"I got a head start over all the other ridings on the island of Montreal," says Dufort, who launched his campaign this past spring long before the by-election date had been officially announced.

Speculating on some of the key areas of Montreal where close races are likely to take place on election day Oct. 14, he says, "On the east side of the island we're dealing essentially with a battle between the Bloc and the Liberals, with the Bloc having the upper hand. On the west side of the island, it's the other way around.

"But if we look at the rest of the province, it is the Bloc against the Conservatives," he adds. "So if the national campaign is aimed at attacking the Bloc elsewhere, in my riding and on the West Island we have a different opponent and we have to deal with it entirely differently."

Sees Liberals and NDP as main adversaries

Dufort sees "the two quote/unquote leftist parties," the Liberals and the NDP, as his two main opponents. "My approach is going to be really aimed at contesting the validity of the programs that the Liberals are proposing, and this is my main opponent," he says.

But while analysts are forecasting a pitched battle between the Bloc Québécois and the Conservatives for territory the Liberals could be losing in many areas of Quebec, Dufort is dismissing the Bloc here. "I will not deal with the Bloc. The Bloc represents less than 10 per cent of the (votes) and it's the same thing in the rest of the West Island."

Dufort dismisses the Green Shift environmental program that Liberal leader Stéphane Dion is wagering so much on as a "fumisterie," a French expression which translates roughly as a farce. "If we look at the so-called Green Shift, which is based essentially on the carbon tax, a carbon tax is going to be imposed on essentially everyone, but mostly on the larger polluters and companies of all sizes and even individuals."

In their program, the Conservatives are proposing controls on a range of pollutants. Greenhouse gas is specifically addressed within the program. The party would reduce it by 20 per cent by the year 2020. Other gases would be reduced by 50 per cent. "If companies do not meet this level, they're open to being sued and pay fines," says Dufort.

Locally, Dufort is concerned about homelessness in the riding, as well as public security, which, he says, many residents have raised as an issue as he has met them while campaigning door-to-door. He also supports the development of a closer relationship between the private sector and researchers working in institutions of higher learning. There are three universities in Westmount-Ville Marie.