Four of the candidates running in Salaberry-Suroît presented their platform during a dinner hosted by the Rotary Club in Valleyfield on Tuesday, October 6. Robert Sauvé used the opportunity to present the Liberal Party of Canada as the only party likely to win a majority.
“Claude de Bellefeuille says that she and Anne Quach are neck in neck. Sure, behind me,” challenged Robert Sauvé, before adding later that, “the only possibility for a majority government was to elect the Liberals.”
The liberal candidate said he was a defender of the middle class. Like his leader Justin Trudeau, the former mayor of Coteau-du-Lac has proposed to stimulate the economy with a program to invest in infrastructure.
If elected, he says he wants to meet immediately with stakeholders and elected officials to propose the program. “It’s fine to meet the merchants, except their businesses are all closed,” said Robert Sauvé pointing to the empty buildings on rue Victoria in Valleyfield.
Quach proposes a progressive approach
Ahead in the polls, the incumbent, Anne Quach, defended the NDP platform. “We want to do politics differently and in a progressive way in Canada.”
On the niqab, a subject that has divided her party, she reminded us that immigrants have to take their oath unveiled. “The Bloc has gone after this issue because people are talking about it. When I go door-to-door, I set the facts straight,” she clarified.
She says she is a defender of seniors, the environment, Canada Post, farmers, purchasing locally and social justice.
DeBellefeuille disappointed with the NDP
Claude DeBellefeuille, who was defeated in 2011, is running again because she is disappointed with the NDP. “I’m calling on sovereignists to seek the balance of power to make gains for Québec.”
According to Debellefeuille, the strong Bloc québécois presence in Ottawa made it possible to fight for Quebec and thus earn points on fiscal imbalance and the GST. Her priorities concern Energy East, forming a committee on railroad safety and improving the economic situation for merchants. “It’s true that things are not going well, she said. We have to get people rallying around a common cause.”
The Kathryn Spirit haunts De Martin
Representing the Conservative Party of Canada, Albert De Martin, praised the merits of the Trans Pacific Partnership agreement. “You have to look reality in the face. Yes, change is coming. But as far as I’m concerned, this gives us incredible access to foreign markets.”
According to De Martin, opening up 3.25 % of the dairy market to foreign producers will have an impact on supply management, but producers know how to adjust. With tariffs lifted, he sees pork producers doing business with Japan and cheese makers exporting to the United States.
He would like to work with people in the region to help grow the economy. A former MP with the ADQ, he did not come across very well when questioned about the Kathryn Spirit which is stuck in Beauharnois. “I don’t know about this issue,” he admitted. The ship has made headlines in the media locally and nationally since 2011.
Translated by Cathleen Johnston
