As week three began, candidates and their volunteers were distributing pamphlets door to door, phoning residents to ask their intentions, visiting local events to speak with participants, and greeting people at Metro stations and bus stops.
“It’s better to meet people coming home at the end of the day,” says Chantale Michaud, a Quebec Solidaire candidate in Verdun. “In the morning, everyone is in a rush with their heads down and they don’t want to talk. In the afternoon, they’re calmer, smiling and more relaxed. They don’t mind stopping for a while.”
Major topics of conversation include the many debates being held this week and next. The general leadership debates are most popular, but undecided electors are also interested in discussing single issue debates, including the student discussion held by La Presse, the justice debate organized by the Barreau du Quebec and the health debate organized by the Quebec medical association.
Everyone wants to know about local candidate debates, including one in Marguerite-Bourgeoys during the Monday lunch hour and another in Verdun over the supper hour on Wednesday.
The debate in Marguerite-Bourgeoys will take place at CEGEP André Laurendeau on Monday, August 27 between 11:30 a.m. and 1:30 p.m. Participants include Robert Poëti for the Liberals, Jessica Riggi for the Parti Québecois, Michel Delisle for the Coalition Avenir de Québec, Yebo Romarick Okou for Québec Solidaire and Véronique Pelletier for Option nationale. * Yves Le Seigle, who is running for the Marxist Leninist party wasn’t invited to participate. Issues likely to be raised include the local toxic waste site and the Turcot Interchange.
The debate in Verdun will be on Wednesday August 29 at La Casa C.A.F.I., 4741 Verdun Street. The three groups organizing the debate—the Citizen Action Committee (CACV), the Women’s Centre and the Immigrant information centre (Casa C.A.F.I.)—have invited only five of the eight candidates running in the riding. They are: Henri-François Gautrin, the Liberal incumbent in Verdun; Thierry St Cyr who is running for the Parti Québecois; André Besner, the Coalition Avenir de Québec candidate; Chantale Michaud, the Quebec Solidaire candidate; and Marc-Antoine Daneau, the Option Nationale candidate. Topics likely to be discussed include the school on Nun’s Island and a local dearth of social housing. Jeffrey Mackie, who is running for the Green Party; Eileen Studd, who is running for the Marxiste-Leniniste Party; and Philippe Refghi, who is running for the Québec Citizens’ Union, were not invited to participate.
So far, no debate is being organized for the six candidates in Marquette: François Ouimet, the Liberal incumbent; Étienne Gougoux for the PQ; Victor Tan running for The Coalition Avenir de Québec; Claudelle Cyr for Québec Solidaire; John Symon for the Green Party and Patrick Valois for Option Nationale.
To get a complete list of the candidates in your riding, refer to the website run by the the Chief Electoral Officer of Québec at http://www.monvote.qc.ca.
Note: A version of this article appeared on page 1 of the Suburban City Edition on August 22.
*The original version of this article incorrectly mentioned Richard Noel as a candidate for the Green Party. See my answer to Sonja in the comments section to see why this error took place.
Thanks, Tracey. Too bad another option for citizens was scuttled because of technical problems.
I attended the debate at the CEGEP and it was interesting to see the candidates, another bit of information to help in making a decision. Too bad it was during the day so not accessible for many people.
Thanks for your bios of candidates.
Hi,
I note that you mention a candidate for the Green Party in Marguerite-Bourgeoys, a Richard Noël, which I was glad to see as an additional choice. However, both the Messager de LaSalle and the official site you send readers to above identify only six candidates, and no one for the Greens. Can you clear up the confusion?
Do keep up the good work. I especially appreciate that you post maps and drawings which paper sources often don’t (perhaps for lack of room?), even though a picture is, as they say, worth a thousand words.
Thanks,
Sonja Susnjar
Hi Sonja. The Director-General site and the LaSalle Messenger are correct: Richard Noel is not a candidate in the riding during this election.
He was nominated by the Green Party to run and he did an interview with me about his position on various items before leaving to represent Quebec in the Federal Green meeting in British Columbia, so I thought that his candidacy was held up somehow but still underway. That’s not the case.
According to the Directeur Generale of Quebec spokesperson Caroline Paquin he never placed his candidacy.
Noel says that he did get his nomination papers in on time, but they were rejected because he didn’t have enough valid signatures. By the time he found out, he was in the airport on his way out west so he didn’t have a chance to find out why some of the signatures were invalid and correct that problem or solicit additional nominations in the riding. The Green Party also nominated a candidate for D’Arcy McGee, but that candidate was rejected because of a incorrectly-sized photograph.
I’ve also corrected my post above.