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Rivière-des-Mille-Îles Liberal candidate Denis Joannette says he has a strategy to overcome a winning streak that has seen the Bloc Québécois elected four times in a row in the past 10 years. "My strategy, first of all, is to make people realize the work I've done so far, and to also make them realize that for me I'm a middle class man and I represent I would say the most important part of this riding here," says the Town of Two Mountains councillor whose company specializes in electronic point-of-sale systems. "I want to work for them and I want to make sure that we are all represented in the House of Commons."
Wiped out in 1984 Tory sweep
Gilles Perron was first elected the riding's MP in 1997. The last Liberal to be elected federally in the Two Mountains region was Francis Fox, who won a comfortable majority in 1980 in the former electoral district of Blainville-Deux Montagnes. In 1984, Fox and the Liberals lost the seat in a Progressive Conservative sweep that saw Monique Landry win locally. By 1993, when Canada's love affair with the Mulroney Tories had abated, Landry came third in that year's election, and the Bloc Québécois, represented by Paul Mercier, gained a lasting foothold.
Questions Bloc presence
Although Perron is not running for the Bloc in this election, and the party is being represented this time in Rivière-des-Mille-Îles by Luc Desnoyers, Joannette remains critical of Perron, claiming Perron kept a very low profile as MP over the past 11 years. "Mr. Perron honestly for the past 10 years, apart from giving grants to the community groups and organizations, for me first of all I think that any MP is entitled to a certain budget to do that for these kinds of organizations.
"That I find normal to take part in and to encourage. But apart from that he hasn't done anything really concrete in this riding at all." Besides that local criticism of the Bloc, Joannette has this to add about the party's overall performance. "It's easy for the Bloc to make any kinds of promises. It's really easy for them to run and say that they could defend Quebecers, but in the end they don't have any power to do so. Even if they promise, it's easy to say because they know that they won't have to live up to it after."
Joannette a local resident
Joannette is critical of Desnoners, saying he is not a resident of the riding. Part of Joannette's strategy will be to emphasize the fact that he is a resident and thus capable of representing the area more directly. "I hope the people will realize that and vote for someone at least who they know and who has been involved over the past years as I have been." With regards to the Conservatives, Joannette is critical of the incumbent party for having frittered away Canada's massive accumulated surplus, to the point that "we're almost in debt now.
"That's something that I find it's a bit of a shame," he says. "I think the Liberals should get back in and correct that problem like they did after the Mulroney time. I am really concerned about the financial stability of our country, because we get our surplus back and then we can start working on the social housing issues, daycare space issues, and it'll be easier to accomplish all these things that I think are important for the middle class and for the lower-income people."
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