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OTTAWA — An epic clash is looming in eastern Quebec as MP and rising Bloc Québécois figure Kristina Michaud announced Thursday she will face Fisheries, Oceans and the Canadian Coast Guard Minister Diane Lebouthillier in the next federal election.
“Gaspésie and the (Îles-de-la-Madeleine) must be represented by a person who wants to work in the same direction as them, a person who brings their voice to Ottawa and not by a person who comes from Ottawa to impose decisions on them,” Michaud said at a news conference in Grande-Rivière, in Gaspésie.
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Fishing, tourism, housing and forestry: she says she knows the issues in the region well and has solutions to propose “that come from the people.” But Lebouthillier’s record “is not very rosy,” Michaud said.
The Bloc MP, who has conducted a “fairly significant reflection” on her political future in recent months, has represented the riding of Avignon—La Mitis—Matane—Matapédia since 2019, but that riding will disappear with the revision of the electoral map and will be encompassed by neighbouring constituencies, including that of Lebouthillier.
Questioned by journalists, Michaud refused to say whether she would have preferred to be a candidate in the neighbouring riding of Rimouski-Neigette—Témiscouata—Les Basques held by her colleague Maxime Blanchette-Joncas and where she will now reside following the redistricting.
Lebouthillier brought this up in reacting to Michaud’s candidacy. “Gaspésiens and Madelinots are neither a Plan B nor a consolation prize,” she wrote in an email sent to The Canadian Press.
According to Lebouthillier, the Bloc Québécois exercised “the last option left to it,” already having a member in the future riding of Rimouski—La Matapédia.
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“For generations, both provincially and federally, Gaspésiens and Madelinots have always chosen to elect candidates from their constituency to represent them. It is at the very foundation of our political principles in eastern Quebec,” Lebouthillier added.
Michaud initially said for family reasons the idea of moving to the riding she seeks to represent “is an option” at the moment, but she is “open” to acquiring property there.
During the 2021 general election, Michaud was easily re-elected with nearly 60 per cent of the votes against her liberal rival, Louis-Éric Savoie, who obtained a little more than 21 per cent.
Lebouthillier was elected in the constituency of Gaspésie—Les Îles-de-la-Madeleine for the first time in 2015 and has been re-elected without interruption since. During the last election, she collected more than 46 per cent of the votes against the Bloc’s Guy Bernatchez, who had more than 39 per cent.
Lebouthillier announced at the beginning of February she intended to run for a new mandate, explaining she still had the “sacred fire” to continue her work. She has been minister of Fisheries, Oceans and the Canadian Coast Guard since the summer shuffle and previously served as minister of National Revenue.
The Liberal government “is going to have its knees buckling a little” for fear of losing the riding, predicted Bloc leader Yves-François Blanchet, so much so that “the simple announcement” of Michaud’s candidacy “will advance issues” of the region.
On paper, Michaud is running for the nomination, but it is only a formality, especially since Blanchet has declared he supports “entirely, totally and irrevocably” her candidacy, an exceptional measure since she was “stripped” of her constituency.
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