Michael Fortier appears on CTV's Question Period on Sunday, July 13, 2008.

Tory star Fortier needs Bloc, Liberal votes to win

Updated Thu. Oct. 9 2008 5:29 PM ET

The Canadian Press

MONTREAL -- The Conservatives parachuted un-elected cabinet minister Michael Fortier into the suburban Montreal riding of Vaudreuil-Soulanges as part of their plan to storm Quebec.

But with the federal election just days away, Bloc incumbent Meili Faille is living up to her reputation as a star-killer yet again.

In the last two elections, Faille faced veteran Liberal opponents with star power to spare and vanquished both. In 2004, she beat incumbent Nick Discepola by 4,000 votes and in 2006 she finished 9,000 ahead of astronaut Marc Garneau.

Fortier, the international trade minister who resigned his Senate seat to run, might be the next big shot to flame out against Faille.

Polls published about mid-campaign in Montreal La Presse showed Faille holding a 28-point lead over Fortier, who next to Lawrence Cannon is the most recognizable Conservative face in Quebec.

That lead has dwindled somewhat and Fortier maintains that he can still see a House of Commons seat from where he's sitting and that the riding remains winnable.

The Conservatives have invested heavily in the riding in the hope their heavyweight can wrestle the seat away from Faille.

"My objective entering this election is to capture several thousand of the traditional federal Liberal votes -- at least 5,000," Fortier said.

"I also need to capture . . . about 5,000 Bloc votes to win, it's as simple as that. I can't do it only with one of these envelopes, I need input from both envelopes.

Faille, a former businesswoman and civil servant, holds what was once viewed as a staunchly federalist riding just off Montreal island.

What's her secret?

"Work for the people, that's it, simply work for the people," Faille said. "They'll tell you what to do and (if you listen) they will be your friend forever.

"You have to be on the ground to know what's happening, Mr. Fortier is doing national television," Faille says, referring to Fortier's near-nightly appearances on political roundtables.

In the last two elections, the Bloc has won 43 to 44 per cent of the vote. The Liberals saw their share drop to just over 28 per cent in 2006. The Tories were the main beneficiaries of that erosion, rising to 19 per cent in 2006 from eight per cent in 2004.

Fortier says he has no regrets about landing in Vaudreuil-Soulanges, a riding he says is perfectly suited for him with a good mix of families and business people. It's a contrast to his earlier foray into federal politics, a run in a Laval riding after he lost the Tory leadership to Joe Clark in 1998.

Fortier says that campaign was strictly part-time, in a riding where he was an afterthought.

"This time around, I'm part of the government, I've been here for two years and it's a very tight race," Fortier said.

The Liberals have a strong candidate of their own. Brigitte Legault, a former president of the party's youth wing in Quebec, is considered an up-and-comer in the party.

Legault, 28, says she is rebuilding Liberal support one handshake at a time.

"I'm battling here, but I know the region by heart and I don't have a past or a local platform or a record to defend."

But there remains a debate over just where the riding's loyalty lies.

Before Faille, the riding was Liberal with the exception of a Conservative victory once during the Mulroney years. Faille says that Tory win came pre-Bloc and with plenty of help from the Parti Quebecois.

A demographic shift has many young families putting down roots in the suburban-meets-rural riding.

Legault contends the riding contains a strong Liberal base from which to build and Fortier believes the Tories can increase from their 2006 surge.

But Eric Belanger, a political science professor at McGill University, says in his opinion the ridings in the so-called 450 belt around Montreal have always been largely Bloc ridings.

"Most ridings in the 450 area code are (Bloc ridings) and the recent polls still show the Bloc are doing well in those areas," said Belanger.

Faille, says part of her success is her ability to poach votes from across the political spectrum -- exactly what Fortier is trying to do.

Both Faille and Legault have targeted each other as the main competition, casting Fortier aside.

But Fortier says he's snagged a number of deep-rooted federal Liberal votes, mainly from anglophones, and Bloc votes are trickling in at a more modest rate.

"The good news is I've got four or five more days to go, I've got a strong campaign and hundreds of volunteers, and so I think it's going to be a close race on the 14th," Fortier said.

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