQ), will be a candidate for the Coalition avenir Québec (CAQ) in the Marie-Victorin by-election.
“I’m a local girl, I grew up in Marie-Victorin,” she said Sunday at a press conference, recalling that she also contributes to the vaccination campaign in her region.
By making the leap into provincial politics, she wants to help improve the health care system. “I lived and I saw the good side, I rubbed shoulders with really fantastic people, she said, but I also saw the flaws in the system, on the ground. »
“I have ideas, including in the first line and home care. I also think it is high time to make more room for the skills of nurses, but also [à celles] pharmacists and all health professionals. »
Prime Minister Legault called her an “exceptional candidate” and a “woman of action”. “I need Shirley in Quebec, he pleaded, she is a woman who has experience that is absolutely necessary in the overhaul of our health network, I am thinking, among other things, of the whole human resources part. »
Racism and violence
Asked about her union past, during which she notably accused Prime Minister François Legault of being “an accomplice in organizational violence” suffered by nurses and denounced “systemic racism” in open letters, she replied that the important thing is that the CAQ take concrete action to reform the health care system and fight against racism, whatever the words used.
I need Shirley in Quebec
“I said things, I totally assume them,” she admitted, refusing to specify whether she still thinks that systemic racism is present in Quebec. She said that “there is no consensus on the definition”, but that “it will be my pleasure to report my observations, my experiences” to the members of her caucus.
Mr. Legault, for his part, affirmed that the conflict which opposed them both during the negotiation of the collective agreement for the members of the FIQ is a thing of the past, the agreement having been signed in the fall. “When you are responsible for a union, you are responsible for defending its members,” he agreed.
Five-a-side wrestling
The riding of Marie-Victorin was left vacant after the 2021 municipal elections, when its deputy, Catherine Fournier, won the mayor of Longueuil.
Marie-Victorin was a PQ bastion from 1985 to 2019, when Mme Fournier left the party. On the other hand, in the 2018 elections, the deputy had won it with only 700 votes more than her opponent caquiste.
“We don’t take anything for granted,” said the prime minister, who thinks his party’s nationalist character could tip the scales with voters. “It’s important to defend the nation, defend our values, defend the French language. »
The other candidates already announced are Émilie Nollet for the Liberal Party, Shophika Vaithyanathasarma for Québec solidaire, Pierre Nantel for the Parti Québécois and Anne Casabonne for the Conservative Party.
The person elected may not stay in place for very long, since general elections will be held in October.
This article was produced with the financial support of the Facebook and Canadian Press News Fellowships.