For some constituencies, the race seems to be already won, but others could be the scene of heated battles. (Photo: The Canadian Press)
Quebec elections will be held in 125 ridings. For some of them, the race seems already won, but for others, they could be the scene of heated battles. An overview of these constituencies to watch from today until the evening of October 3.
Beauce-Sud and Beauce-North
Races between the Coalition Avenir Québec (CAQ) and the Conservative Party of Quebec (PCQ) could emerge in the two ridings of Chaudière-Appalaches.
The PCQ is hoping for a breakthrough in Beauce-Sud and Beauce-Nord, while the Éric Duhaime-led party is currently second in electoral intentions in the greater Quebec area.
Unseating the outgoing CAQ MPs does not appear to be an easy task given the results of the 2018 elections. In Beauce-Nord, Luc Provençal won 66% of the vote in the 2018 elections. This time he will face Olivier Dumais in particular, the mayor of Saint-Lambert-de-Lauzon, who will wear the colors of the PCQ.
In Beauce-Sud, Samuel Poulin won this seat by collecting a majority of more than 13,000 votes. His conservative opponent will be Jonathan Poulin, a young lawyer in his thirties.
In these two constituencies, the Québec125 electoral projection places the PCQ second in electoral intentions, not far from the party of François Legault.
Bonaventure
The Parti Québécois (PQ) won this Gaspésie riding easily. But the battle could be closer than in the previous elections. According to the Quebec125 website, CAQ and PQ are closely watched in Bonaventure.
It must be said that the CAQ is benefiting from the opening with the departure of outgoing MP Sylvain Roy. After leaving the PQ as an independent in 2021, he announced this summer that he would not seek a fourth term.
It is former journalist Alexis Deschênes, now a lawyer, who this time carries the colors of the sovereign party in Bonaventure.
François Legault’s side presents Catherine Blouin, communications advisor and project manager at CISSS de la Gaspésie.
Bourget (Camille-Laurin)
PQ leader Paul St-Pierre Plamondon is in the game. He wants to enter parliament by winning this electoral district in the east of the island of Montreal, which is already considered a PQ stronghold.
Bourget, who will become Camille-Laurin after the start of the election campaign, switched to the CAQ in 2018. Richard Campeau collected a majority of 500 votes against the outgoing MP Maka Kotto. The website Quebec125 believes that the CAQ could retain the constituency represented by the “Father of Bill 101”, Camille Laurin.
Mr. St-Pierre Plamondon claimed that his choice to run for the island of Montreal, he said, was intended to send an important message from his side in the fight to protect the French language in Quebec, which passes through the metropolis. .
Chauveau
Like the PQ leader, the PCQ leader Éric Duhaime will try to enter the National Assembly. He is running in Chauveau, a riding in the Quebec region led by CAQ leader Sylvain Lévesque.
He won the seat in 2018 with a majority of more than 9,000 votes. However, a Conservative surge in the National Capital could shake that comfortable lead, depending on electoral intentions. The Québec125 site also predicts that the PCQ could follow the CAQ.
Duplessis
The Parti Québécois has held this Côte-Nord riding since 1976, but the Coalition Avenir Québec hopes to win the seat. The race was close between PQ and CAQ in October 2018.
Outgoing MP Lorraine Richard was elected by a majority of more than 125 votes. This winter, Ms. Richard announced that she was leaving politics after 19 years in the National Assembly.
The Caquists chose businesswoman Kateri Champagne-Jourdain, originally from the Innu community of Uashat Mak Mani-utenam, to rally voters. His PQ opponent is Marilou Vanier, director of the Niche of Excellence Marine Resources, Sciences and Technologies for the North Shore.
Magdalen Islands
The PQ’s Joël Arseneau was declared the winner in October 2018 by only 15 votes more than his liberal rival. CAQ finished fourth and last with almost 10% of the vote.
Four years later, the ruling party is confident of its chances of winning the constituency. To achieve this goal, the CAQ is counting on the mayor of Îles-de-la-Madeleine, Jonathan Lapierre, elected three times to head the municipality. Mr. Arseneau will try to win a second term.
Jean-Lesage
Voters will be eligible for a rematch between outgoing Quebec Solidaire (QS) MP Sol Zanetti and CAQ candidate Christiane Gamache.
Like the October 1, 2018 results, the next race could be just as close if the latest projections from Québec125 are anything to go by.
Mr. Zanetti won the Quebec riding with a majority of nearly 700 votes.
Joliette
The one who represented this constituency of Lanaudière for 14 years will not be in the ranks of the Parti Québécois again. Véronique Hivon was re-elected in 2018 by more than 4,400 votes in advance.
