Bloc Québécois takes Nunavik-Eeyou

Nunavik has a new, sovereigntist member of parliament following the narrow victory of Yvon Lévesque, the Bloc Québécois candidate in the Nunavik-Eeyou riding.

The election was a cliffhanger for Lévesque who was trailing Liberal incumbent Guy St-Julien by a few hundred votes around 10:30 on election night.

But a little after midnight, the tide turned and Lévesque won by a few more than 400 votes.

Getting out the vote on Monday from Bloc-friendly voters in the southern part of the riding is how Lévesque won the election — and, even then, it was a tight race.

But Lévesque wasn’t surprised. ”I was relaxed. I’d done what I’d said I would do. I’m like that — I do what I say I will. I did everything I could, and we all worked very hard,” Lévesque said on Tuesday morning from Val d’Or.

According to the final tally, Lévesque received 12,503 votes or 45.01 per cent of the ballots cast, while St-Julien received 12,067 votes or 43.44 per cent.

In Nunavik, St-Julien received 1,720 votes, or about 71 per cent; Lévesque’s support was only about nine per cent.

“I’m not surprised people in Nunavik didn’t vote for me because they have never met me, and I can understand that. Now that I’m elected, I will go and meet them. I will do every municipality and community,” Lévesque promised.

Only about 40 per cent of the registered voters cast ballots in Nunavik, while in the southern centres of Val d’Or and Chibougamou, the turnout was heavier and both towns went for Lévesque.

“Many people felt it would be even more pronounced in my favour,” Lévesque said. ”People were frustrated by the sponsorship scandal, the wasting of money. They believe the Bloc will look after their interests in this respect. It was the Bloc’s credibility against the Liberals’ lack of credibility. That’s what did it.”

Overall in the riding, François Dionne, from the Conservative Party, received 1,252 or 4.51 per cent of the vote; Pierre Corbeil of the NDP, 1,090 votes or 3.92 per cent; Martin Fournier of the Green Party, 866 or 3.12 per cent.

In Nunavik, the Green Party did even better, winning about seven per cent of the vote, mainly from Inukjuak, Kangiqsujuaq and Kangiqsualujjuaq, while the NDP received about eight per cent of the vote, mainly from Salluit, Inukjuak, Kuujjuaq, Umiujaq and Kuujjuaraapik. The Conservative Party received about five per cent of the vote in Nunavik.

In 2000, St. Julien defeated the BQ candidate by a comfortable margin of 2,631 votes. In 1997, St-Julien handily re-took the seat he had lost in 1993 during the last BQ sweep of Quebec.

But in this federal election, the BQ won back many of those Quebec seats, winning two-thirds of Quebec’s ridings and sending many well-known Liberal members into defeat.

The result of this province-wide upset is that residents of Nunavik now have a member of parliament they don’t know well.

Lévesque is a sovereigntist “from the heart,” but he says his election means northern communities will have a strong, honest voice in Quebec’s “sovereigntist project.”

“Quebec has to adapt its future and consider ideas coming from the northern communities if it wants to realize its project of independence. I’m committed to do it,” said Lévesque before his election.

An electrician, Lévesque has worked as a union negotiator and advisor. He has a love of the outdoors and has served as the head of Quebec’s camping association.

Among his campaign promises is a commitment to increase the importance of research and education in the region.

Lévesque also said he would work on developing wind power as an alternative energy source in the riding.