Federal first-timer tries to tell it like it is

Lalonde, who captured the Orléans riding decisively for Grits, inspired by Chrétien’s frank demeanour, Taylor Blewett reports.

There’s something about Marie.

Despite being the only new face on the national capital region’s slate of Liberal candidates, Marie-France Lalonde took the largest vote share of them all. That’s no small feat when the group includes a cabinet minister and some of the country’s safest Liberal seats.

Lalonde, meanwhile, ran in a riding that’s flip-flopped between the Liberals and the Conservatives and had only one month plus a day as the nominated Liberal candidate to convince Orléans residents that she deserved their vote.

Evidently, they decided she did — 54.3 per cent of it, nearly twice that of the runner-up, Conservative David Bertschi. She said you’ll have to ask the voters to explain why they backed her so decisively, but an interview with the Citizen did offer some indication.

Lalonde confesses that red has always been her favourite colour. Hence the ruby fingernails and the Senators sweater and her younger self’s dream of getting married in a crimson wedding gown. She’s a dyed-in-the-wool Liberal.

It’s partially a familial trait — her paternal grandfather was an organizer for the Grits in tiny Curran,

Ont. It’s also a matter of geography. While Lalonde, 48, was born in Ottawa, she was raised in Gatineau and came of age in a tumultuous political era for the province.

“When you grew up in Gatineau back in the day, you were either a Péquiste, which was for the separation, or a Liberal, which was for Canadian unity,” she said. “I believe in a united Canada.”

This was the backdrop from which her partisan identity and her interest in politics grew. She considers fellow francophone federalist and former Liberal prime minister Jean Chrétien a great inspiration. “I believe that in politics sometimes, it’s better to just say it. People will understand if you’re frank and candid and transparent with them and you explain the reason why certain decisions are made. And I felt that Mr. Chrétien was one of those politicians,” Lalonde said.

While her political aspirations had existed since she was a teen, she wanted real-life experience before throwing her hat into the ring. So it was only after years as a social worker, businesswoman and mother that she decided to stand for the Ontario Liberal nomination in Orléans. Incumbent Phil

McNeely wasn’t going to run in the 2014 election. As her Ontario Liberal colleague Madeleine Meilleur once said, “Sometimes in politics, Marie-France, it’s about timing.”

The same message was top of mind for Lalonde last spring, when federal Liberal Andrew Leslie announced he wasn’t going to run for re-election in Orléans. By that time, Lalonde was just shy of a year into her second term as the riding ’s MPP and one of only seven Liberals left at Queen’s Park after Doug Ford’s Progressive Conservatives were victorious in the 2018 provincial election, decimating the party led by Kathleen Wynne.

Lalonde accomplished some big things in her provincial tenure — introducing a private member’s bill as a rookie, an appointment to chief government whip and then a number of cabinet portfolios: government and consumer services, francophone affairs and community safety and correctional services. Her riding saw schools built and funding secured to extend LRT into Orléans.

“People saw that I could work with others,” said Lalonde. “For me, it’s always been about Orléans.”

After months of signing up Liberals and waiting for the nomination to open, Lalonde became the federal Liberal candidate in Orléans. The win wasn’t without controversy — supporters of another nomination contestant alleged the process was rigged by the party to advantage Lalonde, seen as their best chance to keep the seat red.

While she agrees her name recognition in the riding made her a competitive candidate, Lalonde said her team did everything according to the rule book and she never felt she was favoured by the party in any way.

After close to 400,000 steps — she has a tracker — and thousands of doorstep conversations over the last month, Lalonde has compiled a list of constituency priorities for the government’s coming mandate. “I’m a patient person and I’m determined,” Lalonde said. “Mr. Chrétien taught me don’t false promise. You do what you can, you work hard at it and be honest and upfront with your electorate.”

I believe that in politics sometimes, it’s better to just say it. People will understand if you’re frank and candid and transparent with them.

MARIE-FRaNCE LALONDE