Quebec Liberals 'very confident' of winning upcoming Montreal by-election

LAC-BEAUPORT, Que. -

The Quebec Liberal Party (QLP) is denying that it is being outdone by Quebec Solidaire (QS) in the upcoming by-election in Saint-Henri--Sainte-Anne to replace former Liberal leader Dominique Anglade.

Upon his arrival Tuesday at the pre-sessional caucus of his political party in Lac-Beauport, Que., the interim leader of the QLP, Marc Tanguay, assured that 'several candidates' are currently 'under analysis'.

He said he was "very confident" of the victory of the Liberals in this riding, focusing on the record of Dominique Anglade, who was MNA for Saint-Henri--Sainte-Anne for seven years, between 2015 and 2022.

In the last election, Anglade won 36.15 per cent of the vote, compared to 27.72 per cent for QS, 17.73 per cent for the Coalition avenir Québec (CAQ) and 8.27 per cent for the Parti québécois (PQ).

QS said it will wage a fierce battle to get its candidate, lawyer Guillaume Cliche-Rivard, elected, and he has already begun campaigning, although the date of the election has not yet been set.

In a press scrum, Tanguay shot an arrow at Gabriel Nadeau-Dubois' party, accusing it of holding a "double discourse" on the defence of rights and freedoms.

QS voted in favour of the CAQ's Bill 96 to strengthen the protection of French, he said.

To protect it from legal challenges, the CAQ government included a notwithstanding clause, which applies to the entire law, as was the case with Quebec's secularism law, Bill 21.

"François Legault's use [of the notwithstanding clause] is excessive and unreasonable," said Tanguay.

The Liberal leader also sees a good eye on the approach of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, who is thinking of going to the Supreme Court to further regulate the use of the notwithstanding clause.

"If the debate does not take place, you put the lid on the pot and you say to Quebecers: 'You have no more rights'," Tanguay said. "I don't want to live in a Quebec without a charter [of rights and freedoms]."

CAQ IS A GOVERNMENT 'OF FAILURES,' SAY LIBERALS 

The three-day Liberal caucus in Lac-Beauport serves to prepare the next parliamentary session. The National Assembly resumes sitting on Jan. 31.

The 19 Liberal MNAs intend to focus their opposition work on the three "Es": the economy, environment and energy, as well as on the essential missions of the province.

"Legault says this is a government of results. It's not true; it's a government of failures when you look at what's happening in health, justice, child care," said Tanguay.

The "fighting" between Justice Minister Simon Jolin-Barrette and Quebec Court Chief Justice Lucie Rondeau is particularly problematic, he said.

Unable to agree on the judges' work schedule, they recently called in a facilitator.

"It's time for this to end. Honestly, it's a bad TV show. The public, the litigants, waiting for terrible delays ... these are human tragedies," he said.

'SIMPLIFYING' THE MESSAGE

When asked about the Liberals' own underperformance in the last election, Tanguay said that the MNAs had resolved to "simplify the message."

The "eco" project proposed during the election campaign, "which is a 2050 vision, on the long term, it was very difficult to translate it into a few seconds or a few minutes," he added.

To win back Quebecers, especially those in the regions, "you have to be able, yes, to come up with a well-thought-out proposal, but you have to be able to explain it."

"This will have been a challenge during the last campaign,' he added in a press briefing.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published in French on Jan. 24, 2023.