The by-election in LaSalle-Émard-Verdun, the perfect opportunity for the Bloc Québécois to make inroads in western Montreal

About twenty Bloc Québécois MPs arrived in the riding of LaSalle-Émard-Verdun in Montreal on Wednesday to deliver the message that it is “possible” for them to win this by-election, and thus disrupt the Trudeau government’s plans.

The sovereignist party in Ottawa has set up shop in the premises of the Verdun Madelinots association, where very little daylight enters. It was in front of a few dozen activists that the Bloc leader, Yves-François Blanchet, recounted having met in the afternoon a Toronto francophone student of Afro-descendant who had chosen to settle in Montreal.

“I told him, quite simply: ‘My dear friend, if you want to live in Quebec, you are as much a Quebecer as I am,'” the politician reported, to warm applause.

In his speech delivered under an Acadian flag, Mr. Blanchet imagines himself as a voter in this riding southwest of Montreal, convinced that he has always been located in a Liberal stronghold. While this time, he argues, “it is entirely possible, and likely,” that citizens will opt instead for the Bloc Québécois.

The majority of the 32 members of this federal party turned out on Wednesday to lend a hand to the efforts of their candidate, former political employee Louis-Philippe Sauvé. The seat left vacant by the departure of Liberal minister David Lametti is also hotly contested by the Liberal Party of Canada (LPC) and the New Democratic Party (NDP), and the parties are increasing their efforts on the ground, five days before the election.

For a balance of power

Observers say Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s political future would be compromised by a defeat in this Liberal stronghold. Struggling in the polls, his party suffered a defeat at the hands of the Conservatives in the Toronto-St. Paul’s riding in the previous byelection in June.

Yves-François Blanchet, for his part, does not go that far. “I believe that Mr. Trudeau has no intention of leaving, but that could change his strategy,” he told reporters, referring to the government’s complicated position, abandoned last week by its ally, the NDP.

In short, he believes that a victory could give him an even greater leverage, in the context where he plans to vote to keep the government alive in exchange for certain public policies. He mentioned the improvement of the pension for seniors from age 65 and the removal of the religious exception in the definition of hate speech in Canada.

“There have never been so many journalists after a meeting of activists. It has never happened,” noted the leader of the second opposition in Ottawa in front of the six media representatives who had gone to his candidate’s election office on Wednesday. “So we have a platform to talk about what seems important to us as we approach a general election.”

To political machines

He acknowledges that the Bloc Québécois has invested “a lot of resources” in this by-election. The crux of the matter will be to “get out the vote,” that is, to set in motion a political organization capable of convincing voters to go out and vote on Monday.

Organizers from the NDP and the PLC also told the Duty that this step would be decisive in ensuring victory given the tight race in LaSalle-Émard-Verdun. Until then, the work of political party volunteers consists of identifying their supporters and compiling data on them.

Liberal candidate Laura Palestini, who was a municipal councillor for LaSalle, the western part of the riding, has already told the Duty be certain of her victory. She has received visits from many Liberal ministers, deputies and political employees in recent weeks, including Minister Pablo Rodriguez, who came on Saturday.

NDP MPs are in Montreal this week. After their meetings, they pile into the metro to help their candidate, city councillor Craig Sauvé. NDP leader Jagmeet Singh spent part of Tuesday and Wednesday afternoon shaking hands on Wellington Street in Verdun.

Singh lashed out at Justin Trudeau, his partner in Ottawa until last week, for not doing enough to “stop a genocide” in Gaza. On Wednesday, his Hamilton Centre MP Matthew Green joined the pro-Palestinian protests that take place daily outside the LPC office. He decried the “media censorship” of support for Palestine, and told them he was trying to influence Canada’s position behind the scenes.

For his part, the Conservative candidate in LaSalle-Émard-Verdun, Louis Ialenti, received a visit from MP Pierre Paul-Hus on Tuesday. The latter suggested that a “Montreal mystery” could explain why Justin Trudeau’s Liberals always find stronger support there than in the rest of the country.

Voters in LaSalle-Émard-Verdun are going to the polls on Monday, September 16, along with those in a Winnipeg riding, Elmwood-Transcona. The next federal election could be called across the country any time after Parliament resumes on Monday, but the latest is October 2025.

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