Posted at 5:00 am
A threatened red bastion
PHOTO MARTIN TREMBLAY, THE PRESS
Quebec Solidaire candidate for the Saint-Henri-Sainte-Anne by-election, Guillaume Cliche-Rivard, addresses voters at the Jolicoeur metro station.
Friday 3.30pm The weekend is just around the corner when Guillaume Cliche-Rivard arrives at the Jolicœur metro station in the Côte-Saint-Paul sector.
“You have my vote,” says a man in his forties who gets off the last train.
“Can I take your contact details?” Are you the only voter at home? ‘ asks the Quebec solidaire candidate. “There are two of us and she chooses like me,” the passer-by replies with a smile. He is happy to state his/her name and address before departure.
In Saint-Henri-Sainte-Anne, the electoral signs piled up. Less than six months after October’s general election, Montreal voters will be called to the polls again on March 13 following the resignation of former Liberal leader Dominique Anglade.
The orange candidate probably feels right this time. The immigration lawyer was in the running to face Ms Anglade in the last election.
PHOTO MARTIN TREMBLAY, THE PRESS
Quebec Solidaire candidate for the Saint-Henri-Sainte-Anne by-election, Guillaume Cliche-Rivard
I see it a bit like the overtime game, round 2.
Guillaume Cliche-Rivard, Quebec Solidaire candidate for the Saint-Henri-Sainte-Anne by-election
Despite disastrous results for her party, the former PLQ leader retained her seat by a majority of 2,736 votes (36.2%). Mr. Cliche-Rivard came second (27.7%), well ahead of the Coalition Avenir Québec candidate (17.7%).
Results of the general elections of 3 October 2022
- PLQ: 36.15% (+ 2736 votes)
- Q: 27.72%
- QAC: 17.73%
- QP: 8.27%
- PCQ: 6.36%
- Participation rate: 57.82%
Source: Elections Quebec
Cohesion sinks into the brown building. It’s warmer inside on this cold February day. When two volunteers arrive, the small group lines up in front of the turnstiles, ready to hand out leaflets. The reception is consistently courteous.
“Without guessing, we could guess from the results expected by the Liberal Party that a by-election was looming next year, so we never really stopped fieldwork,” the 33-year-old candidate continues. . “But it’s a different game,” said the big guy.
“Ms. Anglade was well known, a former Deputy Prime Minister of Quebec, it was a powerful symbol. Also a woman of color […]As party leader, he also has a certain aura,” lists the Solidarity.
Second chance
Less than three miles away, Liberal candidate Christopher Baenninger played a very different kind of “rematch” while interim leader Marc Tanguay was hoping to do better than him in a sleight-of-hand friendly tournament.
The two men visit a retirement home before going door to door. Gilles Gareau, who has just thrown his bags with amazing precision, exchanges views with the Liberal candidate.
PHOTO MARTIN TREMBLAY, THE PRESS
Liberal candidate Christopher Baenninger (left) in discussion with Gilles Gareau, resident of the Saint-Henri-Sainte-Anne stables.
He doesn’t get his vote. The man with the fleur de lis earring calls himself a former PQ player. “I like Mr. [François] Right. He’s not afraid to admit his mistakes,” he says.
Another elder stops by the coffee maker. “I’ve been an entrepreneur all my life, politics is always the same. I’m staying liberal,” he says before playing again.
PHOTO MARTIN TREMBLAY, THE PRESS
Friendly sleight of hand contest between Liberal candidate Christopher Baenninger (left) and PLQ leader Marc Tanguay
After Ms Anglade’s resignation, the Liberals elected Mr Baenninger to defend this red bastion.
The president of a marketing agency ran in the last election in the neighboring town of Sainte-Marie-Saint-Jacques. He finished second behind QS co-speaker Manon Massé. “The issues are very similar here,” the liberal states.
clashes
According to the candidates interviewed for this report, access to housing is a top priority for constituency citizens. On the day of our visit, the Liberals promised to “clear out” around 200 apartments for low earners that were uninhabitable due to dilapidation.
84,550
Population of Saint-Henri–Sainte-Anne
57,325
Number of registered voters
16.34 km2
district area
Source: Elections Quebec
It’s also an issue dear to Québec Solidaire, which the Legault administration has been following in the House on the matter throughout the week.
Hostilities also break out between PLQ and QS. The two formations clash over their proposals on housing and even on the youth front.
