Liberals hoping for a win in Westmount-NDG byelection

“Thank you all very much for your support, for your time, your energy, your dedication, not only to this team and to this campaign but to the party and to our movement, to our progressive values, to what this party stands for,” said NDG-Westmount Liberal candidate Anna Gainey at a rally at her campaign office on Friday.

Federal Liberal candidate Anna Gainey for NDG-Westmount was rallying supporters alongside Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on Friday leading up to Monday’s byelection.

“This byelection matters. It matters on a whole bunch of different levels. First of all, it matters because we need Anna’s voice in Ottawa,” said Prime Minister Justin Trudeau addressing the crowd on Friday.

“I think this is really Anna Gainey hers to lose essentially. I think she’s going in with a strong lead, if you will, from the historic point of view, from legacy liberals, if you will, from generations of people who’ve always voted Liberal,” said political analyst Karim Boulos.

Voters in the area consist of a largely anglophone population heavily concerned by Bill C-13 – a modernization of the official languages act, with an emphasis on protecting and promoting French and encouraging francophone immigration.

The Senate passed this bill despite protests from Quebec anglophones.

“It’s very important that the Liberal Party always defends rights and particularly rights of minority groups of all minorities and I will continue to be a strong voice for minorities in this community. And beyond that, I think it’s something that this community will know and can expect from me,” Gainey told reporters.

Gainey has been criticized by opposition parties for not “showing up” as much as the rest. The Liberal candidate didn’t attend a meet-and-greet intended for candidates to meet residents and hear their concerns.

“I think her strategy is to be quiet and fly a little bit under the radar in the sense that Western energy is quite a strong liberal position. If I were to say it in a different way, you know, if liberals lose West NDG, then Mr. Trudeau has a huge problem in the upcoming election,” said Boulos.

Gainey refuting the criticism saying she has knocked on hundreds of doors to speak to constituents and their concerns.

“I think one that’s consistent is more affordable housing. We’re hearing a lot about that. There’s a big investment from Ottawa to continue working with municipal and provincial governments on that particular issue. Climate change has been front of mind. This campaign, as well as we’ve seen fires from coast to coast and our air quality take a real hit,” said Gainey.

“She will she will win this election, in my opinion. The thing that we need to observe and I think Mr. Trudeau and his team have to look carefully at is the voter turnout,” said Boulos.

“My feeling is, given all the bad press we’ll call it, or the situation that Mr. Trudeau has found himself in, we’re going to see slightly lower numbers.”