ADQ candidate Mark Yerbury (left) campaigns at Dorval Gardens on Monday.
Incumbent Ouimet fends off challengers
Marquette riding
BY MARC LALONDE
marc.lalonde@transcontinental.ca
The Marquette riding, made up of Lachine and Dorval, is unique because half of its geography is a reconstituted city and half remained a part of Montreal after 2004’s de-merger referendum.
Incumbent Liberal François Ouimet has held the riding, which currently has 50,050 registered voters, since 1994. It was previously held by Claude Dauphin, who held the riding for the Liberals from the riding’s creation in 1981. Dauphin is now the borough mayor of Lachine. Ouimet won the riding in 2003 with 21,000 votes — or about 65 per cent of the ballots cast. The Parti Québécois’ Yves Beauregard came in second with 23 per cent of the votes cast.
For many residents, the campaign’s main issue in the riding is the future of the Lachine Hospital, but Ouimet said its future shouldn’t even be an issue in this campaign.
“The hospital issue is now solved,” Ouimet said. “Last fall, a provincial report came out (recommending the hospital’s closure) but the government rejected the report,” he said. “The hospital now shouldn’t be any kind of issue. Everywhere I go, I tell people that. Acute-care beds will stay at Lachine. Operating rooms will be open again and ambulances will be coming back to the hospital as soon as we can find an anaesthesiologist.”
Ouimet, a Dorval resident, is facing a busy month; along with the March 26 election, he acts as manager for his son’s Bantam AA West Island Royals hockey team.
For francophones, especially, the hospital is a community institution that Lachine and Dorval residents are proud of, Action démocratique du Québec candidate Mark Yerbury said.
“I grew up in Lachine and for a lot of the people who live there, especially French-speaking people, to them, that hospital is a touchstones for them They say ‘they better not close that hospital,’ and that’s on the lips of everybody I talk to. The idea that these people don’t deserve to have a hospital is astonishing to me,” said the Dorval resident.
by Marc Lalonde 
View all pictures
Steven Guilbeault - 
Rally at the Lachine Hospital Saturday March 24, 2007 11:00 AM
Russell WoodArticle online since March 21st 2007
Again Mr. Ouimet's comments about the Lachine hospital issue being closed is disingenuous, not unlike many of the comments from his leader Mr. Charest.
There is a rally being organized by doctors, nurses and staff on Saturday the 24th of March. Obviously if the matter was closed the employees and concerned citizens of the west island wouldn't be rallying for their hospital.
Recently I was given a flyer that begins like this:
Mr. Charest: Did you know that the Lachine Hospital is closed to ambulances?
It continues, "Did you know that the Lachine Hospital is rated 1st in Montreal in terms of accessibility to health care?
And, "Did you know that the 'Association des médecins d'urgence du Québec', the 'Fédération des médecins omnipractiens du Québec', the 'Comité pour la protection des malades', etc.
"Did you know that the Lachine Hospital was closed to ambulances without any reasonable justification even when Dr. Cagnon of McGill University Health Centre recommended maintaining ambulance services..."
It ends by stating that the "doctors, nurses ad staff of the Lachine Hospital invite the public to participate in this rally...TO DEMAND THE IMMEDIATE RETURN OF AMBULANCES TO THE LACHINE HOSPITAL FOR CRITICAL CASES."
It refers to an article in "The messenger" on the 16 of march 2007; ie the Fuks report.
My understanding after speaking with Hospital officials is that the Fuks report has not been explained or defended to the principles in the CSSS (Centre de Santé et de services sociaux)
"The Dorval-lachine-Lasalle CSSS was formed through the merger of the Hôpital de Lachine, the Centre d'hébergement de Lachine, The Centre d'hébergement Nazaire-Piché, the CLSC de Dorval-Lachine, the Centre d'hébergement de Dorval, the Hôpital de LaSalle, the Centre d'hébergement LaSalle and the CLSC de LaSalle."
For those of us who know the value of the Lachine Hospital to the west island community and no longer have confidence in the Liberal government's inaction and general insincerity with respect to health care, I suggest we support this event this Saturday 11:00 AM at the Lachine Hospital. 650, 16th avenue. I'll be there.
It's worth speaking out about. Please visit www.woodelect.ca for more and other details you should know about for this election.