39.2 years
Average age in Saint-Henri–Sainte-Anne (Quebec: 42.8 years)
Source: Elections Quebec
Marc Tanguay on Thursday urged Gabriel Nadeau-Dubois to “look in the mirror when it comes to defending the interests of young people” and accused him of wanting to cut “100% of payments” to the generational fund in order to notably to address climate change. “There are limits to taking the world for a suitcase,” replied the group leader of QS.
The language splits
Walking to a small café on rue Notre-Dame Ouest, Christopher Baenninger explains that the citizens of Saint-Henri-Sainte-Anne, where a third of the population speaks English at home, talk to him “a lot” about Law 96 speak protection of French.
PHOTO MARTIN TREMBLAY, THE PRESS
Coffee break for the Liberal candidate Christopher Baenninger
On this front, too, the Liberals are attempting to distance themselves from QS. They tirelessly recall that the left formation voted to reform the Legault administration, which invoked the waiver to protect its Act 96 from prosecution.
Mr. Baenninger, who speaks four languages, is also the owner of a language school that “specializes in teaching French and English to help immigrants integrate better with us,” according to his online biography.
PHOTO MARTIN TREMBLAY, THE PRESS
Quebec Liberal Party candidate for the Saint-Henri-Sainte-Anne by-election, Christopher Baenninger
What I’m saying is that we want to defend French, but at the same time we don’t want to punish those who don’t speak it.
Christopher Baenninger, Quebec Liberal Party candidate in Saint-Henri-Sainte-Anne
The Liberal candidate, like his leader, believes the PLQ needs to better communicate its ideas, an element it says was missing in the last campaign.
Dominique Anglade’s position on Bill 96, forced to resign after a more nationalist turn, also lost support in the English-speaking community.
Total population by language most commonly spoken at home
- French: 59% (compared to 82.2% in Quebec)
- English: 32.3% (compared to 13% in Quebec)
Source: Elections Quebec
But even when he pleads for more clarity on 96, Christopher Baenninger gets his hands dirty: He says that an immigrant who doesn’t speak French well enough “may have to leave” after six months. Marc Tanguay picks up quickly.
Six months is the time allowed for immigrants before they are served in French by the public administration. “Yes, here it is,” the candidate apologizes.
Inclusion at the heart of the campaign
Back at the Jolicoeur station, the Solidarity candidate recalled Law 96 that “we would remove all clauses that interfere with rights and freedoms,” he said, without specifying which provisions. QS has undertaken to make the six-month period “ineffective”.
Mr Cliche-Rivard points out that “inclusion issues” in horseback riding matter. “The Division, I’m told all the time,” he says, echoing the heated debates about immigration thresholds.
PHOTO MARTIN TREMBLAY, THE PRESS
Solidarity candidate Guillaume Cliche-Rivard discusses his party’s positions in the Jolicoeur metro station.
A passerby is excited when a volunteer hands him a leaflet.
“You lost my voice,” said the man, who asked not to be named. He criticized QS for its handling of the Elghawaby affair – the Trudeau government’s special adviser on the fight against Islamophobia – and for not “vocally denouncing the Quebec bashing”.
QS refused to support a motion passed by the National Assembly condemning the federal commissioners’ earlier statements and calling for their dismissal. Solidarity eventually called for her resignation after being unable to meet with her before taking office.
“When I saw that, I freaked out,” explains the passer-by, who states that she has voted in solidarity since it was created.
The volunteer tries to explain the position of the formation to him, but nothing works. Just before that, Guillaume Cliche-Rivard said exactly that when speaking about the Elghawaby affair: “We have to listen to each other, we have to talk to each other. It’s still a tense climate, we have to ease it a bit. »
Distribution of visible minorities in private households
No visible minority
Saint-Henri–Sainte-Anne: 68.7% (compared to 83.9% in Quebec)
Belongs to a visible minority
Saint-Henri–Sainte-Anne: 31.3% (compared to 16.1% in Quebec)
Source: Elections Quebec
Other candidates in the ranks
Victor Pelletier, Coalition avenir Québec
PHOTO JOSIE DESMARAIS, THE PRESS
Victor Pelletier wears the colors of the Coalition Avenir Québec for the Saint-Henri-Sainte-Anne by-election.
PHOTO JOSIE DESMARAIS, THE PRESS
The CAQ candidate, accompanied by Laval-des-Rapides MP Céline Haytayan, debates with a voter at the Monk metro station.
PHOTO JOSIE DESMARAIS, THE PRESS
Victor Pelletier addresses voters sitting in a small café on Rue Monk.
