Photo: Valérian Mazataud Le Devoir The leader of the NDP, Jagmeet Singh (left), and the party candidate in LaSalle-Émard-Verdun installed an election poster on Monday in preparation for the federal by-election that will be held in September in the riding.
Pierre-Étienne Genest
Published yesterday at 5:10 p.m.
- Canada
New Democratic Party (NDP) leader Jagmeet Singh came Monday to launch his party's campaign in the riding of LaSalle-Émard-Verdun, positioning himself as the protector of citizens in the face of the “greed” of big business. The by-election, called Sunday, will take place on September 16.
“Big corporations are ripping people off and we have to stop that,” said the NDP leader, who claims to be the only party proposing concrete measures to combat the rising cost of living. He recalled that in June he had introduced a bill to cap the price of basic foods in grocery stores and that all the other parties had voted against it.
Voters “are looking for change,” said NDP candidate Craig Sauvé. “We are the change for them.” The current city councillor for the Sud-Ouest borough, a position he has held since 2013, appeared before the media alongside his leader. He then accompanied him to put up signs and meet voters walking down Wellington Street on this hot summer day.
“I'm really confident that we're going to win this election,” Sauvé said.
The 338Canada model predicts a three-way race between Craig Sauvé, Louis-Philippe Sauvé of the Bloc Québécois, and Laura Palestini of the Liberal Party of Canada. The latter, whose candidacy was imposed by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, would have a 6% lead in voting intentions, which is still within the statistical margin of error.
200% Deposit Bonus up to €3,000 180% First Deposit Bonus up to $20,000Mr. Singh wants to use this by-election as an opportunity to “send a clear message directly to Justin Trudeau.” According to him, the Liberals must stop taking the vote of the electors of LaSalle-Émard-Verdun for granted, the party in power having “done nothing” for Quebecers.
The federal riding located southwest of downtown Montreal was left vacant following the resignation of David Lametti on January 31, after the former Minister of Justice was excluded from the cabinet during the cabinet reshuffle. last year.
Considered a liberal castle, it has been held by the Liberal Party since the redistribution of the electoral map of 2013, which saw its birth . The resigning MP easily won in the last election, in 2021, with 42.9% of the votes, far ahead of the Bloc Québécois (22.1%) and NDP (19.4%) candidates.
Right start to campaign
At his nomination meeting, Mr. Sauvé promised to run “a big campaign” and “go all out.” He says he has an “extraordinary team” that has been knocking on doors with him for the past four months.
Le Devoir was able to see the omnipresence of party signs, already installed after only 24 hours of campaigning and dressing most of the street lamps on Wellington Street in orange. They read slogans such as “truly affordable housing” and “free health care from head to toe.”
“We are here for you. We showed it in Ottawa with [concrete] examples and we have a candidate who has a strong record, [who] is there for the people, to defend the people of [this district],” said Mr. Singh, who promised to return frequently to the district to support his candidate between now and mid-September.
When the two politicians met them in the street, Sylvain Desrochers, a citizen of the riding, assured them that he would vote for the NDP. “He [Craig Sauvé] seems to be there for the people,” he noted. “Right now, in fact, he’s the only one we see in the riding.”
Mr. Sauvé says that the people he meets understand that the NDP would be a real alternative to Ottawa and that the party would be ready to fight for them. He senses “a wind of change blowing very strongly,” he concluded optimistically.