What issues matter most to Montreal voters in this federal election?
Sabrina Jonas | CBC News | Posted: August 17, 2021 8:00 AM | Last Updated: August 17, 2021
Climate change, social justice key issues while some voters question merits of election
With Canadans headed to the polls next month, some Montreal voters say hot-button issues like climate change and social justice are likely to dictate their vote, while others are criticizing the election call in the midst of a fourth wave of the COVID-19 pandemic.
"I see no reason to have an election now as we see delta coming up, as we see more and more cases coming up," said Montreal resident and health-care worker Jonathan Hudon.
"I don't think it's a good idea; I don't think it's responsible or safe for citizens," he said.
Hudon's sentiments echoed those of opposition leaders, including Bloc Québébois Leader Yves-François Blanchet.
Liberal Leader Justin Trudeau, who has been Canada's prime minister since 2015, announced Sunday the next federal election will take place on Sept. 20, a move that has been criticized by opposition parties. Canada's next fixed-date election was set for October 2023.
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Still, with campaigning underway, the federal parties are poised to centre their election platforms around key topics. CBC News spoke with some Montrealers on what issues are most important to them ahead of Sept. 20.
Climate change, social justice, pandemic
University student Grégoire René said he'd like the environment to be a central issue in the campaign, noting the pandemic recovery might overshadow other, pressing concerns.
"The environment is the biggest issue that we're facing right now in the world in general," he said. Last Monday, the United Nations issued a dire warning, saying the world is dangerously close to runaway warming.
René said he will be "strategically" voting for the NDP, because he believes they have a real chance of forming a government.
"The NDP incorporates a lot of economic polices that I quite agree with, because economic inequality is also one of the biggest issues we're facing right now," he said. "And racial inequality as well, which I think the NDP takes seriously."
For Lak Manak, "immigration is always important, I think the relief packages that are coming about now because of the pandemic are hot-button, and also the way [the government] handled the pandemic," he said. "I think they've made a lot of mistakes."
Montrealer Laura Pritchard said she's concerned about how climate change is going to be handled by the government, but that she's equally concerned other issues could fall by the wayside.
"It's important not to forget about the discussion that rose last summer about Black Lives Matter and around racial issues," she said.
Since last year, the Trudeau government has made progress on 24 out of 44 calls to action put forth by MPs and senators who make up the Parliamentary Black Caucus following the killing of a Black man, George Floyd, by police in the U.S. in 2020. But the outcome of the federal election could unravel many of those plans.
Pritchard said she will also keep her eye on how the parties plan to lead Canadians out of the pandemic.
Quebecers not 'chomping at the bit' for election: analyst
Daniel Béland, a McGill University political scientist and director of the McGill Institute for the Study of Canada, said having a sustainable economic recovery plan in the aftermath of the pandemic will be top of mind for voters.
"Montreal was hit hard last year in the spring by the economic downturn," he said. "Things have improved, of course, since then, but there is a long way to a sustainable economic recovery."
He said other issues such as gun control in the face of a violent summer, housing and housing affordability as well as international situations, such as the devastation in Haiti and Afghanistan, are issues that will likely sway voters.
Less important for Montrealers, but likely to show movement in Quebec's overall vote, is Premier François Legault's more amiable relationship with Trudeau this election, according to Béland, with the federal government announcing funds for Quebec aimed at strengthening child care in recent days.
In 2019, the Bloc benefited from Legault's popularity in Quebec, with Blanchet positioning himself against Liberal meddling in the province's secularism law, known as Bill 21.
"This scenario might not repeat itself this time around," Béland said.
For Brooke Jeffrey, a political science professor at Concordia University, the Liberals are leading in the polls Canada-wide and in Quebec partly due to public approval over their handling of the pandemic.
"I think any political party would decide to [have an election] at this point with the numbers they've got," said Jeffrey.
But with 34 days left in the campaign, nothing is certain. Jeffrey predicts the pandemic will lead to lower voter turnout in Quebec, a province she says will once again be a key battleground in the elections.
"I doubt very much anybody in Quebec is chomping at the bit to have an election," she said.