Day 30: Fiona attracts party leaders to the Magdalen Islands

Jocelyne Richer, The Canadian Press

QUEBEC CITY — Storm Fiona, which left behind scenes of devastation in the Îles-de-la-Madeleine and Gaspésie, also had an impact on the election campaign on Monday, upsetting the schedules of the chiefs.

The leader of the Parti Québécois (PQ), Paul St-Pierre Plamondon, went to the Magdalen Islands on Monday morning to see the damage and provide support to those affected, and the leader of the Coalition avenir Quebec (CAQ), François Legault, had to do the same in the afternoon. The leader of the Liberal Party of Quebec (PLQ), Dominique Anglade, should also go there during the week, the last of this campaign which will end on October 3.

The PQ leader has one more reason to go there: the riding of Îles-de-la-Madeleine is one of those belonging to the Parti Québécois, represented by Joël Arseneau, who narrowly won with 15 majority in 2018. This time, Mr. Arseneau will face his eternal rival, the mayor of the Îles-de-la-Madelaine, Jonathan Lapierre, who wears the colors of the CAQ.

In a scrum, the PQ leader stressed the importance of “listing the follow-ups” necessary to ensure that the affected Madelinots will be compensated quickly.

The leader of the Conservative Party of Quebec (PCQ), Éric Duhaime, preferred to make a press briefing on a dozen broken election promises from the Legault government during his first term.

As Dominique Anglade and Paul St-Pierre Plamondon did before him, Mr. Duhaime showed his concern at the prospect of seeing François Legault obtain an overwhelming majority on the evening of October 3, leaving crumbs for the opposition parties, a scenario relayed poll after poll.

If ever Mr. Legault obtained an even larger majority than in 2018, we should expect to see even more broken electoral promises, according to him. « It would be something quite indecent, thank you, » he said, believing that the CAQ government had « broken the main commitments made to the people » during its first term.

Mr. Duhaime, anxious to promote a high turnout, said he hoped that the portrait of the new National Assembly that will emanate from the October 3 election will be “the most representative of the will of Quebecers” and not a portrait that “ distorts the democratic reality of Quebec ».

According to various polls, the strength of the CAQ is such that the current voting system could ensure that the PCQ does not succeed in electing a single deputy, even if it obtains approximately 15% of the popular vote.

The Liberal leader was in Montreal on Monday morning to announce that a possible Anglade government would invest $4 billion in schools, to renovate them, build new ones and ensure the quality of the air present in these establishments.

The Liberals would also be better prepared to face a possible economic recession than the CAQ, according to Ms. Anglade.

The Liberal leader believes that her party is better able to anticipate upheavals in the economy than the CAQ and that its measures are better suited because they are recurrent.

Member of Parliament for Saint-Henri-Sainte-Anne, Ms. Anglade is not sure of being re-elected on October 3, if we trust the polls. Québec solidaire spokesperson Gabriel Nadeau-Dubois will campaign on Monday in Saint-Henri-Sainte-Anne, where he believes that QS will have a good chance of winning and dethroning the Liberal leader.