Politics

As Quebec’s Legault expands his majority, Montrealers choose opposition parties

Published

2 years ago

October 5, 2022

MONTREAL — After Monday night’s provincial election results, Montreal shows up on Quebec’s election map as a small red-and-orange island in a sea of light blue.

The blue represents François Legault’s Coalition Avenir Québec, which surged to a 90-seat majority in the 125-seat legislature. But as ridings around the province fell to Legault’s centre-right party, Montreal voters largely stuck to the Opposition Quebec Liberals and to left-wing Québec solidaire — the red and orange on the map.

And with the size of the provincial opposition reduced, one political expert suggests it could be Quebec’s new generation of progressive mayors who will be Legault’s true ideological “counterweight.”

As it did four years ago, Legault’s party won with only two ridings on the Island of Montreal. The CAQ picked up one new riding on the island’s east end but lost another to Paul St-Pierre Plamondon, leader of the Parti Québécois.

Montreal Mayor Valérie Plante on Tuesday rejected the suggestion that the city is more politically isolated than ever, or that she intends to oppose the premier. She insisted that her left-wing municipal party — known for its environmental agenda and advocacy for affordable housing and for public transit — works just fine with Legault, whose base is located in the city’s suburbs and who has made a major Quebec City transport link one of his signature promises.

“In the last term, a lot of people said it will never work, the CAQ and Projet Montréal,” she said Tuesday, in reference to her party. “Well, it works, and it works because we want solutions, because we’re pragmatic.”

She said that in the past four years, her administration has partnered with Legault’s government to advance important files, including a major public transit project in the city’s east end.

She also pointed out that all four parties that won seats in the legislature are represented on the island and that three of the four leaders — Liberal Leader Dominique Anglade, Québec solidaire spokesman Gabriel Nadeau-Dubois, and the PQ’s St-Pierre Plamondon — represent Montreal ridings. Several other newly elected legislature members have worked alongside the city in their past professional roles, she added.

Despite Plante’s optimism, a glance at the map reveals the political gap between Montreal and the rest of the province.

One expert said that gap can be explained by demographics. Danielle Pilette, an associate professor of strategy, social responsibility and environment at Université du Québec à Montréal, says Montrealers are younger, more educated, and more racially and linguistically diverse than Quebecers in the rest of the province.

“Montreal is aging much more slowly than its suburbs, and CAQ electors are in large part baby boomers,” she said.

Montrealers are less likely than other Quebecers to support legislation Legault brought in that strengthens French language laws and bans some civil servants from wearing religious symbols on the job. They’re also more likely to have arrived to the province as a result of immigration — a topic that was contentious throughout the campaign.

Coalition Avenir Québec candidate Jean Boulet — the incumbent immigration minister — recently drew fire for saying that 80 per cent of the province’s immigrants go to Montreal and don’t work or speak French. Legault denounced the comments and said Boulet was “disqualified” from remaining in that portfolio in the new cabinet, but the premier was also forced to apologize for statements of his own in which he drew links between immigration and violence and extremism.

With a weakened opposition in the provincial legislature, Pilette suggests it could be up to mayors to provide the real “counterweight” to Legault by highlighting issues such as poverty and a lack of affordable housing.

“It allows them to do the work of opposition and to contest government programs that are not adapted to the reality of multicultural cities or populations that are less well off,” she said.

While the province’s governing party is relatively conservative, cities across Quebec are less so. Last year’s municipal elections saw several cities across the province, including Longueuil and Sherbrooke, elect a host of younger mayors who increasingly put climate change near the top of their agendas.

Bruno Marchand, mayor of the traditionally conservative provincial capital, has expressed doubts about the main parties’ highway-building ambitions. And while Plante and other mayors have been vocal on issues such as social housing and gun control, Pilette said mayors are limited by what they can do because they depend on the province to fund most major projects, including public transit.

Plante on Tuesday rejected any suggestion that it will be mayors who form the true opposition to Legault. “That’s not what we want, for very practical reasons.”

However, Pilette said the mayors can still influence the political climate through their calls for funding, as well as through their decisions on distributing provincial funding for programs — something that falls within their responsibility.

