By Tracey Arial
www.thesuburban.com
Jacques Daoust, who joined the Liberal team five weeks ago, won the Verdun riding on Monday night with more than 15,000 votes. The riding had a 69% voter turnout.
Daoust, who is 66 years old, became a politician to help revive trust in the government from people in the business community. He joins Carlos Leitão and Martin Coiteau as part of a three-wise-men team Philippe Couillard chose to help fix the financial economic section.
“My connection is with the financial and business world. The other guys are more for the economy as such. That’s why I decided to do that. After 32 years, I suppose I have the experience. I’m not trying to be prime minister. I just want to be a good MNA and make sure that things are heading in the good direction.”
Daoust earned more than double the total votes in Verdun. His closest competitor, Lorraine Pintal from the Parti québécois got a little less than a quarter of the votes. CAQ candidate Benoit Richer got 12% and Québec solidaire candidate Rosa Pires got 10%.
Daoust lives in Verdun and says he loves his urban home because of the trees, the quiet and the easy accessibility to downtown Montreal. As a boater, he enjoys its location on the St. Lawrence River and the ready access citizens have to water, both for their own leisure and as a potential tourist incentive. He says that access must be protected and improved.
As a Nun’s Island resident, he also supports building a school and he’s also keen on making sure that the Verdun mainland and his home island get connected by a bridge.
He also wants to update the hospital where he was born.
“At that time it was really top of the line. It had dedicated people, you see. They still have dedicated people, but we don’t have an up-to-date facility. That needs to happen.”
Daoust is also very concerned about housing on the mainland. He says that updating the older buildings is becoming expensive; in too many cases, people are leaving Verdun rather than updating their homes.
“We want to subsidize those who are renovating their houses,” he said. “That may be one way to keep Verduners in Verdun. “We also need more rental apartments with three bedrooms because that will mean that people will stay here for a long time.”
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