While the rumor of an election had circulated for a while, Premier Jean Charest made things official on Wednesday: there will be a provincial election on Sept. 4. To date, seven parties are set to present candidates in the four West Island ridings:
- Nelligan riding (Pierrefonds, northern part of Kirkland, Ile Bizard, Senneville)
- Jacques-Cartier (Baie-D'Urfé, Beaconsfield, southern part of Kirkland, Pointe Claire, Ste. Anne de Bellevue)
- Robert-Baldwin (Dollard des Ormeaux and part of Pierrefonds-Roxboro)
- Marquette (Dorval, Lachine)
The four outgoing Liberal MNAs - Yolande James (Nelligan), Geoffrey Kelley (Jacques-Cartier) Pierre Marsan (Robert-Baldwin) and François Ouimet (Marquette) – are all running for office again in their respective riding. They are officially launching their campaign in the West Island tomorrow morning (Friday) at Plaza Pointe Claire.
The Parti Québécois (PQ) has a young recruit for the Nelligan riding: Marcos Archambault, a CEGEP student who is also affiliated with Louise Harel’s Vision Montréal on the municipal scene.
Candidates for Jacques-Cartier and Robert Baldwin Olivier Gendreau and Alexandre Pagé-Chassé are respectively engaging in their second and third campaign with the PQ in the West Island. Étienne Gougoux will be the PQ’s candidate for Marquette.
The Coalition pour l’Avenir du Québec (CAQ) will be represented by Paola Hawa (Jacques-Cartier), councillor in the northern sector of Ste. Anne de Bellevue, Philip Boileau (Nelligan) and Toni Rinow who will try to wrestle Robert Baldwin away from Liberal MNA Pierre Marsan.
Elahe Machouf will be a Québec Solidaire candidate for the third time in Nelligan. In Robert Baldwin, Sarah Landry tries her luck for the second time while Francis Xavier Charleboix debuts his political career by running in Jacques-Cartier. In Marquette, Claudelle Cyr who currently works as an analysis agent for a grouping of community organizations in Montreal is running for office in an election for the first time.
The Green Party of Quebec is presenting untried candidates in Jacques-Cartier, Robert-Baldwin and Nelligan. In Jacques-Cartier, Alex Tyrrell will attempt to repeat the feat of his predecessor, Ryan Young, who finished second in 2008. Mathieu Mireault, a future graduate student at HEC Montreal, runs in Robert Baldwin, while Brunet Kristianne faces Family Minister Yolande James in Nelligan.
Option Nationale, a sovereignist party founded in October of last year is led by former PQ and Nicolet-Bécancour incumbent Jean-Martin Aussant. The party will present at least three candidates in the West Island. Raphael Hebert will be a candidate in Jacques-Cartier, Francois Landry in Nelligan and Sophie Turcot in Robert Bladwin. Our calls to the Option Nationale main office haven’t been returned yet. It wasn’t possible to learn if the party will present a candidate in Marquette.
The Union Citoyenne du Québec (UCQ), a recently-founded party, already has three candidates for the West Island regions. Jean-Dominic Lévesque-René, who ran in the 2009 municipal elections for Projet Montreal in the district of Ste. Genevieve will try his luck in Nelligan. President of the NDP in the riding of Pierrefonds-Dollard Fredrick Anthony-Ghali will face Pierre Marsan in Robert Baldwin and Agnes Barti Mina will be a candidate in Jacques-Cartier.
The Marxist-Leninist Party of Quebec did not return The Chronicle’s calls. It’s impossible to know for now, if the party will have candidates in the West Island’s four ridings. With files from Benoît Philie. More details to come.
