Villeneuve launches campaign; ‘Happy to be underdog’
Peter Black, Local Journalism Initiative reporter
peterblack@qctonline.com
Although he doesn’t have all of his candidates yet and the official start of the municipal election season is still two weeks away, Québec d’Abord Leader Claude Villeneuve launched his City Hall campaign Sept. 4.
“Why not?” he said. when asked by reporters. “I’m ready.” His launch, held on the sunny terrasse of a brewpub in Montcalm, included the unveiling of a detailed platform of policies to be put into place over a three-term period, ending in 2037.
Under the tagline “Près de vous” (“Close to you”), Villeneuve explained the platform has three principles: “Simplify services to make them more accessible, bring people together behind major projects, and invest in the future to improve everyday life today.”
Some of the major planks: Abolish the “welcome tax” for the purchase of a first home, create a major sports centre in Parc Victoria, reduce the vehicle registration tax to $30 from $60, build 60,000 new housing units by 2037, and create a major event in partnership with Wendake to mark the 500th anniversary of French explorer Jacques Cartier’s visit to Quebec in 1535.
With polls showing him far behind incumbent Mayor Bruno Marchand of Québec Forte et Fière and Leadership Québec’s Sam Hamad, a former provincial Liberal minister, Villeneuve said he has “a lot of work to do” to make himself known.
Villeneuve leads the rem- nants of the party that ruled Quebec City from 2008 to 2021 under then-mayor Régis Labeaume. The party’s leader in the 2021 election, Marie-Josée Savard, lost the mayoralty to Marchand by 834 votes.
Her party, though, elected 10 councillors and formed the official Opposition. Of those 10 councillors, there are now only two – Villeneuve, in the Maizerets-Lairet district, and Véronique Dallaire in Les Saules-Les Méandres. The others chose not to run again or defected to Marchand’s party.
Québec d’Abord, as of this writing, has recruited only 10 of the 21 candidates for a full slate. Villeneuve hinted at the press conference there were even some candidates yet to be announced in the room.
Villeneuve said, “I think I’m the second choice of many people, if not most people in the city” and that he doesn’t “have much further to go to become the first choice.”
He said he’s been talking to people who think Marchand “does not deserve a second mandate” and that Hamad “is not a serious candidate.”
Asked in English how it feels to be the underdog in the mayoral race, Villeneuve said, “I like to be the underdog. It’s a good story to tell.”
He said, “I’m ready to be mayor. I’m pretty confident, but it will be tough, and it should be tough to become mayor of Quebec. You have to earn it.”
According to his Québec d’Abord bio, prior to becoming a city councillor in 2021, Villeneuve “served as an adviser and speechwriter to Premier Pauline Marois. He then made a name for himself in Quebec City’s media landscape as a columnist for the Journal de Québec.”
Villeneuve also founded Limoilou-based AV3 – Collaboratoire, a shared workspace that supports local startups.
Originally from Métabetchouan, in Lac-Saint-Jean, Villeneuve came to Quebec City in 2002 to study law and economics.