Easy win for Marsan

By 9 p.m. on Monday incumbent Robert Baldwin MNA Pierre Marsan already knew he will be returning to the National Assembly for the fifth time since 1994 along with the 66 other Liberal MNAs elected to form a majority government.

Marsan, who won by a landslide, collecting 81 per cent of votes in Robert Baldwin. Finishing at a distant second was PQ candidate Alexandre Pagé-Chassé with 1,602 votes, then came Maryse Goulet of the Green Party as she received 1,059 of the suffurage. Alexandra Lauzon of the ADQ and Sarah Landry of Québec Solidaire finished wih 877 votes and 375 votes respectively. "We won a majority because Jean Charest did a great job campaigning," said Marsan. "He did a good job convincing people we need a majority government in an economic crisis."

Part of the Liberal Party plan to handle the economic crisis is by investing in infrastructure, more specifically transportation. During the course of the coming mandate the island of Montreal is waiting to have 10,000 new parking spaces built in train stations. How much of the extra parking will go to the West Island is still unclear. "But all three West Island MNAs (Geoffrey Kelley, Yolande James, Marsan) will work together to have our fair share," said Marsan.

Other plans to stimulate the economy are still unclear as Charest only "gave us hints" to new solutions, according to Marsan. "Charest did the right thing by decreasing the income tax last year," said Marsan. "We have the best team to face the crisis with Monique Jerome-Forget as finance minister and Raymond Bachand as Minister of economic development."

ROBERT-BALDWIN

Candidates % political affiliation Valid votes Percentage of valid ballots (%) Majority

Marsan, Pierre (P.L.Q./Q.L.P.) 17 078 81,07 % 15 476

Pagé-Chassé, Alexandre (P.Q.) 1 602 7,61 %

Goulet, Maryse (P.V.Q./G.P.Q.) 1 059 5,03 %

Lauzon, Alexandra (A.D.Q./É.M.D.) 877 4,16 %

Landry, Sarah (Q.S.) 375 1,78 %

Lin, Nicholas (P.M.L.Q.) 74 0,35 %

Valid ballots: 21 065 99,34 %

Rejected ballots: 141 0,66 %

Total voter turnout: 21 206

Registered electors: 51 062

Voter turnout: 41,53 %