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Victor Pelletier has been an activist for the Coalition avenir Québec since he was 15 and put his name on a ballot for the first time. “I’m not in politics to take easy rides, I’m here to live the experience but also to spread my message,” stresses the president of the youth department of François Legault’s formation, who spoke on March 13 want to surprise. “It was seen in partial shots. I think of Louis-Hébert, where no one waited for the CAQ and where Geneviève Guilbault finally returned with a large majority,” explains the 21-year-old candidate, sitting in a small café on Rue Monk. Laval-des-Rapides MP Céline Haytayan came to help him. The candidate wants to put forward the creation of social housing and the measures of the CAQ’s “anti-inflation shield”. In addition, the election signs mentioning “lower taxes” drew attention from the Parti Québécois, which accused François Legault of trying to “buy” the local elections. Mr Pelletier said he was “very comfortable” with these placards as it was a well-known election commitment.
Andréanne Fiola, Parti Quebecois
PHOTO JOSIE DESMARAIS, THE PRESS
Andréanne Fiola, Parti Québécois a candidate for the Saint-Henri–Sainte-Anne by-election
PHOTO JOSIE DESMARAIS, THE PRESS
The PQ candidate goes door-to-door with chef Paul St-Pierre Plamondon.
PHOTO JOSIE DESMARAIS, THE PRESS
The PQ hope to improve their result in Saint-Henri-Sainte-Anne compared to last October’s general elections.
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After running as a PQ candidate in Laval-des-Rapides, where she received 12.92% of the votes, Andréanne Fiola is trying her luck again. We find them as the Parti Québécois volunteers prepare for a door-to-door blitz. Chef Paul St-Pierre Plamondon accompanies him. “I came here to do water analysis when I was working for the City of Montreal, so I know the neighborhood well. When I was offered the chance to stand as a candidate here, it was clear that I wanted to accept,” emphasizes the 23-year-old candidate, who now works in the environmental sector in the city of Mascouche. PQ troops are hoping to gauge the impact of their rise in the last general election in Saint-Henri-Sainte-Anne, a race historically unfavorable for them. “If we’ve had an increase nationally, if we mobilize our people well, that can affect the bottom line. Therefore, it is important to make efforts on the ground to mobilize people who have a positive opinion about it. We do to slightly improve our score [cette circonscription]here,” explains Mr. St-Pierre Plamondon.
Lucien Koty, Quebec Conservative Party
PHOTO SUPPLIED BY THE QUEBEC CONSERVATIVE PARTY
Lucien Koty, candidate for the Quebec Conservative Party in Saint-Henri-Sainte-Anne
The Quebec Conservative Party also trusts a former candidate, Lucien Koty, who ran for votes in the neighboring town of Verdun, where he received 5.35% of the vote. The IT consultant from Benin would like to shed light on the issues of access to housing and inflation. He believes that the last elections have made his political formation and its leader Éric Duhaime better known. ” [Assurément]not all doors are the same, but people are getting to know us better […] people are more attentive, I notice that,” says the candidate. Controversial social media posts have resurfaced. In particular, he wrote: “It is NATO with [l’Union européenne] who wanted a war against Russia and used Ukraine to start it. Ukrainians are too stupid to understand that,” reads a screenshot from Radio-Canada. He says his comments have been “taken out of context” and that he basically wants “peace to return”. However, he concedes that the “vocabulary was inappropriate”.
The constituency in numbers
Total population aged 15 and over according to highest degree or degree
- None: 14.6% (Quebec: 18.2%)
- High school: 17.7% (Quebec: 21.4%)
- Apprentice or trade school: 7.5% (Quebec: 15.8%)
- CEGEP: 14.4% (Quebec: 17.4%)
- College degree: 3.6% (Quebec: 3.7%)
- Bachelor’s degree: 24% (Quebec: 14.6%)
- Masters or PhD: 18.3% (Quebec: 8.9%)
household income
One-person private households
- Median Income: $56,300 (Quebec: $47,680)
- Average income: $41,600 (Quebec: $38,800)
Private households with two or more people
- Average income: $120,300 (Quebec: $116,000)
- Median income: $91,000 (Quebec: $97,000)
This data is from Statistics Canada’s 2021 Canadian Census.
Source: Elections Quebec
Distribution of men and women
Men
Saint-Henri-Sainte-Anne: 49.9% (Quebec: 49.4%)
Women
Saint-Henri-Sainte-Anne: 50.1% (Quebec: 50.6%)
Familys
- For a couple without children: 44.6%
- As a couple with children: 38.9%
- Single parents: 16.5%