Send a Westmounter to Ottawa

Right away, the announcement stirred up discussions throughout the riding, and the big question was asked: Who will replace her on the ballot?

The names of several prominent and politically savvy Westmounters have been mentioned as successors, in fact there is no shortage of local residents who would make ideal MPs as well as excellent cabinet ministers.

But as the Gazette pointed out the following day, the Liberals will likely use the opportunity to ‘parachute’ a star candidate into the riding, banking on the fact that Westmount-Ville Marie has always been the safest of safe federal Liberal ridings. Even when local voters broke with tradition and took a chance on the ill-fated provincial Equality Party in 1989, the federal Liberals retained their full support. This means that anyone running here under the Liberal banner is automatically guaranteed a free trip to Ottawa.

So now the Liberals will no doubt jump at the opportunity to arrange for a favoured candidate to take Robillard’s place—someone whom the party believes will make a good cabinet minister but might have a hard time winning against the Bloc candidate in another riding.

This may be a sound strategy, but it is unfair to constituents, who, in order to vote for the party of their choice, are forced to vote for a veritable stranger to their community. In other words, Westmount-Ville Marie is being used primarily as a launching pad, with the needs and concerns of voters a distant second to the party’s.

The message to the Liberals is clear: some very critical eyes will be on them when they choose the next Westmount-Ville Marie candidate.

The needs of the community outweigh the needs of the party. Mme Robillard serves this riding well, but with her departure it is time to send a local resident to Parliament—someone who skates at the Westmount arena, feeds downtown parking meters and has children in the local school system. In short, someone who has first-hand experience of this community and knows how it works.

There are many other ‘safe’ Liberal ridings on the island. This time around, the Liberals should aim their parachutes elsewhere and finally let Westmount send a Westmounter to Ottawa.