With a strong majority of over 6000 votes in the last federal election, the New Democratic Party (NDP) incumbent, Anne Minh-Thu Quach, hopes to win a second mandate from voters in the new riding of Salaberry-Suroît in the next federal election on October 19.
The candidate who was elected as part of the “ orange wave” in the spring of 2011 hopes to prove her opponents wrong and show that it was not just a fluke.
Last Thursday, she inaugurated her election headquarters located on rue Maden in Salaberry-de-Valleyfield. Many Anne Quach followers were present to support her. Also present were elected municipal officials, union representatives as well as her colleagues and neighbouring NDP incumbents, Jamie Nicholls (Vaudreuil-Soulanges) and Sylvain Chicoine (Châteauguay-Lacolle).
At the outset, she said she hoped the NDP, led by Tom Mulcair, would form the next government in the House of Commons, which would be a first for federal politics.
To date, a variety of national polls indicate she is right. “This is the third time I am running for the NDP. There have been so many cuts to services under the conservatives that we have to get rid of Stephen Harper’s government. This is the second recession under conservative rule. We want to manage the economy for the benefit of human beings. We want to see positive change,” Anne Quach indicated.
Defending public services
Based on her first experience, the teacher by profession says she is ready to take on a second mandate. She passionately defends public services for the regions, in particular, maintaining our home postal service, universal health care and adequate, nation wide financing for CBC/Radio-Canada.
She also mentioned that the new democrats would like to re-establish the age of retirement at 65 and bring some 200,000 seniors out of poverty.
As for tourism, the NDP wants to invest $30 million over a period of three years to encourage American tourists to visit Canada. Given that the Salaberry-Suroît riding is located in close proximity to the Canadian/American border, the economic impact will definitely be beneficial for the region.
Assistance for farmers is another area that Anne Quach takes to heart. “For four years, I have worked tirelessly on behalf of farmers. In Canada, one job in eight is connected to agriculture. Furthermore, I worked on draft bill C-539 concerning local foods. However, all but one conservative voted against it,” she recalled.
How does she view the current election campaign? “I am a grass-roots person and very open. I will always be learning. I am here to defend social justice and the social economy. I like to popularize politics and I’m here for the right reasons,” she stated.
Questioned about her greatest achievement in the riding over the last four years, Anne Quach was not able to give a specific answer, except to say that she and her constituency office staff have come to the assistance of dozens of citizens dealing with problems regarding the federal government.
