Canadian election 2008: Westmount-Ville-Marie

See also Marc Garneau on Wednesday-Night.com
Lagacé-Dowson’s orange revolution not over yet
Dowson thinks the NDP could capitalize and take some left wing votes in Quebec whenever Gilles Duceppe decides to stand down as Bloc Quebecois leader. “Quebecers have shown that they are comfortable with the government assisting the population. This flies in the face of the Conservative ideology,” she said. “The NDP aims to prevent suffering in the population. There was a 60 per cent increase in support for us in Quebec since 2006.”
Dowson didn’t want to confirm whether she would return to the CBC or stay in politics. “I don’t know. I suspect my future will involve politics, but I’m sitting back after a long double campaign,” she said. “I don’t have a plan at the moment.”
16 October
Garneau leaves chancellor job for MP post
Carleton University has launched a search for a new chancellor after its current chancellor was elected as an MP on Tuesday.
Former astronaut Marc Garneau has been chancellor since November 2003. He ran as a Liberal in the Montreal riding of Westmount-Ville Marie, beating NDP star candidate Anne Lagacé Dowson, a CBC broadcaster. The riding was held by Liberal Lucienne Robillard, who quit in January.
Mr. Garneau … was Carleton’s ninth chancellor. Since his arrival, the campus has acquired seven new buildings and university graduation rates have risen by more than 10 per cent.
15 October
Spaceman lands safely in Westmount-Ville Marie
The former astronaut, who was on his second attempt to be elected an MP, scored an easy win in Westmount-Ville Marie last Tuesday evening, outdistancing his nearest rival, the NDP’s Anne Lagacé Dowson, although she still managed to raise her party’s standing more than seven per cent.
In an electoral race that some pundits were predicting would be a closer contest between the NDP and the Liberals, Garneau ended up with virtually the same number of votes as his Liberal predecessor Lucienne Robillard — about 46 per cent.
But while the NDP has consistently finished third and fourth locally over the past decade, Lagacé Dowson beat Conservative Guy Dufort by more than 2,500 votes, with overall support of nearly 23 per cent.
Garneau holds seat for Liberals
Editorial – The Gazette (Montreal), Saturday October 11, 2008
“In the Montreal area, a number of incumbents, and a few challengers, have been or would be first-rate MPs and plainly deserve places in the next Parliament. They include Dion himself in Saint-Laurent-Cartierville, Conservative Michael Fortier in Vaudreuil-Soulanges; New Democrat Tom Mulcair in Outremont; and some other Liberals, notably Irwin Cotler in Mount-Royal and Marc Garneau in Westmount-Ville-Marie. And we admit to being deeply curious about how Justin Trudeau would comport himself in Parliament. We hope he is elected in Papineau.”
Marc Garneau is ready for the great leap to Ottawa.
After one year (minus 6 days) on the ground campaigning, Marc Garneau is thrilled with the reception he and his message have received from the citizens of Westmount–Ville-Marie. Equally pleased with the endorsement of The Gazette, the Liberal candidate feels ready to serve the people of Westmount— Ville-Marie in Ottawa and make the leap to the House of Commons.
Since his arrival on the federal scene in Westmount–Ville-Marie on October 19th 2007, Mr Garneau has worked tirelessly to meet as many community leaders and residents as possible. For the past 359 days, the Liberal candidate has been present all over the riding – in all four corners. Since July 25, when the by-election writ was dropped by Mr. Harper, Mr Garneau and his team redoubled their efforts to reinforce their presence in the riding.

Where do you vote?
Elections Canada maintains an excellent site for finding local polling stations. Go to  “Voter Information Service” (under topics of Interest).

7-8 October
(Westmount Independent) Federal election: Candidates’ last leg
Federal Liberal candidate Marc Garneau got ready for the last week of the election with the same proactive approach that has characterized his whole campaign. At his team’s invitation, two Westmount newspapers (including the Independent) spent an hour and a half over breakfast on October 2 hearing him sum up his point of view and answer questions. Garneau seemed most proud of being the Liberal spokesman for August 13 comments in support of the Homelessness Partnering Strategy (HPS) and the Residential Rehabilitation Assistance Program (RRAP).
Anne Lagacé Dowson, NDP:
“From the top at the Westmount summit, to the bottom at the old port, we have walked the walk, reaching out, shaking hands and even giving a Montreal kiss, to a multitude of voters …
Claude Genest, Green Party: “Do you believe in miracles? Seems like our campaign has been full of them… Obviously, ElizabethMay’s triumphant debut has laid to rest the naive notion that we were ever a “one issue party. … Another huge turning point was after Jack Layton incredibly showed himself willing to work with Harper to derail democracy and keep Elizabeth May out of the debates. We began to receive waves of disaffected ex-NDPers, particularly among those who really care about feminist and social justice issues.”
29 September
Anne Lagacé Dowson : Garneau appuie les cadeaux fiscaux de Harper aux grandes entreprises
Montréal, QC – Anne Lagacé Dowson, la candidate du NPD pour Westmount—Ville-Marie, a répondu aujourd’hui au candidat libéral au sujet de l’économie. Dans d’un communiqué daté du 28 septembre, Marc Garneau avait laissé entendre qu’il appuierait les milliards de dollars en réductions d’impôts aux grandes entreprises votés par les conservateurs de Stephen Harper, et qu’il s’opposerait au plan budgétaire du NPD, qui investirait ce même montant dans les priorités des familles.
28 September
Garneau says NDP plan will harm Quebec’s economy
Local Liberal candidate Marc Garneau lashed out at NDP leader Jack Layton on Sunday, charging that the party’s newly released platform would impose a $50 billion tax increase on companies — a plan that would drive jobs away from Canada, and cause further damage to Quebec’s struggling manufacturing sector.
“Jack Layton’s platform would chase business from our country, costing thousands of Canadians their jobs and would have a negative effect on Quebec’s families,” said Garneau in a statement responding to Layton’s announcement. “(He) talks a lot about the kitchen table, but his platform today would collapse the kitchen table under a mound of unpaid bills and debt.
26 September
Local field grows to nine candidates
18 September
Anne Lagacé Dowson alarmed about future of arts funding and public broadcasting
NDP candidate (Westmount-Ville Marie) Anne Lagacé Dowson has obtained a Conservative document that suggests the Tories will attack, and even try to abolish the CBC if they are re-elected.
18 September
Genest spreads environmental message
… who is this Claude William Genest? And what motivated him to be so passionate about sustaining the environment that led to him becoming the Deputy Leader of the Green Party of Canada?
Genest’s roots are entrenched in Quebec, although he was born in Hollywood, California and he owns a home in Vermont, where he teaches at the University of Vermont as well as produces and hosts an Emmy-nominated TV show.
11 September
Westmount by-election sprint now a ‘marathon,’ says Conservatives’ Dufort
8 September
Liberals re-launch Garneau campaign
By Stanley Baker
On Monday, Sept. 8, the day we were supposed to be voting in the Westmount-Ville Marie by-election, and one day after the general election was called for Oct. 14, a large crowd gathered at Liberal candidate Marc Garneau’s campaign office on Greene Avenue to witness the official re-launch of his campaign.