Anne Lagacé Dowson takes on Justin Trudeau for NDP in Papineau
'People want something different,' says candidate taking on Trudeau in Montreal riding
Former CBC/Radio-Canada journalist Anne Lagacé Dowson announced on Sunday that she is running for the NDP in the Papineau riding of Montreal — also known as Liberal leader and riding incumbent Justin Trudeau's riding.
"I think that this riding is eminently winnable. It has been reconfigured since the last election, there are a lot of disaffected Bloc voters who are looking for a progressive place to put their vote, I think there are disenchanted Liberals also," Lagacé Dowson said on Sunday. "People want something different."
It isn't the first time Lagacé Dowson has run in an election. Last year, she was defeated in the race for the head of the English Montreal School Board and in 2008 she ran for the NDP in the Westmount-Ville-Marie riding, losing to Liberal Marc Garneau.
Making the leap
She said running for the NDP again isn't a huge leap, because she personally holds a lot of the same values the NDP advocates for.
'I think [Mulcair] is the guy with the best chance of reversing the damage that's been done by the Harper Conservatives.'- Anne Lagacé Dowson, NDP candidate
"But going from being a journalist to being a politician is a big leap and it's a very different sort of parameters. For me, it made sense to do this now because I think this is a historic election. I think there's been a change in the mood across Quebec and across Canada. I think people have grown very tired of the Harper Conservative approach to pretty much everything, and I think it's time for a change," Lagacé Dowson said.
She said the feasibility of an NDP government increased after the party won the provincial leadership in Alberta. She also pointed to recent Liberal decisions that she said weren't well-received by many Canadians.
"I think the record for the Liberals recently hasn't been very illustrious. The Liberals supported the Conservatives on the so-called anti-terror bill, Bill C-51. They voted against moving ahead on proportional representation. They're not substantially different enough from the Conservatives to provide an alternative, and I think the NDP is," Lagacé Dowson said.
Candidates in the Papineau riding:
Maxime Claveau (Bloc Québécois).
Anne Lagacé Dowson (NDP).
Danny Polifroni (Green Party).
Justin Trudeau (Liberals).
Yvon Vadnais (Conservatives).
"I think the NDP under the leadership of Thomas Mulcair especially is a very credible option because Mulcair was the [provincial] environment minister in Quebec, he knows the environment file every which way," she said. "I think he's the guy with the best chance of reversing the damage that's been done by the Harper Conservatives."
She said she plans on spending each of the next 60 days of the election campaign in the Papineau riding, knocking on doors and speaking to constituents.