Incumbent Chagnon stresses health care, not Agglom woes

It was with that somewhat irreverent quote that the Westmount Municipal Association upheld one of its longstanding traditions last week by providing a forum for candidates hoping to be Westmount-St. Louis's next member of the Quebec National Assembly.

Close to 100 people attended the 'Meet the Candidates' evening on March 14 at Victoria Hall, which was co-organized by the Examiner. A total of six candidates—running for the incumbent Liberal Party of Quebec, the Parti Québécois, the Action Démocratique, the Green Party, Québec Solidaire and the Marxist-Leninist Party—outlined their platforms and then answered questions.

Many residents had come to hear what incumbent MNA Jacques Chagnon would say about his party's stand on the future of Montreal's controversial Agglomeration Council—but for the most part they did not hear anything substantial on the issue. Instead, Chagnon pushed the Liberal Party's line of health care.

Speaking first, according to an order determined beforehand by drawing lots, the PQ's Denise Laroche emphasized her party's positions on childcare and education. If elected, the PQ would invest $400 million in Quebec's CEGEPS and universities over the next four years and freeze tuition fees for students.

Describing the year-old Quebec Solidaire as "the new kid on the block," Nadia Alexan said the party stresses the common good rather than individuality and is committed to the equality of all people and social justice. She said Quebec Solidaire hopes to draw more attention to the gap between rich and poor which is growing.

Noting that Quebec politics in recent decades have revolved largely around the sovereignty issue, the ADQ's Caroline Morgan drew some applause when she said that "more and more people are truly dissatisfied that other issues are sometimes sidetracked by these referenda and that's why more and more men and women are joining the ADQ."

Chagnon, who is seeking his fifth term as MNA for Westmount-St. Louis, spoke about the Liberals' efforts to restore the province's health care system in the past four years and to overcome a situation inherited from the former PQ government. While the response from most of the audience to Chagnon's claims was lukewarm, he was enthusiastically applauded time and again by Edgehill Avenue resident Sam Fattal, who was sitting in the front row.

Speaking enthusiastically about the MUHC hospital project in the Glen Yards, Chagnon described it as the most exciting adventure for the Anglo community since World War Two.

Nicholas Lin, who is running for the Marxist-Leninists, said his party wants to create a government that stops paying the rich and increases investments in social programs. "We stand for the establishment of new democratic institutions that invests sovereignty in the people," he said.

Alluding to Westmount's struggle against forced merger, Patrick Daoust said the Green Party believes strongly in the decentralization of power. "People here in Westmount particularly have lived through the fiasco of merger brought to us by the Parti Québécois, and then the fiasco of the demergers brought to us by the Liberal party," he said, earning applause.

During question period, many of the queries were directed specifically at Chagnon. Jon Breslow of Grosvenor Avenue asked him to explain the Liberal government's failure to deal with problems in the Agglomeration Council. Chagnon gave a lengthy description of the Agglomeration system, as set out in an annex of the provincial law that established the island council. When Stephen Cohen of de Maisonneuve Boulevard also questioned him about the Agglomeration, Chagnon protested that he had already answered.

Describing the Agglomeration Council as "an elected four-year monarchy," Daoust said he agreed it took power away from the people of Westmount and that "there is a serious misrepresentation in the way the Liberals said that they would reinstate power for people here."

Bringing up Premier Jean Charest's pledge before the 2003 election to restore merged cities with no strings attached, Frank Moller of Stanton Street asked Chagnon why the Liberals "decided to break the promise?" Chagnon replied, "I am not ready to say that we have broken promises. We have said that people will get their city if they want it, and Westmount did so and it happened."

Dr. Henry Olders asked the candidates, "Can I count on you, if elected, to promote the idea of revisiting the referenda in the cities that failed to demerge, with less strict or rigid standards so that we could perhaps achieve a more functional Agglomeration Council?" Morgan replied, "We want to bring the best solution to have a better balance between demerged cities, the megacity and the boroughs."

"It was one of the best 'Meet the Candidate' evenings we've held in several years," said Examiner editor Wayne Larsen, whose introductory address opened the meeting. "Tom Davis was excellent; we couldn't have asked for a better moderator."