Photo: Adil Boukind Le Devoir The Montreal riding of LaSalle-Émard-Verdun has been without an MP since former Justice Minister David Lametti resigned on January 31.
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Two ministers, a leader and several MPs from three federal parties passed through Montreal on Thursday to lend a hand to their candidates in the riding of LaSalle-Émard-Verdun, where the heated by-election campaign is halfway over. Le Devoir went to observe the efforts they are making to try to hold on to — or take away — this Liberal stronghold.
Before resigning as an MP, former Canadian Justice Minister David Lametti was a regular at Café Central, located a stone’s throw from the Monk metro station in Montreal, says co-owner Philippe Lisack.
The name of the current Liberal candidate, Laura Palestini, is unfamiliar to him. “I’ve never seen her, never heard of her,” says the man, who proudly wears a T-shirt representing the Ville-Émard neighbourhood. Even though he identifies as “Liberal, basically,” he has not yet decided who he will vote for in the federal by-election on September 16. He says he is ready to let himself be influenced. “In a week, people will talk to me more about it. We’ll see what they think!”
Like him, several voters interviewed by Le Devoir said they have not yet made up their minds. The New Democratic Party (NDP) and the Bloc Québécois see this as an opportunity to seize. Polls place the two parties neck and neck in voting intentions, just behind the Liberal Party (PLC), which indicates a three-way fight.
Photo: Boris Proulx Le Devoir NDP candidate Craig Sauvé with Alexandre Boulerice and leader Jagmeet Singh.
After losing in June in a Liberal stronghold, Toronto-St. Paul’s, Justin Trudeau is under intense pressure to hold on to LaSalle-Émard-Verdun, which observers call a barometer riding for his popularity in Montreal. The prime minister’s political future could even be compromised by a defeat.
NDP leader Jagmeet Singh also needs some good news. One of his seats in Manitoba is currently at stake, after one of his leading MPs, Daniel Blaikie, left to work for the provincial premier, Wab Kinew.
Singh arrived in Montreal on Thursday, for his fourth day in the riding in as many weeks of campaigning. After railing against Conservative Pierre Poilievre in front of Canadian National union workers on a picket line in Lachine, Singh stopped by the grocery store to pick up a large bag of Royal Gala apples and a jar of baby formula. “It was almost $80. That’s all it was!” ” he shouted in front of the cameras once he arrived in Verdun, reserving his best attacks for Justin Trudeau.
Photo: Boris Proulx Le Devoir Bloc Québécois candidate Louis-Philippe Sauvé was going door-to-door in Verdun on Thursday, with the help of party MP and whip Claude DeBellefeuille.
The party’s local candidate, Craig Sauvé, has set up his headquarters on Wellington Street, which is pedestrianized for the summer, in a modern, clean space with high ceilings and hardwood floors. The Montreal city councillor says he has been touring the neighbourhood since March to promote the NDP’s promise to cap the price of essential products. He calls the cost of groceries “an absolutely crucial issue here.”
“I love my job on city council, but there are limits to what you can do,” he tells Le Devoir. He wants to move to the federal level in the hope of making “structural changes in society, such as social housing.”
Photo: Boris Proulx Le Devoir Liberal candidate Laura Palestini (2nd from left) was visited by Chrystia Freeland and François-Philippe Champagne on Thursday.
The space rented by the Liberals is located nearby. It would go almost unnoticed if it weren’t for the protesters stationed outside. Registered with Elections Canada, protesters wave Palestinian flags, play music and tell passersby in English that voting for the LPC is like “voting for genocide.” “I was very loyal to the Liberals, for a long time. It’s over,” says Anna, 65, who wishes to withhold her last name.
In the absence of a coat of paint, plaster is still visible on the walls of the cramped commercial space. Even though it is already dark, an activist pulls back old blinds as best she can and places campaign signs in front of the only window to hide from view the special guests who have come to motivate the volunteers on whom the campaign is based.
To a round of applause, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance Chrystia Freeland addresses the packed room, emphasizing in French the theme of dental care, before delivering a speech without notes in the language of the Italians that praises the candidacy of a member of this community.
The main interested party and candidate for the Trudeau team, Laura Palestini, believes she has a comfortable lead over the other candidates. The former manager at the pulp and paper company Domtar is also a municipal councillor, having been elected five times to represent the citizens of LaSalle, the western part of the riding. “For me, seniors are very important. It’s a population that is sometimes fragile, that needs help and assistance. I think our programs are aligned to help seniors. I am in the right place with the Liberal team,” she says in an interview.
Contradicting the slogans chanted on the other side of the window, she assures us that she is touched by the images coming from the Gaza Strip. “To know that people are dying, it doesn’t please me at all.”
Innovation, Science and Industry Minister François-Philippe Champagne was also on hand Thursday, after spending part of the day visiting seniors’ homes with Ms. Palestiniani. “What’s fun is that people recognize her face,” he told Le Devoir.
There are a lot of anglophones in LaSalle. They tend to gravitate more naturally toward the Liberal Party. Or the NDP, second.
— Sylvie Laramée
A resident of LaSalle, Sylvie Laramée has already made her choice: she will vote for the Bloc Québécois. That said, she has little hope of seeing her riding change allegiance. “There are a lot of anglophones in LaSalle. They naturally go more towards the Liberal Party. Or the NDP, second.”
The challenge of convincing voters in such a diverse riding does not discourage Louis-Philippe Sauvé, the sovereignist party candidate in Ottawa, who says the main issue of the election is housing. He mentions having succeeded in convincing anglophones dissatisfied with Justin Trudeau during his long door-to-door sessions, which he ends at 8 p.m.
“Are there any issues that concern you??” he asks all the voters he meets in the south of the Verdun district, where he has arranged to meet with Devoir.
The 31-year-old former Bloc political staffer is accompanied by Salaberry-Suroît MP and party whip Claude DeBellefeuille, who gives him some advice along the way. As he walks, voters — nearly half of whom speak English — politely blame his party for several issues that are more the province of Quebec, such as Bill 96 on the French language. “Normally, the riding here is red with cotton, but here, we have a very close race,” he says to a motorcyclist who is dissatisfied with the development of a bike path.
The Bloc candidate received a visit the day before from Parti Québécois leader Paul St-Pierre Plamondon and former Bloc leader Gilles Duceppe. The party's current leader, Yves-François Blanchet, has, however, lowered expectations over the summer. In the 2021 election, the LPC garnered twice as many votes as its closest rival, the Bloc Québécois.
LaSalle-Émard-Verdun has always been Liberal since its creation, during the 2013 redistribution, but the old ridings that make it up were represented by the NDP after the “orange wave” of 2011. Its eastern part was also in Bloc territory from 2006 to 2011. The Conservative Party of Canada, represented by entrepreneur Louis Ialenti, did not respond to requests from Devoir. At least 62 independent candidates will also be in this race to show their opposition to the current voting system.
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