Party has a full slate for Laval’s six provincial ridings
Last Sunday during an investiture assembly held in Laval-des-Rapides, Québec solidaire presented the team that will represent the party in Laval’s six ridings in the October provincial elections.
The nominated candidates are Geru Schneider (Chomedey), Josée Chevalier (Fabre), Sabrina Di Matteo (Laval-des-Rapides), Zachary Robert (Mille-Îles), Karine Cliche (Sainte-Rose) and Stella Bourgon-Germain (Vimont-Auteuil).
In a statement, Québec solidaire said the assembly marked an important milestone for the party in Laval, adding that QS “intends to run a campaign rooted in the realities of Laval’s neighbourhoods and in the concrete concerns of the population.”
QS wants to be ‘a stronger voice’
Those concerns, according to the left-leaning party, include the housing crisis, the rising cost of living, access to public services, public transit, social and ecological justice and “the need to give a stronger voice to the citizens of Laval, Quebec’s third-largest city.”
They said other issues will include defending accessible public services, fighting inequality, responding to the climate emergency, improving intra-regional mobility and “building a Quebec that is more just, more democratic and more solidaristic.”
On hand to address party members were Haroun Bouazzi, the Québec solidaire MNA for Maurice-Richard, and Andrés Fontecilla, the QS MNA for Laurier-Dorion.
Schneider, 33, a lifelong resident of Chomedey, former political attaché with the Action Laval municipal party and a labor union activist, has an interesting backstory. His parents came to Quebec from Chile more than 35 years ago and settled in Laval after fleeing a repressive right-wing regime that came to dominate Chilean politics.
Schneider’s roots in Chile
Schneider said his grandfather was Chile’s deputy minister of health in the government of socialist president Salvador Allende. Allende died in 1973 at the climax of a coup d’état staged by General Augusto Pinochet, who then ruled Chile as a dictator until 1990.
Schneider acknowledged in an interview with The Laval News that the outcome of the October 5 election in the PLQ bastion will likely be more difficult to predict since the incumbent, Sona Lakhoyan Olivier, a former Quebec Liberal, has been cast out by the party.
“It’s always been Liberal,” he said about Chomedey, which has voted Liberal since 1981 when the riding was first created.
“That’s my main concern not only for Chomedey, but also for the rest of Laval. The PLQ has always thought that Laval was a natural for them. But now they’re going to have to work for it for real. And obviously we’re going to do everything we can to be an alternative.”
To be treated as ‘equals – not scapegoats’
In the statement furnished by Québec solidaire, Schneider said the concern driving him in this campaign is simple. “The right to live with dignity in Laval. The right to affordable housing, well-maintained schools, efficient public transit, and the right for our fellow citizens of all backgrounds and faiths to be treated as equals – not as scapegoats. Chomedey deserves a voice that says these things plainly.”
Sabrina Di Matteo said she intends to run a campaign grounded in Laval-des-Rapides’ urban and social issues. “Laval-des-Rapides is at the heart of several major transformations,” she said. “We must ensure that the development of our neighbourhoods serves the people who live there, not just real estate interests. Our priority must be the quality of life for families, access to affordable and social housing, and quality public services rooted in social justice.”
The ’politics of proximity’
Zachary Robert, a QS candidate in 2022, said he wants to continue his commitment in Mille-Îles through “politics of proximity,” listening and collective action.
“The solutions exist, but they require political courage,” said Robert. “I want to run a campaign grounded in reality, close to people, to defend our public services, a just ecological transition, and a politics that refuses to make the middle class and the most vulnerable pay. At the same time, the wealthiest continue to enrich themselves.”
Karine Cliche, also a QS candidate in 2022 and a resident of the riding for over twenty years, said she wants to continue her commitment to social justice and the environment by winning in Sainte-Rose. A teacher at Cégep Montmorency, she is also involved in education and the union movement.
“Sainte-Rose is my home, the place where my daughters were born and are growing up,” said Cliche. “I want to keep defending our heritage, our natural spaces, local agriculture and the social causes that give our community its strength and humanity.”
Amplifying voices of the unheard
QS’s Vimont-Auteuil candidate, Stella Bourgon-Germain, said she wants to amplify the voices of those too often made invisible in the political debate.
“My experience as a caregiver, my work in the community sector, and my own life have convinced me of one thing: vulnerable people must be better represented. I want to defend access to physical and mental health care, the fight against the cost of living, wealth redistribution, and an education system that allows every young person to reach their full potential.”
Fabre candidate Josée Chevalier, who ran for QS in 2022, is a teacher of English at Collège Montmorency, a union activist and a feminist. She said she wants to run a campaign focused on change.
“Coming from a working-class family, I know that social justice is built through concrete struggles,” Chevalier said. “In Fabre, I want to advocate solutions to the rising cost of living, the housing crisis, poverty and the erosion of our public services. We are the only real alternative for improving people’s lives.”
