André Fortin

André Fortin represents the riding of Pontiac in Quebec's National Assembly as a member of the Quebec Liberal Party. Pontiac is one of the most geographically distinctive ridings in Canada — a large, mostly rural, anglophone-majority riding in western Quebec that has returned Liberal MNAs for generations, largely because Quebec Liberals have historically been the vehicle for anglophone and allophone Quebecers' interests in the provincial legislature. Fortin has served as the Liberal transportation critic and has been one of the party's more active voices in the National Assembly during a difficult period for the Liberals, who have been reduced to a rump caucus by the CAQ's dominance of suburban francophone Quebec. He has advocated for rural road infrastructure, environmental protection in the Outaouais region, and access to healthcare in rural communities — all real needs in his riding. The Quebec Liberal Party's economic record from 2003 to 2018 — the years when they governed and Fortin's political formation was shaped — is complicated. Liberal governments in Quebec presided over a period of growing healthcare wait times, stagnant productivity growth, and a fiscal framework that left the province dependent on federal equalization to fund public services at current levels. Infrastructure decisions made during those years have had long-lasting consequences for communities like those in Pontiac. Fortin is a capable and hardworking local MNA in difficult political circumstances. The bigger question is whether the Quebec Liberal Party can rebuild a credible economic platform — and what Fortin's role in that renewal looks like.