Three provincial party leaders in the Outaouais this past week

Three provincial party leaders in the Outaouais this past week

In light of the provincial elections coming up on October 3, the leaders of three parties were in the Outaouais this past week. Premier François Legault was in Gatineau on Friday to announce the CAQ candidates for the ridings of Hull and Pontiac, Suzanne Tremblay and Corinne Canuel-Jolicoeur respectively. The CAQ already control three of the region’s five ridings and Legault said they hope to improve their footing in the region.

“There are still two [ridings] that we don’t have here, that have been red for a long time and that we’ve seen with the last four years, Mathieu was talking about it, we delivered on our promises,” he said (translated). “We promised a hospital of 170 beds and we are making a 600 bed one, which is still not bad. Our nurses, our staff, there are some who gave up and we can understand, but we find ourselves a little bit, everywhere in all the provinces, in a situation that is difficult because it takes at least 3 years to train a nurse. So, those who want me to believe that they can solve problems with a magic wand, don’t believe them. But we are taking measures, first of all, I can tell you, because I experienced it in my own region with the Hôpital Pierre-Le Gardeur, there is nothing more attractive than a new hospital. I’m looking at the Pierre-Le Gardeur Hospital in Terrebonne, everyone wants to go work there, why? Because it’s a new hospital with beautiful rooms, beautiful equipment.”

The head of the Quebec Liberals, Dominique Anglade visited the riding of Papineau last week to announce the candidacy of lawyer Wittlyn Kate Semervil, who will be trying to unseat CAQ Minister for Families and the Outaouais Mathieu Lacombe.

Finally, the Quebec Green Party leader Alex Tyrell was in the Aylmer sector of the Pontiac riding to officially announce the candidacy of candidate Pierre Cyr.

So far, there have been six candidates who have officially thrown their hat into the ring for this year’s provincial race in the Pontiac. In addition to the CAQ and the Greens, the Parti Québécois will be represented by Jolaine Paradis-Châteauneuf. Incumbent Liberal André Fortin will be seeking a third term, Mike Owen Sebagenzi will stand for Québec solidaire and Terrance Watters will be the Quebec Conservative Party’s candidate.