Garneau looks forward to by-election

Liberal candidate Marc Garneau knows this, and has been using this lead-up time to his best advantage. The Westmount resident and former astronaut has been maintaining a high profile in the community, appearing at public events and visiting as many local organizations as he can.

This, he proudly points out, has been going on since last fall, when he his candidacy in Westmount-Ville Marie was announced by Liberal leader Stephane Dion. Since then, he has been preparing for the announcement of a by-election by carrying out an informal 'pre-campaign' in the riding.

"We've been ready to jump in right away," Garneau said of himself and his well-organized campaign team. "You have to be ready."

Support for Garneau has been generally strong throughout Westmount — especially among older voters. When he appeared at Place Kensington to speak to its residents about Canada's space program, there was an unusually high number of red items worn by audience members — sweaters, scarves, ties — all sported to show tacit support for the Liberals, even though Garneau restricted his talk to space travel and did not discuss the impending political campaign.

Now, says Fabrice Rivault, director of communications for Garneau's campaign, the youth vote is being courted throughout the riding as well. Ad-hoc teams of volunteers have been set up at both McGill and Concordia universities in an attempt to draw support for the Liberal cause.

"We have a great team," Garneau says enthusiastically.

As for the issues, Garneau is keeping close tabs on the concerns of his potential constituents. "There is a lot of poverty in this riding," he says of the large area he hopes to represent, which includes not only Westmount but extends as far east as Old Montreal and west into NDG as far as Hingston Avenue. The total population of Westmount-Ville Marie is estimated at 105,000.

Since his official nomination as Liberal candidate, Garneau has spoken to former MP Robillard on several occasions and has been brought up to speed on riding issues and his various other responsibilities as her replacement on the ballot.

Since Robillard's retirement, all riding matters have been forwarded to the Liberal Whip in Ottawa via the local riding office, which is still being run by longtime Robillard assistant Nathalie Dallaire.

Once announced, the race for the Westmount-Ville Marie seat is expected to be hotly contested. Two of Garneau's main opponents, the Conservatives' Guy Dufort and the Green Party's Claude William Genest, have also been on the pre-campaign trail since their candidacies were announced several months ago. Among the other major parties, the Bloc Québécois and the NDP have yet to announce their respective candidates for the by-election.

In the meantime, Garneau has no intention of slowing down his 'pre-campaign'. Over the next few weeks he plans to be out in the community, attending public events, shaking a lot of hands and, most importantly of all, he says, listening to the people.