1er October 2018, Saint-Jules won the title of the most caquist corner of the country in Quebec. Indeed, nearly 85% of the population of the municipality had supported the Coalition avenir Québec. Four years later, does François Legault’s team still make the hearts of these Beaucerons beat? Short answer: no.
The CAQ will have to do without the vote of Damien Roy this time. In his eyes, François Legault “crashed” in front of the “multiculturalists” in Ottawa, starting with the federal prime minister, Justin Trudeau, who brushed aside his demands for additional powers in matters of immigration. ” [M. Legault] doesn’t have a column,” the 67-year-old man says bluntly in front of his house.
“I come back to the Parti Québécois, for language, for immigration,” he adds, surrounded by echinacea of all colors. Indeed, the proposals of the independentist political party to strengthen the Charter of the French language and to limit the number of immigrants to 35,000 per year are in favor with the former day laborer, who “worked almost everywhere” in the area. , including at the maple syrup producer Industries Bernard in Saint-Victor.
In 2018, the CAQ enjoyed a “significant advantage over its adversaries”, in Beauce as elsewhere, “since, unlike the latter, its support relies heavily on a distinct segment of the electorate — less educated individuals — who grants his favor in a preponderant way”, mention the authors of the work The new Quebec voter (Presses de l’Université de Montréal, 2022).
“Sir, I have no education, but I am not crazy”, specifies the passionate about politics, before warning The duty that he will rush, at 4 p.m. sharp, in front of his television set to watch a live program devoted to political debates. ” For The game, I’m on time ! »
After lining up behind the PQ, the Democratic Action of Quebec (ADQ) and the CAQ, Damien Roy will once again support the PQ. Has he considered supporting the Conservative Party of Quebec, like some of his neighbors? “I haven’t gotten there,” replies the Saint-Julois, before adding: “There are several who vote for Duhaime because of the pandemic, then masks. Duhaime, he picks this up. He’s surfing on it, ”he says before going down two steps, grabbing a kitchen knife that was resting on the stairs and throwing it on the threshold of the front door. He was busy uprooting the weeds that had taken up residence in his flowerbeds, explains the “self-taught” gardener, his smile ear-to-ear.
Then, a sport utility vehicle (SUV) stops in front of his property. Damien Roy’s eyes sparkle. “Where are you going, ladies? he asks before walking down the middle of the main path in stockings. He invites The duty to follow him.
On the passenger side, Line (who does not wish to give her last name) does not hesitate to tell the bottom of her thoughts on the CAQ of François Legault, behind which she also sided during the last ballot. “He taught me to blaspheme […] when he decided we couldn’t go to mass anymore [pendant la pandémie de COVID-19] », Says the believer, specifying in the same breath not to be vaccinated. “Can we be free to do what we want with our bodies?” she adds.
Line will unreservedly support the PCQ on October 3. “I’m Eric Duhaime. The others, I’m not able, “she says, before heading for Saint-Georges. Several signs of the Conservative candidate in Beauce-Nord, Olivier Dumais, decorate the lawns on his way. He is credited with 39% of the voting intentions, barely three points less than the CAQ candidate (and outgoing deputy) Luc Provençal (42%), according to the statistical model of electoral projection Qc125. The candidates of the Liberal Party of Quebec, Quebec solidaire and the PQ respectively collect 6%, 6% and 5% of the voting intentions. Proud Parti Québécois, Damien Roy must feel quite alone in Saint-Jules.
Confidences under the scissors
Josiane Grondin predicts a “big conservative vote” in Saint-Jules. The hairdresser relies in particular on the confidences of her many clients who turned their backs on François Legault after the introduction of the vaccination passport on 1er September 2021. “They don’t want to know anything anymore,” she mentions during her lunch hour.
Behind her scissors, the 30-year-old says she has observed “a lot of cracking” against the obligation to wear a mask, then the obligation to vaccinate to enter certain public places among 35-50 year olds. “The elderly population will no doubt still vote for the CAQ, and among young people, 95% will vote Conservative,” she concludes.
The party of François Legault obtains the support of 21% of Quebec voters aged 18 to 34, 33% of those aged 35 to 54 and 50% of those aged 55 and over, according to the last poll carried out by Léger on behalf of LogTVA and QUB (September 20, 2022).
Réal Giguère and Louise Nadeau are not angry with the Prime Minister, François Legault, for his management of the COVID-19 pandemic. “If we had been in his place, we would have made mistakes,” said Réal Giguère. “There’s no one who doesn’t make mistakes,” adds Louise Nadeau, to her left. That said, both note that the PCQ has filled up with opponents of sanitary measures in Saint-Jules.
The two young retirees in their seventies will renew their support for the CAQ on October 3. “The CAQ gives a little extra help to help us,” says Réal Giguère, pointing to the promise of François Legault’s team to increase – from $411 to $2,000 – the ceiling of the allowance offered to people aged 70. years on low income. “There should be elections every year. The elders would have more help,” he continues.
For its part, QS proposes to knock out the Beaucerons with taxes “on inheritances” and “on SUVs”, supports Louise Nadeau. “When I saw him with his cauldrons…” says the fan of hidden words, 10 years after Maple Spring. “He speaks easily, he projects a beautiful image, but I don’t like his ideas,” she adds in a final judgment. Her husband specifies that he needs an SUV “to go up the hill here”.
Two blocks away, Pierre Doyon is also calling on political decision-makers to increase government assistance for seniors. The man without a ‘pension’ says he has struggled to make ends meet since he ‘blew out’ and lost his driver’s license, which forced him to take a taxi to go shopping in Tring, about 10 kilometers away. Cost of a trip: $20 one way, $20 return.
He is sorry to see voters content with the one-time assistance of $400 or $600 promised by the CAQ to people earning less than $100,000. “There are some who, just because of the $600, are going to vote. That, we call that assholes. It gives a dollar and something a week. They don’t know how to calculate”, says the founding member of the local Lion Club in front of a bed of half a dozen well-counted hens. “The chickens are not mine,” he says.
Then, Pierre Doyon changes register. “Tell Legault, if you know him well, let me get my licenses back. That would be the best deal that could happen in my life, ”he says. According to him, the caquists “will return easily”. The hens go away cackling.
The surge of inflation shaking the country also worries René Tremblay and Lorraine Blouin at the other end of Saint-Jules. And there are taxes and duties. ” I am still working. And they come to take 3,000, 4,000 piastres a year out of my pockets, ”laments René Tremblay, 80, from the top of his gallery. The caquist – and handyman in mechanics and maintenance – has metamorphosed into a curator in favor of the pandemic. “The world is disgusted,” he said, installed in the front row of the spectacle of heavyweights spinning and parading on Main Road.
For her part of the gallery, Lorraine Blouin says she worries about the fate of the elderly in the face of the soaring cost of living. The state must watch over them first, then over the immigrants, she specifies. “The people who made the country receive almost nothing. »
Lorraine Blouin claims to be part of the “undecided” camp. The speech of the chief caquiste, in particular on the protection of the language and the values of Quebecers, still finds an echo in his ears. “It’s important, it’s our origins. But should he do more to fight climate change? ” It’s too late. We should have moved before, ”she says.
“The Conservatives are going to take the Beauce, launches, full of insurance, René Tremblay. Legault is too fresh shit! »
The flowered house of Damien Roy sits on the other side of the street. The owner – and his knife – returned leaving behind him a radio on, the antenna raised towards the sky. “What does he think, Damien?” asks René Tremblay, with a curious eye.