Amid sovereignist infighting, Qubec Solidaire looks to gain momentum in Gouin byelection

A walk into GabrielNadeau-Dubois'scampaign office can feel a little like a walk back in time five years back, to be exact.

The former student leader, a powerful political force during the student unrest of 2012, has brought familiar faces from the red square movement on board for theGouinbyelection.

One afternoon this week,RenaudPoirier St-Pierre, his pressattach dating back to the days ofcasserolesprotests, conferswith a group of young volunteers hunched over laptops,while a group of older women holdovers from the days ofFranoiseDavid make cold calls to undecided voters.

• Manon Mass, Gabriel Nadeau-Dubois become new voices of Qubec Solidaire

"What is beautiful in this campaign is that we have a mix of people that I have been working with since the student mobilization of 2012, but also people who have been working forFranoisein the last years,"Nadeau-Dubois, now 26,said in an interview.

Nadeauis hoping that mixresonates with voters when they go to the pollsMondayto choose a replacement for David, one ofQubecSolidaire'sfounders,who quit politics earlier this year.

Thebyelectionis viewed as the first big test for Qubec Solidaire since the party chose Nadeau-Dubois and MNA Mannon Mass as its co-spokespeople and rejected a proposed strategic alliance with the Parti Qubcois.

• WhyQubecSolidaire rejected alliance with the Parti Qubcois

Nadeau-Duboisis the perceivedfrontrunner in a crowded field of 13 candidates.

His chief opponents are Liberal Jonathan Marleau, who up until the start of hisbyelectioncampaign wasthe head ofparty's youth wing, Benjamin Blair, a philosophy teacher for Coalition AvenirQubec,Option Nationale'sVanessa Dion and Quebec Green Party leader Alex Tyrrell.

Blair, at 39 years old, is the oldest of the five.

Fallout from sovereignty squabble?

TheParti Qubcoisopted not to run a candidate in Gouin, where Davidwon with more than 50 per cent of the popular vote in 2014.

That decision was made long before last week, whenQubecSolidaire rejected the proposedalliance at its annual convention.

PQ leader Jean-Franois Lise has attacked QS in the days since, saying the decision was made by "radicals" in the party's "Politburo" and at odds with the wishes of most progressives in the province.

QubecSolidaireholds onlytwo seats in the National Assembly, but is seen as a threat to the PQ's left flank, potentially siphoning crucial votes in tight races in next year's general election.

Speaking at his office, Nadeau-Duboisacknowledged he had been bracing for a "huge backlash" from voters for the decision to spurn the PQ, but said therehasn't been much talk of the decision on the campaign trail.

• PQ hunkers down after being spurned by potentialsovereignistally

"For the moment, we don't hear a lot, honestly," said Nadeau-Dubois.

Nadeau-Dubois, who led a series ofdiscussion forumsacross the province last year, stressed the need for increased school funding and improved environmental protection during the campaign.

Gouin, a riding made up of students and young families in parts of LaPetite-Patriealong withparts ofRosemont,has traditionally voted PQ,but shifted to QubecSolidaire following the student protests.

"Gouinwas in 2012 one of the strongholds of the casseroles movement. It's a very mobilized neighbourhood foryears,they have been against the austerity measures of the Liberal government," Nadeau-Dubois said.

Liberals hope to capitalize

Marleau, for his part, has tried to bill himself as a different kind of Liberal, even inviting disappointed PQ supporters to give him their vote.

At his campaign launch last month alongside Premier Philippe Couillard, Marleau pointed out that, like Nadeau-Dubois, he also wore a red square, banged pots and pans and "denounced systemic racism."

"I'm black. I am a member of the LGBTQ community, I come from a low-income family, I am a public school student, I am currently studying at UQAM and I am a member of the Liberal Party of Quebec," he said.

On Sunday, he was still going door-to-door, making a final pitch to voters.

"I'm not running against GabrielNadeau-Dubois, I'm running for the people ofGouin," Marleausaid.

"People were expecting some kind of convergence and I get the sense supporters of theParti Qubcoisare disappointed, and they're looking for another option."

Polls are openMondaybetween9:30 a.m. and 8 p.m.About seven per cent of eligible voters cast a ballot in advanced polls.