This is Montreal

Public transit hasn’t exactly been front and centre during the campaign, despite many municipalities and transit advocates calling for major investments. Montreal’s metro needs fixing, off-island municipalities need better service and transit corporations everywhere are asking for more stable funding. So with so many demands, what should the transit priorities be? Plus, host Ainslie MacLellan rides along with a committed Huntingdon transit commuter and has a humbling revelation about the challenges of regional transit.

With no English-language debate and a legal controversy over English information on voter cards, some English-speaking Quebecers are calling for more attention to their concerns in this election. This is Montreal producer Rebecca Ugolini joins Ainslie MacLellan to look at how English-speaking groups have tried to assert themselves on the political scene over the years, including by forming new political parties. And young English-speaking voters share what really matters to them in this election, beyond language.

Which party wants to cut temporary immigration by half? Which party would privatize management of some hospitals? Who wants to extend Quebec’s language laws to adult education? What about creating a provincial telehealth system? Or raising the minimum wage? CBC’s Quebec election platform tracker takes you through each party’s stance, issue by issue. Reporter Holly Cabrera gives us a behind-the-scenes look at putting the platform tracker together and highlights some promises you may have missed on the campaign trail.

It’s often repeated that Quebecers pay the highest taxes of any jurisdiction in North America. CBC reporter Ben Shingler breaks down how the tax burden on Quebecers compares to elsewhere and what we get for it. And we’ll hear why some economists are saying that any government intervention to help with the cost of living needs to be targeted to the people who need it the most.

The Quebec election campaign has only just begun but already party leaders have been running a gauntlet of complex issues: from the trade war with the US, to Quebec sovereignty, to the cost of living crisis. There are several new party leaders in the mix, the incumbent Coalition Avenir Québec and the Quebec Liberal Party are trailing the Parti Québécois and polls show many voters are still undecided. So how are candidates trying to find their footing in this uncertain landscape before Quebecers go to the polls on October 5? Host Ainslie MacLellan sits down with CBC National Assembly reporter Cathy Senay and This is Quebec guest host Allison Van Rassel to break down the tumultuous start to the campaign.