Outremont by-election candidates face off at debate

Outremont candidates debate Julia Sanchez, Rachel Bendayan, Michel Duchesne and Daniel Green faced each other.

With less than one week until voters in Outremont head to the polls in a by-election, many candidates faced each other in a debate.

NDP candidate Julia Sanchez is hoping to hold onto the riding, which was a Liberal stronghold until Tom Mulcair was elected in 2007.

At the debate she said a key issue was taking strong action against climate change.

"Our governments have all the information. They know that what we're doing by propping up the oil industry is going to kill us, and I'm not being dramatic here. This is a real climate crisis. And so it's having an impact on the quality of life of people in Canada and all around the world. We are among the top ten polluters in the world," said Sanchez.

Daniel Green, deputy leader of the Green Party, echoed that sentiment.

"We see it door to door. Green values are very strong in Outremont. They say that people in Outremont are the most educated riding in Canada and they would like to vote Green and they should vote Green and it would be a revolution if Outremont were to vote Green and send a strong message that here in Outremont we believe in Green values and buying a pipeline is a bad idea," said Green.

Liberal candidate Rachel Bendayan also spoke about social housing and said her party has a plan to help tenants.

Rents have increased enormously and people out of the Plateau and the Mile End because they can't afford to live there anymore. The Liberal party has put forward a plan. It's the national housing strategy. It plans on building 100,000 new social housing units, renovating and repairing 300,000 existing units, answering directly the needs of my community here in Outremont," said Bendayan.

The Conservative candidate for the rating, Jasmine Louras, missed the debate for personal reasons, while the Bloc candidate Michel Duchesne did not speak to CTV News.

Former NDP leader Tom Mulcair vacated the riding last August after accepting a teaching position at the University of Montreal.

The by-election is taking place on Monday, Feb. 25.