Maybe it was the weather. Maybe most people just aren’t excited about this election.
Only a smattering of people showed up at Victoria Hall Thursday evening to hear the five candidates running for the provincial riding of Westmount—St. Louis answer their questions.
The turnout was among the lowest ever for a Meet the Candidates night.
“I think we had 28 people,” said incumbent Jacques Chagnon.
Voter apathy and the need for another provincial election were two of the main topics discussed during the evening. Opposition candidates were in agreement that the current election was unnecessary. Green Party candidate Patrick Daoust and Action Democratique Quebec surrogate Ahamed Badawy, sitting in for candidate Leonidas Priftakis, characterized it as a power grab by the governing Liberal Party.
The evening began with an introduction by Examiner editor Wayne Larsen, who presented Westmount Municipal Association past-president Dr. Henry Olders. Foremost among Olders's opening remarks was his expressed belief that minority governments worked well in serving the interest of the population. Olders also introduced Victor Drury, who served as moderator, and timekeeper Stan Grossman.
Eighteen-year-old Parti Quebecois candidate Daniella Johnson-Meneghini stated she was running partly in an effort to raise interest in politics in youth, who traditionally vote in low numbers.
“Politics are a force for our future,” she said, adding that should the PQ be elected, there would not be a referendum on separation any time soon.
“Pauline Marois has said forget about a referendum for now. We need to work on the problems at hand,” said Johnson-Meneghini. “A referendum won’t come for several years.”
Daoust lamented the fact that this election will probably see a record low voter turnout.
“If the polls indicate anything, it’s that 30 or 35 per cent of the population will decide who the government is,” he said.
He also questioned the use of the economy as the driving force of the election.
“Economists can’t predict the future,” he said. “No one saw the current financial crisis coming.”
Quebec Solidaire Nadia Alexan said the current financial and economic woes in the US serve as proof that Quebec can no longer operate the way it has for the past 30 years.
“This idea of trickle down is not working,” she said. “It’s trickle up. The current fiscal system is Robin Hood in reverse.”
Liberal candidate and incumbent MNA Jacques Chagnon stood by his party’s decision to hold an election.
“We’re facing the most important economic turmoil that we have faced in the last 50 years,” he said. He pointed to the fact that, historically, minority governments only last a short time, something that would not bode well during a recession.
“We’ve committed to spending $35 billion on infrastructure over the next two years,” he said.
Badawy stated his party’s platform, saying it is committed to smaller, more transparent government that would run efficiently. “The ADQ stands for the values of everyone,” he said. “Our core values centre on the family. They are the pillar of society. Everything from education to elderly care is part of family values.”
He also reiterated the ADQ’s position that a mixed health care system, which would include both public and private insurance and services, is the solution necessary to fix Quebec’s ailing hospitals.
On the question of the environment, Daoust said the Green Party is committed to protecting 15 per cent of Quebec’s forests and undeveloped areas. It would also commit to supporting a proposed “green zone” that would ring around the island of Montreal. Chagnon also expressed his support for such a project. The Liberal party plans to set aside eight per cent of Quebec’s forest as protected areas.
Alternative energies, like wind power were also debated. Daoust and Alexan supported the construction of more windmills to generate electricity.
A question on the planned $2 billion refurbishment and refitting of the Gentilly nuclear reactor brought up some disagreement between the candidates. Chagnon and Badawy believe it to be a good idea.
“It would cost about the same to close it down,” said Chagnon. “This way, we invest the money and it continues to produce electricity. That seems a better proposition to us.”
Alexan vehemently opposed the idea of expanding the use of nuclear power in the province, advocating the closing of the plant.
“There is no such thing as nuclear safety,” she said. “The waste is extremely toxic and there is nowhere to put it. It is a technology that belongs in the 1960s.”
The Gentilly plant produces 675 megawatts of electricity, about three per cent of Quebec’s total electricity production.
Chagnon stated that some of the infrastructure spending included work on Quebec’s hydroelectric dams, including building new ones, a plan that Daoust felt was unnecessary. “There is no need for new dams,” he said. “Wind energy is there. We can build more windmills up north along the existing power lines. That will bring the energy down to southern Quebec.”
Badawy disagreed with Alexan and Daoust, stating the nuclear power is indeed a safe energy. “It’s the energy of the future,” he said. He disputed the idea that transporting wind energy from northern Quebec was practical. He said that most would be lost in transmission down the wire. “It’s simple physics, really,” he said.
All parties stated their support for electoral reform, with the opposition candidates saying they were in favour of switching to a system of proportional representation.
“What kind of system allows votes to be essentially thrown away,” said Daoust. “People’s votes essentially mean nothing.”
Alexan noted that Canada is one of only four countries with democratically elected governments in the world that still use the first past the post system. “This is an archaic system that no longer works,” she said. The USA, Britain and India are the other three countries that continue to use a first past the post system.
Daoust said that he doesn’t believe Quebec or Canada has the culture for coalition governments, the common form of government seen in countries that use a proportional representation system, just yet, but believes they can work in Canada. He cited Germany as an example, where coalition governments have been in place since World War II, and usually last for four years or longer.
Chagnon said that a motion on introducing proportional representation tabled in the National Assembly was opposed by both the PQ and ADQ at the time it was proposed.
Another reform the opposition candidate believed would be in the best interest of voters was fixed-election dates. They cited the current election campaign as an example of why it was necessary.
“We can’t let election be used as a strategy,” said Badaway. “No one wanted this election, but the Liberals saw an opportunity to get a majority. They are using the economy as a lever.”
“The PQ did not want this election either,” Meneghini told Chagnon. “We offered to cooperate three days before the election was called, but you didn’t want to.”
Chagnon replied that both the PQ and ADQ seemed willing to bring down the government only a few months before the writ was dropped over issues like Quebec’s school boards and the ailing forestry industry.
“This is not something we can have with a crisis coming,” he said.
The PQ and the ADQ also rejected the idea of running a deficit if they were elected as the government.
“There must be accountability,” said Badawy. “We cannot just spend money. Our debt currently sits at about $178 billion now, and has gone up since 2003.”
He accused the government of hiding the fact that the Caisse de Depot has potentially lost 30 to 40 per cent of its value through risky investments. He also refuted the assertion that, if elected, the ADQ will gut Quebec’s social services.
“That is a lie,” he said. “The ADQ wants to cut the fat, the things that cost too much money.” He said that an ADQ would do away with school boards and regional health authorities, allowing hospitals to manage their patient’s care without interference.
Johnson-Meneghini also stated that the PQ would not run a deficit. “We will be very prudent in how we spend,” she said. “We will stick to the budget we adopt.”
The evening ended with a plea from organizer Stanley Baker for all eligible citizens to get out and vote on Dec. 8.
All candidates seemed happy with how the evening went. “I’m glad that it was a debate and not a fight,” said Johnson-Meneghini. “There was a little poking between the candidates, but that’s to be expected. I think people got a chance to see who we are and that’s good.”
As one of the co-organizers, Examiner editor Wayne Larsen expressed satisfaction with the event. "Those who came out were the ones who really wanted to be here, and they got what they came for," he said. "The relatively low number of audience questions actually worked out in everyone's favour, because it allowed time for all candidates to respond to most questions."
