Bloc says byelection win has ‘created a bridge’ between party, city and province

Article content

The Bloc Québécois’s byelection win in Montreal has built a bridge between the party, people living in the city and the rest of Quebec, leader Yves-François Blanchet said on Tuesday.

Meanwhile, experts warn the Bloc’s narrow victory deals another major blow to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, who has lost a second Liberal stronghold in less than three months.

Article content

Speaking next to the Bloc’s newly elected candidate in the LaSalle — Émard — Verdun riding, Louis-Philippe Sauvé, Blanchet stressed the importance of picking up an additional seat on the island, for a total of two.

“We’ve created a bridge,” Blanchet said, “a zone of convergence with Quebecers on the island of Montreal, who are as much Quebecers as those in Drummondville, Chicoutimi or the Gaspé.”

Blanchet added he sees the win as an opportunity for English-speaking Quebecers to get a fresh look at the party and what it’s offering.

“And I would dream of some of them saying, ‘This idea of a country is not such a bad idea. Let’s discuss this,’” he said.

Article content

Article content

Voters went to the polls Monday for what turned out to be an especially tight race, with the Bloc’s Sauvé narrowly defeating the Liberal and New Democratic Party candidates.

Elections Canada said Tuesday the Bloc won the seat 248 votes ahead of the Liberals. Voter turnout was just under 40 per cent.

Blanchet acknowledged the Bloc winning the byelection would have seemed nearly impossible only months ago, but credited Sauvé’s grassroots campaign for the victory.

Sauvé, who said he remained cautiously optimistic throughout the campaign, described Monday night as an emotional roller-coaster as he waited for results to trickle in.

He listed such issues as affordable housing, better pensions for seniors and Quebec independence as his priorities.

Asked about the narrow victory and the people who didn’t vote for him, Sauvé said he’s ready to serve everyone.

“I’m going to work for those who voted for me and those who voted against me alike,” he said. “That’s what representing people is all about.”

The riding, which covers part of LaSalle, the neighbourhoods of Ville-Émard and Côte-St-Paul, and all of Verdun except Nuns’ Island, was represented by the Liberals’ David Lametti from its inception in 2015 until his resignation in early 2024.

Article content

The Liberals’ loss of the riding to the Bloc comes only three months after the party lost a Toronto-area riding it had held for more than three decades.

“Obviously, it would have been nicer to be able to win and hold (the Montreal riding), but there’s more work to do and we’re going to stay focused on doing it,” Trudeau told reporters in Ottawa Tuesday.

When asked what went wrong for his party, Trudeau answered: “I think there’s all sorts of reflections to take on that.”

In an interview Tuesday, Richard Bisaillon, a senior lecturer in political science at Concordia University, said he feels the outcome is “definitely a message” to Trudeau and the Liberals.

“There was hardly any difference between the top three, and that shows you the riding itself was clearly divided and wanted an option other than the Liberals,” Bisaillon said, “because if you take the first and third finishers, you have twice the votes the Liberals got.”

Given the Liberals’ declining popularity in polls, Bisaillon said he would not be surprised if the Bloc managed to pick up more seats on the island during the next election, especially in working-class francophone ridings.

Article content

“I see this as a distinct possibility,” he said.

McGill University political scientist Daniel Béland agreed the Liberals should be “very concerned” by the outcome.

“Negative signs are adding up,” Béland wrote in an email response, mentioning the previous byelection loss and recent public opinion polls. “And (Monday’s) byelection performance points in the same (bad) direction of the Liberals.”

As for the Bloc carrying the momentum into the next federal election, Béland said the win is “excellent news” for the party but what comes next remains to be seen.

“Not only did they win the seat, but they significantly increased their vote share compared to previous elections in that riding,” he said.

“However, this was a three-way race and the Bloc candidate still got only about 28 per cent of the votes,” he added. “So it’s hard to say what this byelection victory means for the party overall.”

On Wellington St. in Verdun on Tuesday, Bloc voters who spoke to The Gazette welcomed the outcome, saying they felt ready for a change after years under the Liberals.

“Everywhere I’ve lived has always been won by the Liberals, so it felt like I was voting for nothing for 25 years,” said longtime Bloc voter Marie-Christine Sarda, who has lived in the riding for six years.

Article content

“This is the first time I vote for a winning candidate,” she added.

Bernard Forget, for his part, said he wasn’t happy with what the Liberals accomplished in their last mandate and was looking for an alternative.

“The Bloc Québécois is there to defend Quebec,” said Forget, 79. “I’m aware they’ll never be able to take power, but they get my vote if they can defend our values in Ottawa.”

With files from The Canadian Press.

jfeith@postmedia.com

Article content

Article content