Provincial elections 2018 - Richmond

The Richmond riding naturally includes the town of Richmond, but also reaches west to Valcourt, North to Danville, East to Ham-sud and South to include much of the Rock Forest Borough of Sherbrooke. The

Vignault presented herself as the option for people who want a serious candidate who isn’t a career politician. A special educator turned entrepreneur counselor, the candidate said that her professional focus has always been on helping make people’s dreams become a reality

“Politics, for me, is about service,” she said, explaining that she wants to be a voice for the voiceless in the community.

Vignault has made a point of saying that she wants prioritize encouraging participatory democracy in the riding and engaging in politics in a people-centered way. She aligns herself with the Partiquebecois because, she says, it is the only party with a project for the future of all Quebec at heart that is both progressive and realistic.

When it comes to the challenges facing the Richmond riding, Vignault said that the majority are a byproduct of the regions being misrepresented at the National Assembly.

“We’re making decisions based on what is happening in large cities,” she said, calling the need for a louder voice of representation from rural communities one of the major concerns overall

The PQ candidate also called the general situation of the environment alarming, while also saying that there is work to be done in the fields of agriculture, education, the workforce shortage, and telephone and internet connectivity.

Looking to the question of Language, Vignault said that she wants to reduce inequalities in the riding.

“If we are going to become all that we are capable of becoming, it can only be achieved through our diversity,” she said, explaining that she would like to bring people together through what they have in common rather than focus on differences. She added, however, that there are important benefits to learning from each other. “I think it is important in this day and age for all Quebecers to be able to speak English, but I also think it is important for all Quebec Anglophones to speak French. riding also includes the municipalities and Saint-adiren. The returning of Maricourt, Racine, officer is Mario Caron and Saint-denis-de-brompton, Ulverton, there are electoral offices located Melbourne, Kingsbury, Saintfrancois-xavier-de-brompton, on rue du Haut-bois South in Sherbrooke and on Daniel-johnson Windsor, Val-joli, Cleveland, Saintclaude, Road in Danville. Either office can Asbestos, Wotton, Saintecamille, be reached by calling 819-238-2342

A social worker by profession, Landry said that she is trained to listen and respond to the needs of those around her, a skill set she views as a natural fit for someone in public office.

“I want to work with, and not just for, the people of this riding,” she said.

Asked about the issues facing the riding, Landry did not hesitate for a second in saying that the environment is right at the top of the pile.

“As it is for the rest of the world,” she added, noting that people having been saying that climate change is coming for decades and saying that the weather we have had in 2018 is proof that looking after the world needs to be a serious priority moving forward.

As an example, the candidate said that municipalities have limited power to protect their drinking water right now and face a world where commercial enterprises can sue them over water use.

Landry also argued in favour of better sustainable mass transit measures in the riding, whether in the form of more bussing in urban areas, or better intermunicipal travel in the rural communities.

“And more electric transportation,” she added, arguing that if Quebec is going to stand behind its hydroelectric capacity as a point of pride, it should be showing that in the way its people move from place to place.

Asked about the English population, Landry talked about the reform of the healthcare system under Gaetan Barrette calling it “the worst of the worst” reforms she has seen in a career spent working in CLSCS in the area. Cuts in the system, she said, have led to cuts in services, and those service cuts mean an impact on the English population. Turning that reform around by bringing the community back into the decision making process, she said, is an essential part of making the situation better.

On priorities if elected, Landry said that the province needs to start paying down the “massive environmental debt” that has been left to future generations.

When asked why people should vote for him, Bachand highlighted his position as the most experienced politician running in the Richmond riding. He pointed to experience at the Municipal, Provincial and Federal levels as well as jobs representing and working for governments here and abroad as a sign that he is well connected and knows what he is doing in the political sphere. He added, later in the interview, that he is a staunch federalist.

“The good news is that the nationalist question is off the table, so for the first time people are free to choose,” the CAQ candidate said, calling this election a “historic opportunity” to consider issues facing Quebec beyond the idea of separation from Canada.

Although Bachand said that he knows there are a large number of issues that need to be dealt with in his riding, he identified the task of attracting and keeping new members of the workforce as a major hurdle to overcome. That problem, he said, manifests in different ways across the riding. In Valcourt it is a need for better mass transit for out of town workers, in Richmond it is a housing shortage, and in Asbestos it is a lack of labourers, but at its core the problem is the same.

Asked about the local English speaking population Bachand, who was the only candidate to conduct the interview entirely in English, said that Anglophones are impacted by the same overall issues as the rest of the population. Rather than speak to what he would do for English speakers specifically, he encouraged local Anglophones to keep their options open when it comes to casting their votes.

With regard to his priorities, Bachand said that anyone who has been elected before knows that, realistically, priority number one has to be getting a riding office up and running and getting organized. Although he clarified that he would soon get back to the people he spoke to during the campaign to reaffirm his positions and check back in on their concerns, he underlined that the reality of the situation is that no decision making happens until the riding office gets up and running. or, toll free, 1-855-338-2342. The member of the National Assembly for the riding has been Liberal Karine Vallières, who took over for her father Yvon Vallières in 2012. She announced her departure from provincial politics earlier

Godbout, who was elected to her second term on Sherbrooke’s city council in November, said that her understanding of the political sphere and her experience dealing with difficult and complex files gives her a good grounding as a candidate for the Liberal Party.

“I know what I have to do,” she said, calling herself a “people person.”

The candidate said that she identifies with the PLQ because of their values and strong program.

Speaking to the challenges of her region, Godbout pointed out that the labour shortage being faced by Richmond and other parts of the province is about more than just jobs. Instead of just talking about workers, she framed the conversation in terms of community vitality, pointing out that when local businesses flourish that has a positive impact on other aspects of community life like schools and local engagement. Every community, she said, has its own obstacles to overcome, but the overall issue surrounding the workforce puts the sense of community that is so central to life in the Townships at risk.

Godbout shared a particular sensitivity to the concerns of English speakers in her riding, explaining that through her work as President of the City of Sherbrooke’s intercultural committee she had been made much more aware of the way that the lack of services in ones mother tongue can impact a minority language community.

“You need to have that awareness,” the candidate said, explaining that she feels it is a failure to tune into the particular needs of the English speaking communities across the province that has lead to a devaluing of English culture in the province.

Regarding her priorities if elected, Godbout said that it is essential that access to high speed internet and decent cellular telephone coverage be established in the region as soon as possible. this year citing a desire to spend more time with her teenage daughters.

La Madelaine turned to his experience with the Val-saint-francois action committee and implication with several local community organizations over the recent years when asked what makes him the best candidate for the riding. Although he acknowledged that the Green Party has historically been tied very closely to matters of the environment, he said that the party’s platform has broadened in this election to be “almost identical to the others,” speaking to concerns relating to the fields of healthcare and education as well.

“I am very involved when it comes to the environment,” the Green Party candidate, going on to say that the main area of concern in the riding is caring for the Earth. He stated that measures to combat climate change currently occupy a fraction of a percent of the provincial budget and argued that it is time for the provincial government to take more steps to protect the planet

On the subject of the local English speaking population, the Green Party candidate said that his party has a very inclusive platform and that he considers the English speaking population to be his “brothers and sisters” even if he does not speak very much English himself.

La Madelaine said that his priority if elected would be to launch into the large-scale issues of healthcare reform and reducing the cost of medication in Quebec.