“The only party that voted against law 21 and against law 96 is the Liberal Party”, launched Monday, its leader, Dominique Anglade, during the nomination of his candidate in D’Arcy-McGee , the party’s stronghold on the island of Montreal. The presentation of candidate Elisabeth Prass was an opportunity for the party to reiterate its commitment to defend the interests of “Anglophones and minority communities”.
During the event at Pierre Elliott Trudeau Park, in Côte Saint-Luc, the leader of the Liberal Party of Quebec (PLQ) notably repeated her promise to make optional courses in or in French compulsory under the reform of Bill 101 of the CAQ government — “Law 96”. Recall that initially, the PLQ had submitted an amendment to require CEGEP students in English to take three training courses in French to obtain their diploma.
Chief Anglade also spoke out, once again, in favor of funding an expansion of Dawson College, and against Bill 21.
Élisabeth Prass, the party’s new candidate in D’Arcy-McGee, did not mince words with regard to the Coalition avenir Québec: “François Legault stripped me of my identity as an Anglophone . […] In the eyes of the government, I am not an Anglophone, because I am not eligible to go to school in English,” she said, in English, in reference to “Law 96.”
D’Arcy-McGee, which includes the cities of Côte-Saint-Luc, Hampstead, as well as part of the Côte-des-Neiges district in Montreal, is a riding with a strong English-speaking majority. This is a historic Liberal Party stronghold.
Falling support
Even if the PLQ still risks winning the elections in this riding — as well as in the entire West Island of Montreal — according to the poll aggregation site Qc125, the party’s popularity in D’Arcy-McGee is declining, on the eve of the start of the electoral campaign. The PLQ would obtain 59% of the votes today, whereas in 2014, it had collected 92% of the votes, and 74% in 2018.
One of the reasons that could explain this drop in voting intentions is the arrival of new parties that also want to amend, or even repeal, the policies of the government of François Legault in terms of official languages and religious symbols.
Bonnie Feigenbaum, a former member of the D’Arcy-McGee Liberal Association who is running for the Conservative Party of Quebec (PCQ) in the riding, criticized earlier this month the “terrible performance of the leader of the Liberal Party of Quebec (PLQ) Dominique Anglade” to defend the English-speaking community in the matter of “Law 96”. As of August 20, according to Qc125, the PCQ was fourth in voting intentions in D’Arcy-McGee, at 9%, behind the Coalition Avenir Québec (16%) and Québec Solidaire (12%).
The Bloc Montreal, led by Balarama Holness, and the Canadian Party of Quebec, both founded in response to “Bill 96” and the hesitations of Dominique Anglade’s party on this issue, will also try to defend the concerns of linguistic minorities during the campaign. .
Moreover, in D’Arcy-McGee, the only candidate who was not under the Liberal Party banner to have been elected in the last 50 years is Robert Libman, in 1989. The latter had founded the Equality Party with the aim of to defend federalism and the rights of Anglophones, in response to Bill 101 of the Parti Québécois.