Will PQ be able to repeat these results on the evening of October 3rd? The Québec125 site suggests that this PQ stronghold is attacked by CAQ.
CAQ leader François St-Louis, who finished behind Ms. Hivon in the last election, will try to block the path of the PQ, represented by Véronique Venne, in hopes of keeping Joliette.
Laval-des-Rapides
Laval is one of the regions where the CAQ could make gains at the expense of the Liberals. Laval-des-Rapides, a riding located in the south of Île Jésus, is one of those that could change color on October 3rd.
Outgoing MP Saul Polo, running for the Liberal Party of Quebec (PLQ), only won a 271-vote majority over his CAQ opponent in 2018.
CAQ relies on Céline Haytayan, Manager of International Corporate Affairs at Ubisoft.
Maurice-Richard
Caquistes and Solidarity are trying to win this constituency in northeast Montreal from the PLQ. Marie Montpetit was re-elected by a majority of 530 votes four years ago. QS finished not far behind, while CAQ finished third.
The outgoing MP, who sat as an independent after being rejected by her party boss, has decided to leave the political arena.
CAQ has announced a candidate, Audrey Murray, a trained lawyer. At the head of the battle, Québec solidaire will count on Haroun Bouazzi, an employee of the Business Development Bank of Canada.
PLQ will be represented by Jonathan Marleau, director of the financial institution.
Rimouski
Harold Lebel was re-elected by a strong majority to a second term under the PQ banner in 2018. After being expelled from the party, he announced this winter that he would not run in the next election due to legal disputes over sexual assault allegations.
His departure is seen by Québec Solidaire and the CAQ as an opportunity to capture this PQ stronghold. The Québec125 site also lists Rimouski as a constituency that could switch to Caquistes.
The CAQ candidate is Maïté Blanchette Vézina, the former mayor of Sainte-Luce, while the PQ is represented by Samuel Ouellet, a former political attache to Mr. Lebel but also the owner of a local newspaper. Among solidarity groups, adult education psychopedagogue Carol-Ann Kack is back in the race after her first attempt at the last general election.
Rouyn-Noranda-Témiscamingue
Québec solidaire broke through against all odds in the Abitibi-Témiscamingue region in 2018. Outgoing MP Émilise Lessard-Therrien will try to keep Rouyn-Noranda-Témiscamingue. Solidarity won with a majority of just over 500 votes ahead of the CAQ candidate.
The town of Rouyn-Noranda, which is part of the riding, has been in the news in recent months over arsenic air emissions from the Horne Foundry. Legault’s government found itself on the defensive on the matter.
CAQ announced the candidacy of Claude Thibault at the end of July, who withdrew a few days later for personal reasons. The chosen candidate is finally Daniel Bernard, city councilor in Rouyn-Noranda and former Liberal MP from 2003 to 2007.
In the past, the PQ and Liberals alternated in Rouyn-Noranda-Témiscamingue.
Sherbrooke
Member for QS, Christine Labrie, was elected in 2018 by a majority of over 3,400 votes. This comfortable victory does not stop the CAQ from hoping to capture this constituency in the capital of Estria. François Legault’s party is also banking on a stellar candidacy to win. Former Longueuil mayor and LCN political commentator Caroline St-Hilaire will lead the battle in CAQ colours.
According to the Quebec125 website, a heated battle is shaping up between QS and CAQ.
In the last general election, the CAQ candidate finished third with almost 24% of the vote.
Verdun
François Legault does not hide his ambitions to conquer certain traditionally liberal territories in the metropolis. Verdun, a neighborhood in the west of Montreal, is one of them.
For the CAQ, city councilor Véronique Tremblay will try to unseat MP Isabelle Melançon, who won her seat in 2018 by a comfortable margin of nearly 5,600 votes.
Québec Solidaire also believes it can wrest the riding from the Liberals. It is also the president of the party, Alejandra Zaga Mendez, who will defend the colors of her formation.
Ungava
CAQ’s Denis Lamothe was elected in Ungava by a narrow margin with a majority of a few tens of votes.
Québec Solidaire would like to bring into its possession a constituency essentially covering Nord-du-Québec. The party is represented by Maïtée Labrecque-Saganash, aboriginal rights activist and daughter of former federal MP Romeo Saganash.
The Quebec Liberal Party, which finished second in 2018, chose former Kuujjuaq mayor Tuna Napartuk to rally voters.
This report was written by Frédéric Lacroix-Couture with financial assistance from Meta Exchanges and the Canadian News Press.