The Gleaner asked the candidates representing the six main political parties running in the Châteauguay-Les Jardins-de-Napierville riding a series of questions relating to border security, agriculture, the local economy, and the issues they feel are the most pressing at this time.
Nathalie Provost – Châteauguay – Les Jardins-de-Napierville
Nathalie Provost is the Liberal candidate for the Châteauguay – Les Jardins-de-Napierville riding in this election.
Provost says that the border is a “delicate and sensitive subject.” Due to the situation in the United States, more people have been coming to Canada seeking asylum. “Immigration is an integral part of Canada’s fabric and history, of which I am very proud. New Canadians have fueled our economy in the past, and have the potential to support our economic growth,” she says. It’s important to her that people who immigrate to Canada have the right to social services. However, “Canada should not have to suffer the consequences of U.S. actions,” to the point of straining its resources. There are also proper channels to use. Provost ensures that a Liberal government will support provinces like Quebec so they can take in new immigrants without a cost to Canadian citizens. She also says she would ensure law enforcement agencies at the border have the resources they need to keep communities safe.
Provost wants to help support small businesses, particularly in rural areas. “A Liberal government will take key initiatives to invest in businesses and workers, reduce paperwork, and defer corporate income tax payments and GST/HST remittances from April 2 to June 30, 2025, providing up to $40 billion in liquidity to businesses,” she says.
The plan consists of temporarily eliminating the one-week waiting period for employment insurance benefits, covering up to $8,000 in apprenticeship costs, and creating more training opportunities in skilled trades as well as funding the Union Training and Innovation Program from $25 million to $50 million annually. Provost emphasizes that “A government led by Mark Carney will firmly resist President Trump’s tariffs, create new jobs, lower taxes for the middle class, and build the fastest growing economy in the G7.”
The Liberals are committed to defending supply management, especially in sectors like dairy products, poultry, and eggs. Provost’s goal is to make sure food is going from Canadian farms to Canadian plates. The Liberals want to raise the income protection for farmers from $3 million to $6 million per farm and make it permanent as part of the AgriStability program. They also plan to establish a $200-million national food-processing fund to help strengthen domestic processing capacities.
Provost’s party plans to combat the tariffs by “protecting the Canadian identity by strengthening Radio-Canada and CBC, protecting Canadian agri-food workers and strengthening the sector, diversifying Canadian trade by improving its trade infrastructure, and protecting Canadian automotive sector workers against American tariffs.” She also plans to help integrate social services including dental care, childcare services, and services for seniors. “I pledge to work tirelessly within a new Liberal government to improve the quality of life for citizens in the county,” she says. (CF)
Patrick O’Hara – Bloc Québécois
Patrick O’Hara is the Bloc Québécois candidate for the Châteauguay – Les Jardins-de-Napierville riding. He acknowledges the tension at the border, and while he says Quebecers are a welcoming population, the “floodgates were opened for far too long.”
“The Bloc agrees with the Quebec National Assembly that we need to slow down border entry to take the time to do things right. The situation is so important and worrying that on April 10, here in Saint-Bernard-de-Lacolle, Bloc Québécois leader Yves-François Blanchet proposed the creation of a Minister of Borders, who would be accountable to parliamentarians,” he says.
O’Hara supports the buy local movement. “The Bloc is proposing to pass a law that would require a guarantee of Quebec and Canadian content when Ottawa awards contracts, or even when the Canadian government grants subsidies to projects,” he says.
He plans to help small and medium-sized Enterprises (SMEs) compete with American corporations by “forcing Canada Post to offer the same postal rates as large companies benefitting from volume discounts, forcing credit card issuers to lower interchange fees to 0.5 per cent, and abolishing the GST on second-hand goods sold in stores and on repair bills.”
Protecting supply management is important to O’Hara. He explains that the Bloc Québécois has coansistently supported the strategy. “When I say that the Bloc is the party of supply management, it’s because we’re the only ones who want to enshrine it in law, and we’ve tabled a bill to that effect on two occasions,” he says.
