PQ clings to Richelieu as CAQ gains ground
Liberals place third, but Couillard insists balanced budget popular
The Parti Québécois clung to the riding of Richelieu in a Monday byelection, but with a smaller victory than in the past.
With 152 out of 152 polls reporting, PQ candidate Sylvain Rochon beat his closest opponent, Jean-Bernard Émond, a candidate for the Coalition Avenir Québec, who nevertheless made gains in what is a traditional PQ stronghold.
The CAQ will be able to call it an honourable loss.
“There is no more PQ fortress in Richelieu,” a beaming CAQ Leader François Legault told his troops late in the evening as the CAQ’s inroads materialized.
While the PQ argued its win is an anti- austerity message for the Liberals, the slip in its share of the vote will be another reminder the party has not yet found a way back into the hearts of voters who turfed them from power a year ago in April.
In the 2014 general election, the PQ won Richelieu with 39 per cent of the vote, compared with 27 per cent for the CAQ.
On Monday, the PQ’s share of the vote had slipped to 36 per cent ( 7,294 votes), while the CAQ’s share rose to 32.48 per cent ( 6,584 votes).
It is the third time the CAQ has placed second in the riding.
Rochon, a former journalist and political aide, won with a 710- vote majority.
“My voice will be your voice ( in Quebec City),” Rochon said in a victory speech.
And the result is bad news for the Liberals, who placed third for the second time in a row in the predominantly francophone riding on the South Shore. Liberal candidate Benoît Théroux bagged only 24 per cent of the vote.
On hand to watch the results roll in, Liberal Premier Philippe Couillard took issue with the PQ, despite his party’s dismal showing.
“A solid majority of the population believes public finances need to be balanced,” Couillard said in his speech.
“And, as we said in the last campaign, we need to look after the real issues instead of pushing people again to a referendum.
“If there’s a party which lost tonight, it’s the PQ.”
The election was called to re- place former PQ cabinet minister Élaine Zakaïb, who resigned her seat Sept. 29 to return to the private sector.
A Parti Québécois stronghold — the party has held the riding since 1994 — the vote was nevertheless seen as a test for the struggling PQ, which remains embroiled in a leadership race to replace Pauline Marois.
The CAQ had hoped to add Richelieu to its stable as a way of proving it is a credible choice for voters fed up with the PQ and Liberals.
In the 2014 general election, the CAQ won the neighbouring ridings of Borduas, Johnson and StHyacinthe.
When the byelection was called, party standings in the legislature were 69 seats for the Liberals, 29 for the PQ, 22 for the CAQ and three for Québec solidaire. Two seats were vacant.