Number of ‘phantom' NDP candidates in Quebec a sign of party's distress: experts

Winnipeg Free Press

24-04-2025

MONTREAL – Jérémie Juneau's candidate page on the NDP website is just on orange square, with no photo, no biography and no link to a social media page.
And voters in the northwestern Quebec riding of Abitibi-Témiscamingue where he is running might not have much luck learning about him, as he campaigns on a part-time basis without election signs, a campaign director or volunteers.
'I'm literally alone,' the 29-year-old Amos, Que., resident said in an interview Wednesday. 'There's a song about it,' he added a moment later, humming a few notes of Eric Carmen's 'All By Myself' over a spotty Wi-Fi connection.
Juneau isn't the only one. Days before the April 28 vote, there was no photo or biographical information on the NDP website for more than 20 of its 78 candidates running in Quebec, in what two political scientists describe as another sign of distress for a party fighting to remain a presence in the province.
All parties have so-called paper candidates who help parties fill out their slates but have little chance of winning and often a limited presence in the field. In Quebec, they are known as 'candidats poteaux,' or 'pole candidates,' seen only in election signs on utility poles.
It's a title Juneau doesn't fully reject. While he lives in the riding — unlike many paper candidates — he also works two construction-related jobs, including one that requires seven-day shifts. He says he doesn't mind campaigning by himself, but his work schedule means he's unable to meet as many voters as he'd like.
In 2011, the NDP swept to power in Juneau's riding, as part of the 'orange wave' that saw the party win 59 Quebec seats. But 14 years later, the riding is held by the Bloc Québécois, the NDP riding association is dormant and party members are few and far between.
'It's as if the party doesn't exist in the riding,' Juneau said.
Tari Ajadi, an assistant professor of political science at McGill University, sees the number of NDP paper candidates as a 'marker of distress' for a party that 'aims to be a national party, but doesn't have the resources or the capacity to really leverage that national party status.'
He said the disorganization is notable because it was guaranteed there would be an election in 2025: 'If you don't have your candidates in place or at least a riding association, some momentum, some kind of connection to the grassroots, that's a real challenge.'
The NDP appears to be focusing most of its resources in Quebec on a handful of ridings, mostly in Montreal, where the party is most competitive. The party's only Quebec MP is Alexandre Boulerice, who holds a riding in the city.
Thierry Giasson, a political science professor at Université Laval, says the NDP had little choice but to narrow its focus, given its limited numbers of volunteers and financial resources, which are generated by riding associations.
'They have to make choices,' he said in a phone interview.
As a result, while posters abound for NDP candidates such as Craig Sauvé, who is running again after finishing a close third in a byelection last fall in Montreal's LaSalle—Émard—Verdun riding, you won't see any for 78-year-old Suzanne Dufresne, who is running in the downtown riding next door.
However, Dufresne said she has received support from the party, who sent people to help her collect the last few dozen signatures she needed to confirm her candidacy.
'It's a pleasure for me to represent the NDP as a candidate, even if my adventure ends here,' the retired rail employee said ahead of a candidates' debate at a Montreal community centre.
While she has little chance of defeating longtime Liberal cabinet minister Marc Miller, she has other goals. 'I consider that the arrival of women in politics is very important,' she said. 'I'm being an example, encouraging other women.'
While Giasson and Ajadi agree the NDP had to target its limited resources, they say there is a political price to pay for running paper candidates.
Ajadi points out that failing to support longshot candidates will mean a lower share of the popular vote, and it deprives new candidates of proper campaigning experience. Giasson notes that when a candidate is largely absent, 'it's ideas that aren't circulating, it's the chance of getting people involved, in getting donations too.'
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Running 'phantom' candidates doesn't always finish badly, he noted. The 2011 orange wave saw several elected, including Ruth Ellen Brosseau, a campus-bar manager in Ottawa who had never set foot in her rural Quebec riding before becoming its MP.
Brosseau became a success, winning re-election in 2015 and becoming the party's agriculture critic before narrowly losing in 2019 and 2021. This year, she's running again in the riding, as one of the NDP's best-known faces.
Back in Abitibi-Témiscamingue, Juneau has no illusions about winning — at least this time. Instead, he's looking to rebuild the grassroots support his party needs to succeed in the future, whether or not it's him on the ballot.
'I didn't know the situation of the party in the (riding),' he said. 'But now that I know, I'll go forward for the next four years to build something back, so we can come back stronger and more prepared.'
This report by The Canadian Press was first published April 24, 2025.