On the way in which to elections | Liberal castles threatened within the metropolis

Something is happening in the metropolis. The fights promise to be fierce in the next campaign in tests normally won by liberals. Are we about to witness the fall of fortified castles? Status report.

“Anything is possible. Dominique Anglade repeats it like a mantra. The most recent polls, however, put his party in a difficult position, just months before the elections. But “more than 40% of people” may change their mind, he says. her.” Anything is possible. »

A few days after the presentation of its electoral platform, The press invited the liberal leader to present the content of her reflections on the strategy she presents to win back the electorate. In the most recent Léger poll, published in Quebec media, liberals got 18% of the vote. They are closely followed by Éric Duhaime’s Conservative Party, with 14%, Québec solidaire, with 13%, and Parti Québécois, with just 8%. These results are currently far behind the Coalition avenir Québec (CAQ), at 46%.

In Montreal, new players are joining the game. Former mayoral candidate Balarama Holness founded Bloc Montreal. He will race in the Notre-Dame-de-Grâce riding. An Estrie-based jurist Colin Standish will officially launch the Canadian Party of Quebec on Monday. His attacks target the CAQ, but also liberals, who have fueled the discontent of some Anglophones with his comings and goings in the debate over Bill 96 on the French language.

The economy and inclusion

In the final days of the parliamentary session earlier this month, the Liberal leader and her team attacked the CAQ for its “separatist” manipulation of the state. The arrival of the sovereign tenor Bernard Drainville in François Legault’s team has returned the official opposition to the debates that have been successful for a long time, in the opposition between independence and federalism.

But the prime minister quickly closed the door on a referendum, repeating that his party was nationalist, not sovereign. in an interview with The presspolitical scientists Geneviève Tellier, from the University of Ottawa, and Valérie-Anne Mahéo, from the University of Laval, also recalled that the axis that separates the Quebec electorate is gradually rooted in a division between left and right, and not in the question of the future. of Quebec in Canada.

“For the PLQ, which in recent years has really presented itself as an alternative [aux souverainistes]its raison d’être becomes less salient”, says Ms.^I Maheo.

“What happened to the PQ is what is happening now to the Liberal Party,” adds Ms.^I Tellier, citing declining support for independence troops as a prelude to what could happen to liberals.

Dominique Anglade therefore finds herself having to find a new challenge that will allow her party to stand out from her opponents. She is betting that the work she does in the field with her candidates will pay off. She wants to embody inclusion and economy.

“Our goal is really to form the next government. How big is the challenge? He’s huge! Is easy? No, it’s not easy. Nothing will be easy,” she said.

Nobody said their last word

However, the liberal leader is not the only one with this aim and preparing the battlefield in Montreal. Coalition avenir Québec recently announced candidates, including former municipal politician Karine Boivin Roy, who is running in Anjou-Louis-Riel. According to the Qc125 projection website, led by Philippe J. Fournier, the constituency held since 1998 by liberals could change to the CAQ camp.

“CAQ represents my values ​​well. I think it’s important to be in a vehicle that you feel comfortable in,” says Ms.^I Boivin Roy, whose CV was also sent to the Liberal Party, but who claims he did not exchange it with Dominique Anglade before finally choosing François Legault’s party.

Other liberal castles are also under threat, particularly in the Verdun constituency. “It’s liberal, but we’re starting to say it could become persimmon. No one, four years ago, would have even mentioned that possibility. This is an indication that something is happening”, analyzes Geneviève Tellier, from the University of Ottawa.

Conservative Party leader Éric Duhaime also believes his chances of being competitive outside the Quebec region are improving.

“It’s all about language issues. There has been a lot of discontent in the English-speaking community in Montreal since the adoption of Bill 96. The discontent is not just against Mr. Legal She is also against M.^I Anglade, because of its changes of course,” adds Mr. Duhaime.

Parti Québécois leader Paul St-Pierre Plamondon is also trying his luck at Bourget riding, currently occupied by persimmon Richard Campeau, east of Montreal. “Montreal is part of Quebec and, more than that, it is part of Quebec’s national destiny. It is very important for the Parti Québécois, given the very sensitive issues in Montreal, particularly the whole French language issue, that its leader says, “I will be Montreal,” he says.

On the side of the Quebecois solidarity, the party hopes that the Deputy Vice President of the Development Bank of Canada, Haroun Bouazzi, wins the election in Maurice-Richard. With the departure of former liberal minister Marie Montpetit, who was expelled from her party’s bench, the solidarists are betting big on this race.