LOUISEVILLE, Que. – There is plenty of grumbling in semi-rural Quebec about the new local MP – and not just because she lives 300 kilometres away, didn’t visit the riding to campaign, can’t speak much French and spent part of the election vacationing in Las Vegas.
The latest grumbling is about Ruth Ellen Brosseau’s nomination papers. Her opponents suggest they may have been falsified and say the riding results should be nullified if that is the case.
A man in the Berthier-Maskinonge riding says he was stunned to see his name and address listed on the papers filed by the NDP campaign. He says his wife’s signature was there too and that it was clearly forged.
"There’s a spelling mistake in her name and that’s not her signature at all," said Rene Young of Trois-Rivieres.
"There are a few people on my street who are identified (on the nomination papers) – some don’t remember signing."
No other complainants have come forward.
The NDP has dismissed allegations of irregularities and says the signatures were collected normally, by volunteers going door to door and working local gathering spots.
Some party members are also expressing frustration that one candidate is distracting from the dozens of quality MPs elected in the province Monday – many of them with impressive academic and professional backgrounds.
But Brosseau has become a poster child for critics who say the party was not prepared for the serious role it is about to play in Quebec, and in Canada’s Parliament.
The front page of one Quebec tabloid Wednesday carried a photo of the Las Vegas strip, a picture of Brosseau and the headline: Still Invisible.
The NDP says she isn’t ready to make a public appearance just yet. Brosseau won the riding by a crushing margin, despite her absence from the hustings.
Now one local voter who supported the NDP is having buyer’s regret.
Ghislaine Tessier says she voted NDP because she likes leader Jack Layton, not because of the local candidate. She also says Brosseau could always learn French.
It’s the fact her new MP has never been to the riding that, Tessier said, really annoys her.
"(It’s) like we’re nothing to them," said Tessier, a teacher.
"We will never forget that. Never."
Asked about allegations that the signature of one of her neighbours might have been falsified – she lives across the street from Young – Tessier said: "It’s not getting off on the right foot."
The NDP has defended its candidate, who works as an assistant pub manager in Ottawa.
"If someone doesn’t remember giving a signature – which appears to be the case here – that’s far from what people are alleging," said Layton spokesman Karl Belanger.
"I believe this is a case of someone forgetting. It happens.
"We’re very happy, very proud. Madame Brousseau… Madame Brosseau, is proud of this accomplishment."
Other party members are chafing at the volume of attention and ridicule directed Brosseau’s way.
They note that the party has elected academics, a well-known diplomat, public servants, labour officials, an aboriginal leader – and brought in a flood of new legislators to replace the Bloc Quebecois.
"Our victory in Quebec bothered a lot of people," said Marc-Andre Morin, the new MP for Laurentides-Labelle.
"As I watched the election results Monday night, I said to myself, ‘We’re going to be put underneath the microscope.’ They will scrutinize each candidate to try to find something negative.
"I think we have to be psychologically prepared for that."
But Brosseau’s opponents say rules are rules – and they’re ready to have them enforced.
The president of the local Liberal riding association says he will complain to Elections Canada.
The Conservative party’s national office says its local candidate is demanding a byelection. The governing party says the accusation is serious and that it trusts Elections Canada to make the right call in determining whether there was improper activity.
What will the Liberals do if the nomination papers are proven to have been falsified?
"A request to reject the ballots," said Louis-Victor Sylvestre, the Liberal riding-association president in Berthier-Maskinonge.
"So we’d start again at zero (in another election). There would be no more MP."
With files from Karine Fortin in Montreal
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