MP Plamondon shakes up his campaign style in COVID era
Bloc rep says it's the most unusual election experience in his 37-year career
For 37 consecutive years and 11 straight federal elections, Bloc Québécois MP and current dean of the House of Commons Louis Plamondon mostly breezed through re-election campaigns by knowing his riding like the back of his hand, but also thanks to his enchanting personality that he can slather on as heavily as he needs to charm any crowd.
But this campaign isn't like his previous 11, and COVID-19 is to blame. This year, there will be no large gatherings he can crash, no door knocking, no big meet-andgreets and far less travel than usual across his sprawling centre-of-quebec riding of Bécancour–nicolet–saurel.
This year, he must jump on any small event he can find and then spend much of the rest of his campaign time working the phones and social media as well as preparing content for social media.
He does not like it one bit. “This is my first ever campaign where I am completely disarmed. You can't go door knocking, you can't shake people's hands. If you go into a small shop, no one recognizes you because you need to wear a mask. It's really disarming,” said Plamondon, 78.
Plamondon's thoughts likely echo the sentiment felt by so many other federal candidates whose strongest re-election tool — charisma mixed with a deep connection to their local community — is being neutered by the pandemic and who are now scrambling to find new ways to engage with voters.
Plamondon is the first to say that after 37 years, it takes a lot to disarm him. He was first elected in 1984 with Brian Mulroney's Progressive Conservatives, but left during the Meech Lake constitutional crisis alongside then-environment minister Lucien Bouchard to become one of the founding members of the Bloc Québécois in the early 1990s.
The only time he left the Bloc was for a few months in early 2018, when he and six other of the party's 10 MPS slammed the door on then-leader Martine Ouellet to form their own party, Québec Debout. He returned to the Bloc after Ouellet resigned seven months later, but he says that period was the worst of his entire political career.
But if the pandemic has taken a lot of the pleasure out of campaigning, it also gave him the push he needed to run again. (He insists that he's not doing it for the money, either, since he maxed out his pension contributions 21 years ago.)
Plamondon says that sitting in his house watching countless TV series when not sitting in front of a computer screen attending virtual Parliament during the pandemic lockdowns had him so bored that he saw no other option but to run for a 12th term.
“When I was forced to spend the first lockdown months from March to June (2020) at home, I swear I was hell-bent on running again because I got a taste of what it feels like to stay home,” said the man who would attend between eight and 12 events every weekend in his riding before COVID.
“I don't really have a social life outside of politics,” he said. “So during the lockdowns, I felt like I was an animal caged at the SPCA.”
To no one's surprise, Plamondon says he is a people person. He jumped into politics in 1984 with Mulroney's Progressive Conservative Party because he wanted to fight for Quebecers' rights in a troubled time for national unity, but has stayed because he's fallen in love with “his” people and their issues.
“Every time it's his turn to ask a question during question period, you can tell that he's profoundly annoyed to be there,” one senior Bloc Québécois staffer recently said with a laugh. “But when it comes to constituent and riding work, he is unparalleled.”
Plamondon says it proudly: He personally responds to every call to his riding office and every email sent to his work email.
He also aims to call 10 constituents every day, five days a week, to inquire about their needs and their well-being.
“That's 50 people per week, and roughly 2,500 people every year,” he said. “My phone number is in the phone book, so people can get a hold of me directly.”
Over the years, that riding work has been consistently noticed by voters, who have given him more than 50 per cent of the vote in nine out of his 11 elections. He came closest to losing his seat during the 2011 Orange Wave, when he won by less than three per cent over his NDP rival, becoming one of a measly four Bloc Québécois MPS until 2015.
But his parliamentary colleagues have also taken note of his work. In January, Plamondon was voted one of three MPS who best represent constituents in the latest edition of Maclean's parliamentarians of the year survey.
A morning spent following Plamondon as he campaigns in Sorel-tracy, which at 34,755 is the riding 's most populous city in an otherwise rural and agricultural territory, shows that he seemingly sheds 30 years as soon as he's surrounded by constituents (most of whom have white hair, if any left at all).
“Tomorrow I'm going to a pétanque tournament,” Plamondon said during an interview on Aug. 20, referring to a popular game among the elderly where the goal is to throw balls as close to a target ball as possible. “There will be about 100 attendees, and pétanque players are my people. Polls show that I score over 50 per cent with people over 50. That's my clientele.”
Why not focus more attention on young people?
“Young people are extremely hard to reach, even if you organize a gathering. Last election, there was a debate organized at a CEGEP. In the end, only 15 people showed up, and they were all young people whose minds were already made up.”
Plamondon's popularity among the older generation in his riding was on full display as soon as he pulled up to club registration day at Centre des aînés Au Fil des Ans. As soon as he was within eyesight of attendees and organizers at the community centre, a half-dozen people came to greet him with the usual expression: “Hey Louis!” In many cases, Plamondon was able to respond with the person's first name and an elbow bump.
“He's fundamentally loved here. I can't tell you if people vote for the Bloc or for him now,” said Pierre Masse, the centre's president.
After being cornered into playing a game of cornhole by one of the event's organizers (“You don't need to pay the $5 to play — heck, I'll pay you $5 if you want,” the man told the candidate), Plamondon eventually made his way from table to table within the centre, inquiring about every single special interest club available, from ballroom dancing to Spanish classes to courses on how to use an ipad or laptop.
“If you're interested in theatre, come sign up to our club,” organizer Christiane Dormaels told Plamondon as he walked by her table.
“Ah, but I do theatre every day in Ottawa,” Plamondon responded with a smirk.
Over the decades, Plamondon has developed a series of campaigning techniques that have all but guaranteed his re-election time after time.
One of his favourites is called the “Mcdonald's technique,” which has come particularly in handy during the pandemic, when he can't go meet people directly at their door anymore.
“It's children who drag their parents to Mcdonald's,” Plamondon said. “When you make a child happy, it pleases the parents. It's the same with artists, who are really happy when you take the time to appreciate their art.”
The strategy was on full display as he exited Sorel-tracy's Biophare museum just as a flock of children's day camp attendees was returning from lunch outside.
He immediately stopped in front of the group of 20 or so children and introduced himself.
“I am Louis Plamondon and I am your MP for the Bloc Québécois.” After a few minutes exchanging with the children, he told them: “When you get home today, tell your parents you met Louis Plamondon from the Bloc Québécois!”
Without taking his victory in this election for granted, Plamondon admits he's “very confident” in his re-election against Liberal candidate Nathalie Rochefort, Conservative candidate Yanick Caisse and NDP candidate Catherine Gauvin.
But the questions on many of his constituents' lips — and surely his opponents' — is when he will finally retire.
“Joe Biden is also 78 years old and he can run the United States. Surely I should be able to run a riding, then,” he said at first.
“I'll run again in the next election if I still have energy,” he added. “But at my age, I know I'm on the extended warranty now.”
I don't really have a social life outside of politics. So during the lockdowns, I felt like I was an animal caged at the SPCA.