by PATRICK LEJTENYI
The average everyday voter doesn’t particularly care about byelections in another riding. That’s a given. The average everyday voter doesn’t particularly care about byelections in their own riding either. And that’s no surprise. When the NDP’s Thomas Mulcair upset the Liberals in Outremont last year, voter turnout was an anemic 37.4 per cent, but his victory was goo-ed and gaw-ed over by the Canadian chattering class, if few others.
Nevertheless, we here at the Mirror have a duty to keep the reading public informed. With another byelection due Monday, Sept. 8, the five main parties are gearing up for battle in Westmount-Ville-Marie, another Liberal stronghold (Lucienne Robillard won the riding four times before resigning in January). But don’t be put off by the “Westmount” in Westmount-Ville-Marie: the riding actually encompasses Westmount (obviously), parts of eastern NDG and Côte-des-Neiges, the western end of the Plateau, Old Montreal, Chinatown and the downtown core. So while it contains some of the richest people in the country, there are serious pockets of poverty around as well.
After speaking to the five candidates (NeoRhino candidate Judith Vienneau had to drop out at the last minute), the Mirror presents its guide for you, the concerned voter, complete with quotes from the candidates and pithy commentary. Enjoy.
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The candidate: Anne Lagacé Dowson, NDP
Age: 49
Previous occupation: CBC radio host “on indefinite leave without pay. In all probability it means the end of my career.”
Issues: Poverty, environment, culture
Key quote: “The Conservative government has axed $23-million in funding for the arts. That’s just mean-spirited, as well as short-sighted.”
Analysis: Lagacé Dowson believes the NDP is the logical successor to a Liberal party that sold its soul to the centre. She believes she can appeal to Liberals who are “disaffected or disenchanted,” but it’s doubtful enough of them will defect to the NDP to make a difference.
Chances of winning: Not great, but remember Outremont.
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The candidate: Guy Dufort, Conservative
Age: 65
Previous occupation: Lawyer
Issues: Economy, environment, public security, “especially in downtown Montreal.”
Key quote: “I’d like to repeat what was done in 1958,” the last time the Conservatives won here. “People here are a lot more open to what the other parties have to say.”
Analysis: The Conservatives came in a distant second in 2006, but Dufort is a Conservative bigwig, having presided over the union between the Progressive Conservatives and the Canadian Reform Conservative Alliance in 2003. Capturing this riding would be a definite Conservative coup, and could put a dagger through the heart of Stéphane Dion’s Liberal Party leadership.
Chances of winning: Iffy.
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The candidate: Marc Garneau, Liberal
Age: 59
Previous occupation: Astronaut
Issues: Economy, environment, homelessness, poverty
Key quote: “Demographically, there is a very long and solid tradition of Liberal values in this riding, and there’s no reason that’s going to change.”
Analysis: He’s probably right. Losing this riding would be catastrophic, although Garneau sounds very confident he’ll win (he lost to the Bloc in 2006 in Vaudreuil-Soulanges, west of Montreal). This riding has been Liberal for the past 50 years, and chances are solid it will remain red.
Chances of winning: Close to a lock, but you never know.
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The candidate: Claude William Genest, Green
Age: 45
Previous occupation: Deputy party leader, TV personality, teacher of ecological design at the University of Vermont
Issues: Environment, health, economy
Key quote: “In a byelection, people aren’t going to change the government, so they don’t have to vote strategically. They can vote with their ethics, and make history.”
Analysis: Counting on a protest vote to achieve success isn’t crazy—again, remember Outremont. Genest may do better than his predecessor did in 2006, coming in fifth with 8.75 per cent of the vote, and the ever-rising proportion of green votes is worth watching.
Chances of winning: Definitely slim.
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The candidate: Charles Larivée, Bloc Québécois
Age: 22
Previous occupation: Student, logistics coordinator “for an international trading firm in Old Montreal”
Issues: Quebec autonomy, transfer payments, housing
Key quote: “We prefer that Quebec takes care of its own homeless problem, which we can do by getting more transfer money from Ottawa.”
Analysis: Young, ambitious and politically motivated, Larivée hopes to improve on 2006’s fourth-place finish, but his promise to apply Bill 101 to federal corporations in the riding won’t win him many votes west of Atwater. He’s relying on his youth and past connections as the former president of the McGill Political Science Students’ Association to plug him into the kids, but he’s got a rough ride ahead of him.
Chances of winning: Pretty bad.
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