The CAQ won 90 of the 125 seats in the National Assembly, giving the party a strong mandate for the next four years. But there are other important elements from the night of the elections. Here are five.
Historic victory
The CAQ, which was created just 11 years ago, has cemented its place in Quebec politics with a second majority. The party managed to win an even larger share of seats with a brand of nationalism that eschewed the traditional independence debate to focus on Quebec identity and strengthening the French language. It is the first time a party other than the Liberals or Parti Québécois has won consecutive elections in Quebec since 1956. In his acceptance speech, Legault said he will focus on helping Quebecers deal with inflation, as well as developing a green economy and improving the province’s education system and health care network. He also vowed to be the prime minister of “all Quebecers.”
Red island in a sea of blue dust
The CAQ dominated rural and suburban ridings across the province, creating an electoral map almost entirely made up of CAQ dust blue. But the party again failed to make inroads on the Island of Montreal. The island remains largely liberal red and Québec Solidaire orange. It is home to many anglophones and a diverse population that opposes the CAQ’s language and secularism laws, as well as the Legault laws comments about immigrants during the campaign he also angered many Montreal voters. After the CAQ’s victory in 2018, Montreal Mayor Valérie Plante called on the government to prioritize public transport and environmental protection. He’s likely to do it again this week.
Liberals, PQ see their power waning
The Liberals and Parti Québécois, the main forces in provincial politics since the collapse of the Union Nationale in 1970, saw their share of the vote shrink further on Monday. The Liberals led with 23 seats late Monday, up from 27 at the break, with a dismal showing among French-speaking voters. The PQ was expected to win only three seats – out of seven – although leader Paul St-Pierre Plamondon managed to get a seat in the National Assembly. Both parties will need to rethink their approach – and how to draw voters away from the CAQ – if they hope to regain lost ground in the next election.
Québec Solidaire is stable
Québec Solidaire has made steady gains since it was founded in 2006. But the left-wing mainstream party, led throughout the campaign by its representative Gabriel Nadeau-Dubois, only increased its number of seats by one, to 11. It was a disappointment for a party that had hopes of forming the Official Opposition and became Legault’s primary target during the campaign. In his concession speech, Nadeau-Dubois said he would push the CAQ to take a stronger position on environmental issues, a focus of his campaign. “It’s not too late to act. It’s not too late to change our minds,” he said.
The popular vote does not translate into seats
Four parties—the Liberals, the PQ, the QS and the vanguard Conservative Party of Quebec—had between 13 and 15 percent of the vote. But their seat share varied widely, from the Liberals with 23 to nil for the Conservatives, a rising right-wing party that opposes many pandemic public health restrictions. Conservative leader Eric Duhaime said the result was further evidence of the need for electoral reform. “We are, in a way, stuck in the electoral distortion of the century,” he said. Nadeau-Dubois and St-Pierre Plamondon also drew attention to the matter. “Rarely have we had such a disproportionate result,” St-Pierre Plamondon said. Legault had promised reforms during the 2018 campaign, but abandoned that promise in his first term. He dismissed calls for change during the campaign. Watch highlights from the leaders’ speeches:
Election night speeches by Quebec party leaders
The leaders of Quebec’s biggest political parties thanked their supporters as voters sent the CAQ majority government back to the National Assembly.