The battle for Outremont is in its final days as prospective MPs make their pitches to voters
The byelection for Thomas Mulcair’s old riding is on Monday.
Encompassing the Mile End and Cote-des-Neiges, it’s one of the most affluent areas in the country.
Outremont was a Liberal stronghold for decades.
Former Liberal cabinet minister and broadcaster Jean Lapierre was elected twice in the riding.
Mulcair won the seat in 2007 and was re-elected three times.
The former NDP leader was convinced that the seat would return to its Liberal roots.
Recent events in Ottawa, however, have changed his mind.
“The SNC Lavallin debacle and the perception that the Trudeau government is no longer in control of quite a few files is playing out on the doorstep,” he said.
The Liberal candidate is Rachel Bendayan, a lawyer who ran in 2015 and earned 33 percent of votes while coming in second to Mulcair.
“I try not to look at polls,” she said. “The only poll that matters to me is Monday, where voters here in Outremont will have the right to decide who will represent them in Ottawa.
The NDP candidate is Julia Sanchez.
She’s worked with humanitarian organizations and says her priority is climate change.
“What I hear when I am knocking on doors is that people are concerned about the environment,” she said. “They are starting to understand that what’s in place right now is insufficient and, therefore, they are disappointed.”
The Green Party is running Daniel Green, an environmentalist.
“It would be a revolution if Outremont would vote Green,” he said.
Meanwhile, the Conservative Party is going with youth in an effort to win the 84-year-old riding, in the form of law student Jasmine Louras.
“Young people see that we are in debt and they are worried about the repercussions later,” she said.
The newest party in Canada is going with James Seale, a veteran of the Canadian Armed Forces.
“Lowering taxes across the board for both corporate and personal,” he said when asked about his priorities.
In 2015, 44,000 Outremont residents cast ballots.
