The riding of Saint Henri-Sainte Anne in Montreal’s south-west isn’t just any riding.
Quebec Liberal Party leader Dominique Anglade is MNA there and she’s confident she can win again this fall.
“I’ve been MNA there for 7 years, connecting with people on a daily basis, understanding the issues,” she insisted.
But Quebec Solidaire (SQ) leader Gabriel Nadeau Dubois thinks his party can win there and made that point Sunday, going door to door with candidate Guillaume Cliche-Rivard to introduce him to voters.
“The people of the southwest of Montreal have tried the Liberal Party for years and look at the results,” Nadeau Dubois said to reporters while standing next to the Jolicoeur metro station before heading out to knock on doors.
He thinks he can convince people living here that, because of the Quebec Liberals’ long history in the riding, his party deserves a chance to replace them.
Nadeau Dubois claims the ruling Coalition Avenir Québec (CAQ) hasn’t delivered on key issues and that the Liberals failed to challenge the government on them.
“The Liberals are part of the reason why there is a historic housing crisis in Montreal,” Nadeau Dubois alleged.
He and his candidates say that crisis as well as the environment, public transit and the economy are among the priorities for voters.
“If the CAQ government would not have deleted 18000 (immigration) files at the beginning of their mandate,” Cliche-Rivard argues, “we would have a lot more workers.”
His party is hoping to boost their seat count even further this election, having tripled the number of MAN’s to ten including six in Montreal in 2018.
Multiple polls have shown the Liberals and QS in a distant second and third place, respectively, behind the governing CAQ.
QS could see the Liberals as vulnerable on the Island of Montreal, with newer parties now seen as also courting Anglophones who typically vote Liberal.
Cliche-Rivard could face a challenge in the ethnically diverse riding of St. Henri-Ste. Anne though, because of concerns over Bill 96, the government’s revamped language law.
QS supports the bill.
“We are hearing questions about Bill 96,” Cliche-Rivard admitted. “What I want to do is make sure we have an inclusive agenda.”
Anglade claimed that people in the riding are expressing concerns about perceived divisions among the population.
“We voted against Bill 96 (and) we want to repeal a number of elements out of Bill 96 because it’s dividing Quebecers.
Premier François Legault is expected to trigger the election campaign before the end of the month for the October 3rd vote.