Québec solidaire on final blitz to get the vote out in Montreal ridings

Québec solidaire’s Gabriel Nadeau-Dubois was in Montreal Saturday for a blitz of local ridings where QS candidates are considered to have a fighting chance of pulling off a victory in Monday’s election.

Starting in Montreal’s Sud-Ouest borough, where polls have suggested immigration lawyer Guillaume Cliche-Rivard is nipping at the heels of Liberal leader Dominique Anglade in her riding of Saint-Henri—Sainte-Anne, Nadeau-Dubois also issued an appeal to undecided voters to give his party a chance.

Nadeau-Dubois and Cliche-Rivard marched briskly through the Ville-Émard neighbourhood, jogging up and down the many outdoor staircases to hang reminder cards on the doorknobs of certain voters who had already indicated to party volunteers that they were likely to vote QS.

While some passersby looked mystified by Nadeau-Dubois and his entourage, others called out “Salut Gabriel!” and “I’m going to vote for you!”

“Yes sir!” Nadeau-Dubois answered enthusiastically. “We need you! Don’t forget to vote on Monday!”

In a statement Saturday, Nadeau-Dubois once again appealed to Quebecers to have a “big chat between generations” about the future and to consider climate change and eldercare.

“In Quebec right now, there are two generations who are worried about the future. There is the climate generation worried about what is coming and the generation that built Quebec and that is afraid of ending up in a CHSLD (longterm care facility). We have to talk about how we can work together to make an intergenerational alliance to build a Quebec where nobody fears getting old and where everyone has confidence in the future. This is the project of Québec solidaire,” he said.

Cliche-Rivard said those who are concerned with minority-language rights or minority rights in general have no reason to fear Québec solidaire. Au contraire, he said.

“I am an immigration lawyer, so I have fought for inclusion all my life, and that is what I will continue to do,” Cliche-Rivard told the Montreal Gazette Saturday. “I defend the rights of everyone. I think we have the most inclusive proposals possible. I want everyone to feel welcome in the Québec solidaire project and I will work hard to make that the case.”

Nadeau-Dubois continues to say he is in this race to win, but he hints that he accepts what the polls have been saying from the beginning, that his party’s best hope is for official opposition status. On Saturday he told voters they don’t have to agree with every plank of the QS platform to vote for his party, but should ask themselves, “Who would be the best team to stop François Legault? Who is the best team to hound François Legault about the issues that are his biggest weaknesses; housing and the environment? I think Quebecers know who that team is; it is Québec solidaire.”

The QS campaign was heading to the Montreal-area ridings of Maurice-Richard and Viau Saturday afternoon.

This story will be updated.

mlalonde@postmedia.com

1. Liberal leader Dominique Anglade faces a tight race in her home riding of Saint-Henri–Sainte-Anne

2. Gabriel Nadeau-Dubois says youth and elders should vote with their futures in mind

3. Québec solidaire pushes for higher immigration levels to bring reinforcement to short-staffed regions

4. Full coverage of Quebec election campaign