Low voter turnout in Montreal's west end shows Anglo disillusionment with Liberals

The Quebec Liberal Party is being hit by a stark realizationafter suffering a major defeat in Monday's election: it may no longer be able to count on the anglophone vote.

While the Liberals carried the Anglo enclaves of western Montreal, voter turnout wasdown dramatically, and some constituentsare saying the party didn't give them enough reason to cast aballot.

It's a reality the party mayhave to reckon with as long as the threat of a referendum remains distant, as it was in the 2018 campaign: Coalition Avenir Qubec, which will form a majority government, preached Quebec nationalism within Canada and the Parti Qubcois promised not to hold a referendum in its first mandate.

"I decided that I was voting really against the Liberals," said D'Arcy-McGee voter Jay Eidemiller.

She said that as she grows older, she's worried about access to high-qualityhealth care.

Soshe voted for Qubec Solidaire. Eidemillersaid she was not expecting QS to form the government but wanted to support the growing leftistparty not seeing much difference among the platforms of theother three.

Only Qubec Solidaire, which tripled its seat count but still fell short of reaching official party status, said itwould work towardsa referendum on sovereigntyif itformed government.

"I didn't see separation as a big deal this time," Eidemillerconcluded.

Turnout in 2 ridings below 50 per cent

While overall turnout was down compared to 2014, initial results suggest the participation rate was even lower in western Montreal ridings that have long been Liberal strongholds below 50 per cent in both D'Arcy-McGee and WestmountSaint-Louis.

Even so, the Liberals were never in danger of losing those seats.

In D'Arcy-McGee, Liberal candidate David Birnbaum was re-elected with 74.4 per cent of the vote, while QS's Jean-Claude Kumuyangewas a distant second with just 7.2 per cent.

The result was similar in WestmountSaint-Louis, where Jennifer Maccarone won 66.7 per cent of the vote, followed by Ekaterina Piskunova from Qubec Solidaire with 10.3 per cent.

Terry Tull said that she's feeling fatigued by politics because of events south of the border.

Another D'Arcy-McGeeconstituent, shedid not vote in the election.

"I find that with the politics and what's going on in the States, I'm physically exhausted by the lies and corruption," she said, adding that she's seeing the same thing makeits way into Canadian politics.

"I really am not interested this year. We'll see what happens next year," she said.

Voices unheard?

Theodore Klein said he's disappointed by the low turnout in D'Arcy-McGee and across the West Island.

"I think it's sad," he said."I think people don't realize how much power [the political parties]have over their lives, over how government is run."

Watching the debates, he said, it didn't seem as if there was much of a difference in how the parties would treat the province's anglophones.

"People don't think their voices would be heard," he said.

• Franois Legault's CAQ swept to power by suburbs, rural regions and francophones
• 8 maps that explain Quebec's surprise election results
• For all CBC's 2018 election coverage, go to Quebec Votes 2018

Dollard-des-Ormeaux resident Jacques Boucher voted Liberal, only because as a federalist he felt he had no other option.

"I voted Liberal holding my nose," he said.

"I'd rather live with the devil I know than the god that I don't."

He says he was surprised that the CAQwon more than enough seatsto form a majority government.

With files from CBC reporter Kate McKenna