And despite Plante’s stated desire to collaborate, Pilette said tensions will only rise between the province and its biggest metropolis if Legault chooses policies and cabinet ministers that favour the suburban areas around Montreal — that voted massively for his party — rather than the island.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 5, 2022.

Morgan Lowrie, The Canadian Press

Politics

Harris and Lizzo praise Detroit – in contrast to Trump – ahead of an Atlanta rally with Usher

Published

6 hours ago

October 19, 2024

Anne Joseph

DETROIT (AP) — Vice President Kamala Harris appeared with Lizzo on Saturday in the singer’s hometown of Detroit, marking the beginning of in-person voting and lavishing the city with praise after Republican nominee Donald Trump recently disparaged it.

“All the best things were made in Detroit. Coney Dogs, Faygo and Lizzo,” the singer joked to a rally crowd, pointing to herself after listing off the meat-on-a-stick and soda that the city is famous for.

She said it was time to “put some respect on Detroit’s name” noting that the city had revolutionized the auto and music industries and adding that she’d already cast her ballot for Harris since voting early was “a power move.”

Heaps of praise for the Motor City came after Trump, the former president, insulted it during a recent campaign stop. And Harris continued the theme, saying of her campaign, “Like the people of Detroit, we have grit, we have excellence, we have history.”

Arms wide open as she took the stage, Harris let the crowd see she was wearing under her blazer a “Detroit vs. Everybody” T-shirt that the owner of the business that produces them gave her during a previous stop in the city earlier in the week. She also moved around the stage during her speech with a hand-held mic, not using a teleprompter.

More than 1 million Michigan residents have already voted by mail in the Nov. 5 election, and Harris predicted that Detroit turnout for early voting would be strong.

“Who is the capital of producing records?” Harris asked when imploring the crowd to set new highs for early voting tallies. “We are going to break some records here in Detroit today.”

She slammed Trump as unstable: “Somebody just needs to watch his rallies, if you’re not really sure how to vote.”

“We’re not going to get these 17 days back. On Election Day, we don’t want to have any regrets,” the vice president said.

Lizzo also told the crowd, “Mrs. Commander-in-Chief has a nice ring to it.”

“This is the swing state of all swing states, so every last vote here counts,” the singer said. Then, referencing her song of the same title, Lizzo added, “If you ask me if America is ready for its first woman president, I only have one thing to say: “It’s about damn time!”

Republican National Committee Chairman Michael Whatley said in a statement that Harris needed Lizzo “to hide the fact that Michiganders were feeling good under President Trump – real wages were higher, prices were lower, and everyone was better off.”

Talona Johnson, a product manager from Rochester, Michigan, attended Harris rally and said that Harris “and her team are doing the things that are required to make sure that people are informed.”

“I believe she’s telling the truth. She’s trying to help the people,” said Johnson, who said she planned to vote for Harris and saw women’s rights as her top concern.

“I don’t necessarily agree with everything that she’s put out, but she’s better than the alternative,”

In comments to reporters prior to the rally, Harris said she was in Detroit “to thank all the folks for the work they are doing to help organize and register people to vote, and get them out to vote today. She also called Detroit “a great American city” with “a lot of hard-working folks that have grit and ambition and deserve to be respected.”

The vice president was asked about whether the Biden administration’s full-throated support for Israel in its war with Hamas in Gaza might hurt her support in Michigan. Dearborn, near Detroit, is the largest city with an Arab majority in the nation.

“It has never been easy,” Harris said of Middle East policy. “But that doesn’t mean we give up.”

She will get more star power later Saturday when she holds a rally in Atlanta featuring another wildly popular singer, Usher.

Early voting is also underway in Georgia. More than 1.2 million ballots have been cast, either in person or by mail.

Democrats hope an expansive organizing effort will boost Harris against Trump in the campaign’s final weeks.

___

Associated Press writers Matt Brown in Detroit and Will Weissert and Fatima Hussein in Washington contributed.

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Politics

Moe visiting Yorkton as Saskatchewan election campaign continues

Published

1 day ago

October 18, 2024

Anne Joseph

Saskatchewan Party Leader Scott Moe is set to be on the road today as the provincial election campaign continues.

