Jacques Nadeau Le Devoir On the eve of the by-election in the riding of Saint -Henri-Sainte-Anne, the fight is particularly tight between the Quebec Liberal Party and Quebec solidaire.
As the by-election to be held Monday in the riding of Saint-Henri-Sainte-Anne, in Montreal, approaches, the fight intensifies between the four candidates of the main parties in the running.
< p>Under the colors of the Quebec Liberal Party (PLQ), social entrepreneur Christopher Baenninger said he had experienced an “intense” campaign, but with which he said he was “very satisfied”.
Asked about his tight fight with the solidarity, the businessman assured that he was focusing instead on rallying the last undecided. The stakes are still high for the candidate, who has had to defend a liberal riding since its creation. But a two-way fight seems to be taking shape between the Liberal Party of Quebec (PLQ) and Quebec solidaire (QS), according to the electoral projection site Qc125 which, as of March 3, placed the two parties on an equal footing.
Among the concerns expressed on the ground, the most frequent is above all that of housing, said Baenninger.
“Funds have been blocked by the Legault government since November 2021. We are talking about considerable funds, since it is $1.7 billion at the federal level with an equivalent of $1.7 billion at the provincial level and an investment over 10 years,” said supported the Liberal candidate.
This issue particularly affects the citizens of Saint-Henri-Sainte-Anne, he specified, since the riding has 62 HLMs — the largest number in Quebec — and more of 200 houses barricaded on its territory.
“Funds must be invested in this so that people can live in them. We must continue to invest in social housing […] and ensure that it is a solid and inclusive economy,” summarized Mr. Baenninger.
For the solidarity candidate Guillaume Cliche-Rivard, the Liberals remain “partially responsible” for the housing crisis raging in the riding.
“It's easy to put your finger on the CAQ, but the austerity of the Liberal government at the time is still responsible for what we know today. The party says it will debarricade some 200 low-income housing units. I ask the question: how is it that Mrs. Anglade was not able to do it and that he will be able to? “, he raised in an interview.
The candidate maintained that the solidarity formation would set up “a series of measures” to fight against the crisis, in particular the establishment of a register of leases, the cancellation of clause F on leases — which allows the rents of new constructions to be increased without limits -, as well as a moratorium on renovations.
Mr. Cliche-Rivard also clarified that he wanted to lower the age of the Françoise David law to 65, which prohibits the evictions of people aged 70 and over who have lived in their homes for at least 10 years and have income located below a certain threshold.
And the last challenge in view of the ballot?
“Working on our exit from the vote, replied the lawyer by training. The voting rate is already not very strong in Saint-Henri-Sainte-Anne during a general election; in a partial, it is estimated that it will come out between 25% and 30% only of the participation rate.
Emerging candidates
For its part, the Coalition avenir Québec (CAQ) has bet on the announcement of a tax cut scheduled for 2023 in order to seduce voters.
According to Victor Pelletier, president of the youth wing of the CAQ and candidate running for the by-election, this campaign was an opportunity to show his motivation and his experience in constituency office for the past five years.
“35 days is short, and my goal was to run as a candidate. I've been doing a lot of ground since February 6, we mobilized teams of volunteers for door-to-door, we did all the neighborhoods,” he said in an interview, adding that the reception was “very good on the pitch.”
Like the other candidates, Mr. Pelletier raised the need to tackle the housing crisis and the rising cost of living, adding that the CAQ government was ” in action”.
“It is important to say that the government is there, there are measures that were taken a little before the holidays, and a budget is also coming to address the situation. […] Projects are being built and organised, and as the Minister of Housing said, certain programs need to be modernized in order to be able to increase the supply of housing”, specified the young man of 21 years.
Andréanne Fiola, who finished fourth in the riding of Laval-des-Rapides last October, confirmed a “very positive attitude” of voters towards PQ leader Paul St-Pierre-Plamondon.
>
“For a neighborhood like Saint-Henri-Sainte-Anne where it is becoming more and more anglicized and for Quebecers who speak French and want the language protected, they are beginning to realize that there's only one party that's going to be there for that, and that's the Parti Québécois,” said the candidate in an interview at the PQ Congress on Saturday in Sherbrooke.
The environmental technician added that she was part of the only training that put forward the independence project, and that people were “more and more attentive” to the proposals brought.
The candidate of the Conservative Party of Quebec (PCQ), Lucien Koty, has not responded to the request for an interview from The Canadian Press for the moment.
The leader Liberal Dominique Anglade emerged victorious in the October 3 ballot, obtaining 36.2% of the vote. She was ahead of Guillaume Cliche-Rivard by 2736 votes. Caquiste Nicolas Huard-Isabelle finished third at 17.7%, ahead of PQ Julie Daubois at 8.3% and Conservative Misha White at 6.4%.
A total of 11 candidates are running in this election in Saint-Henri-Sainte-Anne, whose electoral list includes more than 57,000 electors.
This article was produced with the financial support of the Meta and La Scholarships < /i>Canadian Press for news.
