Marjorie Michel to Haitians: "not going to vote is almost a crime"
Jean Numa Goudou ·
While Mr. Carney was shaking hands in Terrebonne, his Health Minister, Marjorie Michel, as well as Bourassa MP Abdelhaq Sari, were in Longueuil-Saint-Hubert to "consolidate" this riding wrested from the Bloc québécois in the last election.
A former Liberal organizer in Lanaudière who had hung up her political skates is back among the many guests packed into La Buvette du Vieux-Terrebonne. She holds the Prime Minister for two long minutes to congratulate him and tell him how appreciated he is.
"You're doing good work and you're popular with people," the Terrebonne resident tells him. "Oh yes…! for now?" retorts Mark Carney, bursting into laughter before moving to the next table to greet the citizens present in an almost electoral atmosphere.
Terrebonne Mayor Mathieu Traversy, who was elected by acclamation, is excited and proud. "From my memory as a young man, this is the first time a Prime Minister has visited the region," he says. Mr. Traversy was a Parti québécois (PQ) member before jumping into municipal politics.
He doesn't hide having worked well with MP Auguste over the past nine months. "I have to tell you that there are MPs who sometimes disappoint us, but in this case, she did good work," the mayor concedes in an interview with In Texto.
The Prime Minister made no statement suggesting he will call elections soon or by-elections in this riding, taken from Bloc hands through electoral and judicial battles.
"Ah… if I had known…"
But while Mr. Carney was shaking hands in Terrebonne, his Health Minister Marjorie Michel, along with Bourassa MP Abdelhaq Sari, were both in Longueuil-Saint-Hubert to "consolidate" this riding snatched from the Bloc québécois in the last elections.
A Quebecer of Haitian origin, Natilien Joseph, is currently the MP in this constituency. "The first Black person in this riding," he says proudly while noting that it's Black History Month.
"Obviously…, now we end up with Terrebonne. That's democracy, we have to start over," says Minister Michel with a resigned air, "but we'll need you. Because we can't win alone."
She urges Haitians who carry a reputation for not voting to come out this time. "I hear many Haitians living in Terrebonne say: ah.. If I had known, I would have gone to vote. I thought it was a white riding, I didn't bother going. HHHahaha!!!, I hope everyone learned their lesson this time"
"I will never tell you who to vote for. But the one thing I can never forgive you for is not getting up and going to vote, it's almost a crime," adds Marjorie Michel.
For her, Quebec's Black communities have made giant strides in the last elections. At least four Black MPs from the province were sitting in Ottawa before the Supreme Court annulled the Terrebonne elections.
"A lesson to teach…"
"That means we're getting involved, that we have audacity," emphasizes the Papineau MP. Bourassa MP Abdelhaq Sari, who was there supporting his colleague Natilien Joseph, also salutes the political engagement of Black or African-origin communities. Like himself. He comes from Morocco.
But they'll need to go further. "On Terrebonne," he says, "for us in the LPC, it's an important test, but especially for the Haitian community. You will clearly demonstrate your political impact."
Tatiana was his seat neighbor in the Commons. MP Sari felt the uncertainty weighing on her throughout the judicial process from Quebec Superior Court to the Supreme Court of Canada.
"I think Tatiana would be a course to teach in Political Science, everywhere in the world. It will be up to you to prove that Tatiana wasn't an accident," A. Sari tells the Haitians of Terrebonne.
Tatiana Auguste had won the elections by one vote. But some time after, a voter who had voted for incumbent MP Nathalie Sinclair-Desgagné received her uncounted ballot at home due to an error in the postal code. The Bloc québécois had decided to take the case to court.
The Quebec Superior Court had concluded it was "human error," but the country's highest court didn't see it that way.