The fight for second place

Whereas historical trends and statistics suggest the Liberals will make a clean sweep of the West Island as they have in past provincial elections, candidates for the Green Party of Quebec and the Parti Québecois are hoping to make enough of an impression to finish second place in their ridings.

"I got 7.6 per cent (of the popular vote) last time," said Nelligan's Green Party candidate Jonathan Théorêt, who ran in 2007 as well, adding he wants to double that amount come December 8 to finish a strong second.

"This will lay the groundwork for the future," he said.

Nelligan has voted strongly Liberal since its creation in 1980, and is currently the seat of Yolande James, who as Minister of Immigration and Cultural Communities is the only anglophone in Premier Jean Charest's cabinet. She won with a total of 63.82 per cent in 2007.

Théorêt, who is running on a platform that prioritizes the importance of public transit, particularly a tramway project very similar to the one presented by Montreal municipal opposition party Projet Montréal last year, said he would also like to focus on getting youth interested in politics again.

"Only 20 per cent of (youth between 18 and 25) vote," Théorêt said.

Getting out the youth vote is also espoused by the Parti Québecois. Three of their local candidates spent last Thursday morning at the entrance to Collège Gérald Godin in Ile Bizard/Ste. Geneviève, handing out party pamphlets to CEGEP students making their way in and out of the institution named after a Quebec writer and reporter who ran for the separatist party in 1976, defeating then-incumbent Liberal premier Robert Bourassa in his own riding of Mercier .

"Eighteen to 25-year-olds are the least-voting age group if I'm not mistaken, which I find is wrong," said Robert-Baldwin candidate Alexandre Pagé-Chassé. "It's their lives that will be affected the most by decisions made today, not the lives of people that are already 65-70 years old today," he added.

Pagé-Chassé also remained realistic about his chances. "No West Island riding has ever been won by a PQ candidate," he said. "I still believe in giving people an alternative choice," he added.

"I hope that people are going to hear out my message," said Jacques Cartier's PQ candidate Olivier Gendreau, adding it is likely he will also finish second place.

Whereas neither the Green Party nor PQ candidates admit that approaching youth is a way to leverage the younger vote, John Abbott political science professor James Leeke said this could be the case.

However, Leeke also pointed out the West Island's voting patterns have been in decline compared to the rest of the province in general, and any move to get the vote out should be welcomed. "There is work to be done here," he said, adding the voter turn-out in Robert Baldwin was only 58 per cent in 2007, and that in Nelligan was 64 per cent. Jacques Cartier also had a lower average voter turn-out with 67 per cent.

Given the generally higher education level and income level, "we had to be higher than the provincial average (of 70 per cent)," Leeke maintained, but that was not the case.

Leeke said he does not expect much to change in these elections for the area, although he predicted the Greens could make gains in Jacques Cartier and Robert Baldwin. "I would think that (Jacques Cartier candidate) Ryan Young has a better chance of coming in second," he said, pointing out Young, a fellow John Abbott College teacher, is better-known now than he was when he ran last year, thanks in part to also running for the Greens federally in Pierrefonds-Dollard this fall.

And though Robert Baldwin's Green candidate Maryse Goulet is an unknown as a first-time candidate, Leeke expected the environmentalist party to do well in that riding as well.

In Nelligan, he gave the second place nod to the PQ. "I kind of expect the PQ to have a bit of a resurgence in Nelligan," he said.