Liberals manage to hold steady in city’s west end
But major upset as Québec solidaire takes Laurier-Dorion, a former stronghold
Most ridings in central Montreal and the city’s west end remained in Liberal hands Monday night despite surprisingly vigorous challenges by the left-leaning Québec solidaire and right-of-centre Coalition Avenir Québec.
But in a major upset, threetime Québec solidaire candidate and anti-poverty activist Andrés Fontecilla was declared winner in Laurier-Dorion riding in ParkExtension and Villeray. The Liberals had nominated political newcomer George Tsantrizos to run in their former stronghold.
In contrast, in the mostly anglophone riding of D’Arcy-McGee, where more than 92 per cent of electors voted Liberal in the 2014 election (the highest rate in the province), incumbent David Birnbaum was re-elected handily.
“I’m really gratified to be given the honour of representing D’ArcyMcGee again,” a glum-sounding Birnbaum said at 9:30 p.m. “This is a wonderfully diverse community that’s very demanding. They expect a lot from their MNA, and I hope to continue to deliver.”
Birnbaum, the former directorgeneral of the Quebec English School Boards Association, sought during the campaign to distinguish what he called the Liberal government’s promotion of an “open and inclusive society” from the CAQ’s promise to cut immigration to the province. Birnbaum pointed to the Pavilion K expansion of the Jewish General Hospital and the reaffirmation of “the essential place of school boards in delivering public education, particularly to Englishspeaking Quebecers” as two of his proudest accomplishments in D’Arcy-McGee in the past four years.
Historically, the ridings of central and west end Montreal have remained staunchly Liberal for decades (with the exception of the 1989 election, when voters in D’Arcy-McGee and Westmount– Saint-Louis cast ballots for the English-rights Equality Party). This time around, a resurgent Quebec economy and falling unemployment should have left little doubt that those same ridings would remain Liberal.
Yet many west end voters were disgruntled with the Liberals, largely because of the government’s handling of health care and funding cuts to hospitals like the McGill University Health Centre. The CAQ saw an opening to make gains in Montreal, vowing to slash parking rates at the MUHC.
Ultimately, however, voters in those ridings, save for LaurierDorion, decided to stick with the Liberals.
In largely middle-class NotreDame-de- Grâce, incumbent Kathleen Weil won re-election easily, with Québec solidaire candidate Kathleen Gudmundsson trailing a distance second.
“I’m very honoured that the citizens of N.D.G. and Montreal West elected me to a fourth mandate,” Weil said. “As for the (provincewide) results of this evening, obviously Quebecers opted for change. But as Philippe Couillard said this evening, our government can be proud of our accomplishments. Quebec is in a much stronger position than what it was when we took office four years ago.”
A lawyer by profession who had most recently served as minister responsible for English-speaking Quebecers, Weil campaigned on a record of funding for school renovations as well as the opening of the MUHC superhospital in 2015.
In other ridings, Liberals Hélène David and Pierre Arcand were reelected in Marguerite-Bourgeoys and the newly-configured riding of Mont-Royal–Outremont, respectively. In Saint-Henri– SainteAnne, Liberal Dominique Anglade was re-elected after winning a 2015 byelection; and in Verdun, Liberal Isabelle Melançon was also re-elected after a 2016 byelection victory. Among the first-time Liberal candidates were Marwah Rizqy in Saint-Laurent and Jennifer Maccarone in Westmount– Saint-Louis, both of whom won.