No surprises as Yolande James retakes Nelligan

Though like her West Island colleagues, Liberal Nelligan incumbent Yolande James is set to return to the National Assembly after tonight’s provincial election, she is less certain about once more having a seat at Liberal Premier Jean Charest’s cabinet.

“I think it’s a little presumptuous to assume,” she said, asked if she would return as Minister of Immigration and Cultural Communities. “It’s the Premier’s privilege to form cabinet, and I’d be happy to be a part of it,” she added.

James said it is not yet clear when Jean Charest will form his cabinet. She was the only Anglophone in it as it was dissolved when Charest called an election five and a half weeks ago.

She will return as MNA with 72 per cent of the popular vote, according to early results.

“I think that what’s important for us now is really to continue to work together,” she said as she watched election results unfold on a television screen in her election office on St. Charles Boulevard, surrounded by campaign staff and supporters.

Unwilling to assume a Liberal majority earlier tonight, James said Liberals returning with a stronger mandate could only be good for West Islanders. “We have had a pretty strong relationship with municipal representatives,” she said, and highlighted local Liberals’ efforts regarding improvement of public transit in the area.

“We’ve been very active with regards to the West Island and public transit,” she said.

Last Thursday, two weeks after Charest’s campaign promises to improve train services in the Montreal area, the AMT (Agence Métropolitaine de Transport) announced one new train departure on weekdays for the Deux-Montagnes line toward Montreal, which passes through the West Island, and another new departure from the Dorion-Rigaud line toward downtown.

Nelligan has been a strongly Liberal riding since its formation in 1981. James' victory in the riding is her third. At last year’s provincial election, she had won with 64 per cent of the popular vote.

Meanwhile, in a reflection of provincial trends, the PQ returned to second place this year with new candidate Anaïs Valiquette-L’Heureux after falling to third in 2007, and the ADQ fell to fourth place after a surge to second in 2007. Moments ago, a significantly weakened ADQ leader Mario Dumont announced on television he would be resigning.

And returning Green Party candidate Jonathan Théorêt managed to raise his fortunes this time around, with preliminary results placing him in third place after he wound up fourth in 2007. “The last few days were very, very active,” he told The Chronicle, sitting in a coffee shop and glued to his wireless-enabled laptop with a small group he called his strongest supporters.

“Friday night I got to do door-to-door with a volunteer who I hadn’t even met before,” Théorêt said.

He lamented the fact no Green Party candidate seemed likely to earn a seat, but said he hoped to run once more in an upcoming provincial election. “Considering the Parti Québecois will never be able to win in the West Island,” he said, “both Anglophones and Francophones can turn toward the Green Party for an alternative.”

Théorêt also mentioned election office staff today told him very few youths seemed to turn out to vote. “The most educated of our youth-whether it’s CEGEP or university students-are in exam period right now,” he said. It is a real pity Charest timed this election in a manner that did not allow youth to follow up properly during this busy period, he added.

Last week, Théorêt had tried to organize a get out the youth vote rally at Gérald Godin CEGEP in his riding, renting a high school bus to take students to advance polling stations. However, none wound up boarding the vehicle.

As of press time, the Liberal majority government has about 66 candidates leading or elected, whereas the PQ has 51 elected, the ADQ seven elected or leading, and leftist party Québec Solidaire enters the National Assembly for the first time with a lone elected representative.





NELLIGAN





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

James, Yolande (P.L.Q./Q.L.P.) 18 039 72,10 % 14 405

Valiquette L'Heureux, Anaïs (P.Q.) 3 634 14,52 %

Théorêt, Jonathan (P.V.Q./G.P.Q.) 1 550 6,20 %

Savard, François (A.D.Q./É.M.D.) 1 418 5,67 %

Machouf, Elahé (Q.S.) 378 1,51 %



Valid ballots: 25 019 99,08 %

Rejected ballots: 233 0,92 %

Total voter turnout: 25 252

Registered electors: 54 259

Voter turnout: 46,54 %