Opposition parties lick their wounds after failing to beat CAQ in byelection

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QUEBEC — Liberal Leader Dominique Anglade Tuesday shouldered part of the blame for her party’s dismal performance on Monday’s byelection in Marie-Victorin, saying her message is not getting through and many Liberals simply sat out the vote.

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And while Québec solidaire blamed its third-place finish on the fact its traditional youth vote did not turn out, the Parti Québécois argued its second place result was excellent even though the party lost a riding it has held since 1985.

“There is no question in our mind that this was a disappointing result,” Anglade told reporters. “I think a lot of the Liberals stayed home and they stayed home because they were not hearing enough Liberal voices on a number of issues.

“We didn’t have a chance to talk about the economy and what it means to be Liberal in the 21st century. I’ve heard the message loud and clear. I heard it in the fact they didn’t vote, but that’s also the message that they’re sending us.”

In Monday’s byelection in the South Shore riding, which Coalition Avenir Québec candidate Shirley Dorismond won with 34.95 per cent of votes, the Liberals placed fifth. Its share of the vote dropped from 15.21 per cent in the 2018 general election to 6.93 per cent.

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With a score that low, Liberal candidate Émilie Nollet will not qualify for a refund of her election costs from Élections Québec.

Since taking over the leadership of the Liberals, Anglade has tried to shift the party, which was traditionally the party of the economy, more to the left of center and onto to a greener ecological plain. She has proposed nationalizing hydrogen development, for example.

Party veterans, however, have been uncomfortable with the shift and it showed up Monday.

“Shifting things like we are can take a certain amount of time,” Anglade said. “It’s not easy and I never said such a shift would be easy. There is a message we need to better communicate. I say this humbly that my message has not been sufficiently heard.”

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She added that doing politics and selling ideas during a pandemic when the dominant daily issues are health-related, also did not help her sell the new program.

The loss adds to the Liberals’ other big problem, the drop of support with minority voters upset with the party’s handling of the language issue.

Placing third on Monday was Québec solidaire candidate Shophika Vaithyanathasarma with 14.21 per cent of the vote. QS also saw its share of the vote in the riding drop. In 2018, it bagged 21.67 per cent of votes.

Explaining the results, QS co-spokesperson Gabriel Nadeau-Dubois said the party’s traditional youth and student vote did not turn out as they did in 2018.

Finishing second Monday was PQ candidate Pierre Nantel, who managed 30.07 per cent of the vote in what had been considered a PQ stronghold riding. In 2018, it voted PQ. This time the PQ lost the riding by 795 votes, which was closer than expected.

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Meeting the media, PQ leader Paul St-Pierre Plamondon insisted the score was not bad news for his party because the result shows the PQ was nipping at the heels of the CAQ and that augers well for the failed general election.

“It shows only one party can beat the CAQ and it’s ours,” St-Pierre Plamondon said. “We are in a position to do it so this is an excellent result.”

The big surprise Monday, however, was how well the newly formed Quebec Conservative Party led by Eric Duhaime performed. In the most unlikely of ridings for the party, candidate Anne Casabonne managed to place fourth, ahead of the Liberals.

The party ended up with 10.4 per cent of the vote.

Former PQ MNA Martine Ouellet finished sixth with a mere 1.9 per cent of the vote.

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