Mulcair byelection win a message to Quebec

When Beaconsfield resident Thomas Mulcair flew the NDP banner and won the Sept. 17 byelection in the formerly-impregnable Liberal stronghold of Outremont, two things occurred to us. First, it’s a victory for the environment, which Mulcair has always considered a priority, and second, it’s a message to the provincial Liberals (who kicked Mulcair from cabinet last year when he opposed the sale of Mont Orford to private development interests) and the federal Liberals, who have historically considered Outremont home turf.

Now, it’s still a byelection, but the results were clear: Mulcair’s the guy, for now.

Two years ago, while still Quebec Environment Minister, Mulcair announced he was working on a project that would preserve the area around the Lake of Two Mountains, including shoreline property in Ste. Anne de Bellevue, Senneville, Pierrefonds and the off-island area would remain as green as they are today and free of development. The Lake of Two Mountains Provincial Park project was lauded far and wide as an example of forward-thinking government and represented a victory for those who prefer to have their shores adorned with trees and shrubs, and not McMansions.

Now reports that the provincial-park idea has been scuttled abound, and no one from Quebec’s Environment Ministry could be bothered to return phone calls in the last three days to tell us. That means the file could go either way, and will probably be dropped. For all our sakes, we hope that doesn’t happen.

“Green-space preservation is a priority for me and always has been,” Mulcair said in a phone interview yesterday morning. “I spoke with (current Quebec Environment Minister) Line Beauchamp last week, and we set up a meeting. I intend to raise the topic with her for the good and specific reason that with blue-green algae showing up across the province, we have to make sure we keep it out by preserving wetlands and marshlands in the St. Lawrence (river) area,” he said.

If blue-green algae starts infecting waterways locally, Mulcair said, it will be hard to get rid of.

“If we lose that battle we might never get a grip on the problem,” he said.

It’s clear that more and more voters are taking the environment seriously as an election and quality-of-life issue, and Mulcair’s victory is an indication that voters might be ready to shift the balance of power in order to make it an even larger priority.

Since Mulcair’s principled stand on Mont Orford, he’s become te environment’s go-to guy in government and politics. It’s a big job, but we’re sure he’s up to it.쇓