Maurice-Richard: hotly contested riding in Montreal’s Ahuntsic neighbourhood

Montreal’s Maurice Richard provincial riding – in the Ahuntsic neighbourhood – is a hotly contested one and is expected to be a close race when Quebecers head to the polls on Oct. 3.

Candidates hitting the pavement and campaigning, in hopes to win over the more than 68,000 constituents. The Liberals look to keep this seat, while everyone else looks to flip it their way.

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“The choice is clear,” says Haroun Bouazzi, Québec solidaire’s candidate. “Either we have policies from the last century that make all the highways longer, that don’t invest in public schools, in day care, in the health care that want to privatize their health care, or a new vision, a vision of the 21st century where the climate change is a serious issue, where the public transportation is something important, where public health and public school system.”

Haroun Bouazzi is a specialist in advanced digital technologies and the Maurice-Richard riding candidate for Québec solidaire. (Credit: CityNews / Alyssia Rubertucci)

“Education is always going to be important in Ahuntsic-Cartierville,” says teacher and anthropologist, Chantal Jorg, the Parti Québécois’ candidate. “What is also important is really to have social housing, it’s important to make it affordable. There is a new community center that we would like to set up in the Louvain site, with a school as well. It may be more of a primary school, but you never know. Can we put secondary too? So that is important.”

Chantal Jorg is a teacher and anthropologist and the Maurice-Richard riding candidate for Parti Québécois. (Credit: CityNews / Alyssia Rubertucci)

“We only have one secondary public school that needs love because it’s a patrimonial school and  it needs to be renovated urgently,” said lawyer and Coalition avenir  Québec candidate Audrey Murray. “Also, we have a very interesting project on Louvain Est, which is a place where we are going to be able to, if we do it, construct social housing.”

Audrey Murray is a lawyer and the Maurice-Richard riding candidate for Coalition avenir Québec. (Credit: CityNews / Alyssia Rubertucci)

“It‘s very important, the safety in the riding for me,” says Quebec Liberal party candidate and a manager of a financial institution in Montreal, Jonathan Marleau. “It’s not just a discussion about the police officers, it’s also a discussion about how we can fight the criminality at its roots. And by, of course, putting our attention on poverty and social exclusion and make sure that there is funding sufficiently enough to prevent people from going from poverty to criminality.”

Jonathan Marleau is a manager of a financial institution in Montreal and the candidate for the Quebec Liberal party candidate. (Credit: CityNews / Alyssia Rubertucci)

“There’s a lot of things that are going on in politics right now in terms of like the housing crisis, in terms of inflation,” said Montreal resident, Akira Buhaina. “So I think it’s really important for for for people to vocalize by voting essentially what they really want.”

“Most political parties they talk about affordable housing, climate change,” said resident Elie Abou-Jaoude, “but what I’d like to see more is the interpersonal dimension. How can we make people’s potential stand out and actually create more services so that local residents can explore their talents and really have a clear direction?”

Maurice-Richard, formerly the Crémazie riding, in 2018 it was a narrow victory for then Liberal candidate Marie Montpetit, who later became an independent. The CAQ says their working hard to swing things their way.

“I think it’s important for the CAQ to have another voice, maybe the one from Maurice Richard in Quebec,” said Murray. “CAQ only has two ridings in Montreal. Montreal is an important voice to make good public policy. I will be a good representation of their voices to influence also in Quebec.”

“The Parti Québécois is well established,” said Jorg. “A lot of people worked in the Parti Québécois, worked in the various referendums,  so I think people will rally and gather all these people around the neighborhood.

“I’m sure people want to defend the French fact too and that’s important to them. And I would also say that we are a sincere, committed party.”

“I’ll be able to show that I represent thousands of youth because I’m 31,” says Marleau. “But also the experience, because I’ve been ten years involved in politics. I know how to get the job done. And I think that’s something that’s very important for people to be able to trust the member of National Assembly.”

“Through the inflation, through the fact that the public schools are actually falling, that they need daycare, that they need more public health so that they can stay at home longer for the older people, so we have answers for all of these problem,” says Bouazzi. “I’m sure that they will listen to what we have to propose and will vote for the 3rd of October.”

CityNews reached out to all candidates for the Maurice-Richard riding to take part in this report but some were unable to participate.

“They’re all doing a great job at promoting their their party’s value, and it’s going to be a tough choice to make,” says Abou-Jaoude.