Advance voting underway across the river
Ottawa residents with family, jobs or property on the other side of the Ottawa River are watching closely as Quebec's advance polling period runs Sunday and Monday, from 9:30 a.m. to 8 p.m., ahead of the province's general election on October 5.
A growing early vote
Advance polling has become a bigger part of how Quebecers vote. In the 2022 election, one-third of the 66 per cent of eligible voters who cast a ballot did so early, and an Élections Québec spokesperson said the option keeps getting more popular with each election. That popularity comes with a catch: there are only about a quarter as many polling stations open during the advance period as there will be on election day itself, meaning longer waits for those who choose to vote ahead of time.
What's on voters' minds
Economy, language and health care emerged as the issues driving people to the polls early. Voter David Freedman said he would like to see English and French "combined," calling that important to him. Voter Yasemin Kahyaoglu said pushing people and universities out of the province "doesn't make sense" to her, a comment that speaks to ongoing debate over Quebec's approach to language and higher education, an issue that has already drawn attention from Ottawa's bilingual community given the province's recent directive that poll workers speak only French unless a voter proves eligibility for English education or Indigenous status.
Five parties in the running
Five parties are expecting to win seats when the votes are counted: Christine Fréchette's Coalition Avenir Québec, Paul St-Pierre Plamondon's Parti Québécois, Charles Milliard's Quebec Liberals, Éric Duhaime's Quebec Conservatives and Ruba Ghazal's Québec solidaire. Fréchette, the CAQ leader, raised a pointed concern during the campaign: that Americans might try to support the sovereigntist Parti Québécois to destabilize Canada. She acknowledged there is no indication of actual interference in the current campaign, but the comment underscores how high the stakes feel to the governing party as it fights to hold power.
What led here
The advance polls follow a campaign that has already touched Ottawa's doorstep more than once. ottown's earlier report covered a combative final leaders' debate in Montreal where health care, a possible referendum and a homelessness case became flashpoints. Before that, ottown's earlier report detailed the controversy over Élections Québec's French-only directive for poll workers, a policy that drew scrutiny from Ottawa's bilingual community. Earlier still, ottown's earlier report noted that this year's leaders have largely avoided reopening fights over secularism and language laws that dominated past campaigns.
What happens next
With advance voting wrapped up Monday night, attention turns to the final stretch before October 5, when Quebecers head to fuller polling stations to decide who forms the next government.
Sources: The Canadian Press (via Lethbridge Herald), Global News
