Local CAQ candidates on the hustings
Angela Rapoport, the Coalition Avenir Québec candidate for Nelligan, is hoping West Island voters will give the CAQ some consideration in the Oct. 1 provincial election.
Although West Island ridings have traditionally voted Liberal in provincial elections, Rapoport said the CAQ offers voters an alternative to the Liberals and Parti Québécois, two parties that have dominated Quebec’s political landscape for nearly half a century.
Rapoport will face a stiff challenge from Liberal candidate Monsef Derraji, who is replacing outgoing Liberal cabinet member Martin Coiteux.
Coiteux was elected in 2014 with 80 per cent of the vote in Nelligan (which includes Kirkland, Pierre- fonds and Île-Bizard). He served as the minister of public security and municipal affairs in Premier Philippe Couillard’s cabinet, but chose to not seek re-election.
With the CAQ leading in provincewide polls, Rapoport, a newcomer to politics, said voters seem open to an alternative this time around.
“The citizens are saying we need a change,” said Rapoport, whose professional background is in financial services.
Rapoport, who holds an MBA from McGill University and speaks English, French and Italian, said she is a former Liberal supporter who would like to see politics change in Quebec.
“Before there was no alternative for the anglos and some of the other allophones or the French.
“Now there is a good alternative. I have to say I was Liberal most of my life and that’s why I’m joining this team because it promises to make Quebec stronger within Canada and not to hold a referendum.”
She also thinks CAQ leader François Legault will make a good premier.
“I like him as a leader and I think he will get things done.
“I’m extremely comfortable with the CAQ,” she added. “I’m a person of conviction and if I don’t believe in something or a cause, I will not even go there.”
Although Rapoport does not live in the riding, she does not think it will hurt her chances of being elected on Oct 1.
“I have family and friends who do,” said the Hampstead resident. “I’m familiar with the area ... and I’ve been going around the riding and meeting people and introducing myself.”
Key issues with local voters are transportation, the spring floods of 2017, and concerns of the elderly, she said. She thinks Legault has distanced himself from his past as a PQ minister and sovereigntist.
“At this point, most people are very familiar with the CAQ and François Legault,” she said.
“My feeling and the reaction that I got from the population is that it’s time for a change.”
The CAQ has also named its candidates for the other West Island ridings, which were all won by the Liberals in 2014.
Laura Azéroual will run against Liberal Finance Minister Carlos Leitão in Robert-Baldwin (Dollard-desOrmeaux) riding, while Karen Hilchey will face an uphill battle in Jacques-Cartier against Greg Kelley, son of outgoing and longtime MNA Geoff Kelley.
Hilchey is a former ministerial assistant of Geoff Kelley.
In Marquette (Dorval and Lachine), the CAQ candidate Marc Hétu will duke it out with Liberal newcomer Enrico Ciccone, who replaced veteran MNA François Ouimet, ousted by his party last month.