Based on conversations throughout his campaign, O’Hara says, “I can tell you that the legitimate concerns of the county’s citizens are the threat of Trump and also the deficiency of water infrastructures to offset the turbulence related to climate change.” For the first issue, he reiterates once again the importance of protecting supply management, which includes agriculture, the dairy industry, aviation, aluminum, and lumber. As for the second, he says, “The Bloc Québécois is calling for the renewal of the amounts injected into the TECQ program.”
He also mentions old age pensions as another issue that is important this election, and he believes in a “ten-per cent increase in old age pensions to restore purchasing power to seniors aged 64 to 75.” (CF)
Nicolas Guérin – People’s Party of Canada
Nicolas Guérin is the representative for the People’s Party of Canada in the Châteauguay – Les Jardins-de-Napierville riding. He acknowledges that border control is one the most pressing issues of this election, saying that “Illegal entries overwhelm our resources and undermine national sovereignty.” His plan for this consists of “a moratorium on new permanent residents, the deportation of illegal migrants, and strengthened controls by the RCMP and CSIS.”
As for his economic plan, Guérin says that “The PPC will eliminate corporate subsidies, which unfairly favour large corporations with lobbyists, and instead propose reducing the corporate tax rate from 15 to 10 per cent and abolishing the capital gains tax.” He supports the end of supply management and says, “The end of supply management, demanded by Trump under the USMCA, will bring an end to a system that poses a challenge to our food sovereignty,” and adds that the PPC’s goal is to “take a prudent approach by phasing out supply management while supporting small agricultural businesses during this transition.”
Guérin has plans to negotiate a better free-trade agreement and says that “Abolishing the capital gains tax will facilitate the transfer of family farms, while reducing the corporate tax rate will support the economic viability of agricultural operations.”
During this election, Guérin is noticing citizens in significant distress over the current state of the country. One of the most important things for him is that “Canadian values – freedom, responsibility, fairness, and respect – rooted in our Judeo-Christian heritage, are under threat from official multiculturalism and woke ideology. We will repeal the Multiculturalism Act to promote the integration of immigrants into the local cultures that enrich each province. We will protect free speech by abolishing laws like C-16.” His goal is to offer concrete solutions to this. (CF)
David De Repentigny – Conservative Party of Canada
David De Repentigny is the Conservative Party candidate for the Châteauguay – Les Jardins-de-Napierville riding. He says, “Border security is a critical issue in this region, not just for national integrity, but also for public trust,” and explains that border issues affect both migrants and nearby residents. “We need to restore full operating capacity at our official ports, invest in frontline resources, and ensure immigration is orderly, fair, and sustainable,” he says. “People feel that we’ve helped beyond our means, and now our own families are paying the price. There is growing anxiety around national debt, rising food prices, unaffordable housing, and the kind of future we’re leaving to our children,” he adds.
Concerning the economy, De Repentigny has plans to help small businesses, including eliminating the carbon tax. “Rural businesses rely on fossil fuels to operate, and this tax hurts them disproportionately,” he says. He also supports the Capital Gains Deferral for Canadian-owned businesses, explaining that “When a small business is sold — especially to a family member — the seller can reinvest without immediately triggering a tax bill.”
He also plans to defend supply management, and he supports Quebec having full control over its temporary resident immigration to speed up the authorization of foreign workers.
Concerning tariffs, “When tariffs are imposed on our producers, the revenue collected should be returned directly to the affected sector,” he says. He also plans to “remove interprovincial trade barriers that limit Canadian farmers from accessing markets within their own country,” to allow Canadian agriculture to grow. His final promise to farmers is that his party will “eliminate unnecessary regulations that hold back our producers. That means trusting our farmers, scientists, and industry experts, not Ottawa bureaucrats, to guide agricultural policy.”
De Repentigny says he wants to incentivize housing development and plans to offer “$25,000 to municipalities that reduce development fees and red tape.”
De Repentigny also mentions that there is a growing frustration around firearm policy. “Many residents feel unfairly targeted by the federal government. He says that the concerns of gun owners are real and need to be addressed. (CF)