Moe is set to speak in the city of Yorkton about affordability measures this morning before travelling to the nearby village of Theodore for an event with the local Saskatchewan Party candidate.

NDP Leader Carla Beck doesn’t have any events scheduled, though several party candidates are to hold press conferences.

On Thursday, Moe promised a directive banning “biological boys” from using school changing rooms with “biological girls” if re-elected.

The NDP said the Saskatchewan Party was punching down on vulnerable children.

Election day is Oct. 28.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 18, 2024.

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Politics

Saskatchewan Party’s Moe pledges change room ban in schools; Beck calls it desperate

Published

2 days ago

October 17, 2024

Anne Joseph

REGINA – Saskatchewan Party Leader Scott Moe is promising a directive banning “biological boys” from using school changing rooms with “biological girls” if re-elected, a move the NDP’s Carla Beck says weaponizes vulnerable kids.

Moe made the pledge Thursday at a campaign stop in Regina. He said it was in response to a complaint that two biological males had changed for gym class with girls at a school in southeast Saskatchewan.

He said the ban would be his first order of business if he’s voted again as premier on Oct. 28.

It was not previously included in his party’s campaign platform document.

“I’ll be very clear, there will be a directive that would come from the minister of education that would say that biological boys will not be in the change room with biological girls,” Moe said.

He added school divisions should already have change room policies, but a provincial directive would ensure all have the rule in place.

Asked about the rights of gender-diverse youth, Moe said other children also have rights.

“What about the rights of all the other girls that are changing in that very change room? They have rights as well,” he said, followed by cheers and claps.

The complaint was made at a school with the Prairie Valley School Division. The division said in a statement it doesn’t comment on specific situations that could jeopardize student privacy and safety.

“We believe all students should have the opportunity to learn and grow in a safe and welcoming learning environment,” it said.

“Our policies and procedures align with the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, the Canadian Human Rights Act and the Saskatchewan Human Rights Code.”

Asked about Moe’s proposal, Beck said it would make vulnerable kids more vulnerable.

Moe is desperate to stoke fear and division after having a bad night during Wednesday’s televised leaders’ debate, she said.

“Saskatchewan people, when we’re at our best, are people that come together and deliver results, not divisive, ugly politics like we’ve seen time and again from Scott Moe and the Sask. Party,” Beck said.

“If you see leaders holding so much power choosing to punch down on vulnerable kids, that tells you everything you need to know about them.”

Beck said voters have more pressing education issues on their minds, including the need for smaller classrooms, more teaching staff and increased supports for students.

People also want better health care and to be able to afford gas and groceries, she added.

“We don’t have to agree to understand Saskatchewan people deserve better,” Beck said.

The Saskatchewan Party government passed legislation last year that requires parents consent to children under 16 using different names or pronouns at school.

The law has faced backlash from some LGBTQ+ advocates, who argue it violates Charter rights and could cause teachers to out or misgender children.

Beck has said if elected her party would repeal that legislation.

Heather Kuttai, a former commissioner with the Saskatchewan Human Rights Commission who resigned last year in protest of the law, said Moe is trying to sway right-wing voters.

She said a change room directive would put more pressure on teachers who already don’t have enough educational support.

“It sounds like desperation to me,” she said.

“It sounds like Scott Moe is nervous about the election and is turning to homophobic and transphobic rhetoric to appeal to far-right voters.

“It’s divisive politics, which is a shame.”

She said she worries about the future of gender-affirming care in a province that once led in human rights.

“We’re the kind of people who dig each other out of snowbanks and not spew hatred about each other,” she said. “At least that’s what I want to still believe.”

Also Thursday, two former Saskatchewan Party government members announced they’re endorsing Beck — Mark Docherty, who retired last year and was a Speaker, and Glen Hart, who retired in 2020.

Ian Hanna, a speech writer and senior political adviser to former Saskatchewan Party premier Brad Wall, also endorsed Beck.

Earlier in the campaign, Beck received support from former Speaker Randy Weekes, who quit the Saskatchewan Party earlier this year after accusing caucus members of bullying.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 17, 2024.

— With files from Aaron Sousa in Edmonton

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