When Gilles Duceppe announced he was coming back as head of the Bloc Quebecois, it also meant he’d have to try and re-win hearts and minds in his old riding of Laurier-Sainte-Marie.
But the riding is anything but a sure win for Duceppe.
“It’s hard to come back again,” said Bruce Hicks, a professor at Concordia University. “When he was defeated and left the Bloc, he was still considered a bit of a star candidate. When he came back this time, everybody thought it was going to be a huge resurgence of the Bloc, but it didn’t happen.”
The race is expected to be tight between the Liberals, NDP and Bloc, with the Conservatives not playing much of a factor. In 2011, the NDP’s Helene Laverdiere won by more than 5,000 votes, ending the Bloc’s two-decade-long reign in Laurier-Sainte-Marie.
“I’ve been trying to do my job as well as I could for the last four years,” said Laverdiere. “People tell me that they are satisfied with what I’ve done on their behalf.”
Meanwhile, Liberal candidate Christine Poirier said she has been putting in the footwork necessary to win the riding.
“I’ve been a candidate since May, May 2014,” she said. “Knocking on doors, we’re keeping on working hard until the very last hour.”
“The Liberals are having a bit of a surge even in Quebec and if people are trying to strategically vote, they look at national polls,” said Hicks. “You think, ‘Oh, the Liberals are the best option,’ and that could considerably cut into the NDP and give Duceppe a chance to win his seat back.”
