Bienvenue to the 2018 Quebec election season. The official kickoff will be tomorrow, a maximum 39 days for the campaign. Premier Philippe Couillard of the Liberal Party factored in that the Labour Day weekend is in the middle of the campaign. Couillard could have gone as short as 33 days for the campaign leading up to the October 1 election.
The Quebec election doesn't have the same players as other Canadian elections. There are no "Conservatives" or "NDP" or even the "Green Party." If you recall the 2014 election, you might remember the Parti Quebecois, the provincial version of what was the Bloc Quebecois in Ottawa.
The Coalition Avenir Québec is considered centre-right by Quebec standards. The party is relatively new and not tied down by being nationalists or federalists. This is only the 3rd provincial election (2012, 2014) for this party.
The Liberals now have 67 seats, down from 70 MNA (members of the national assembly) elected in 2014. The Parti Québécois under Jean-François Lisée have 28 MNAs, down from 30 at the last election. The CAQ under François Legault have 21 seats, down from 22 in the 2014 election.
The Québec solidaire under Manon Massé have 3 seats with 6 Independents in the assembly in Quebec City.
There will be 125 seats up for grabs in the National Assembly of Quebec, 63 seats needed for a majority.
The Liberals have been dominant in office in the last 15 years, except for the short-lived Parti Québécois minority government of Pauline Marois (2012-2014). Despite the Liberals large lead in current MNAs, there is a significant threat in this election and not from the official opposition in the PQ. The CAQ is the leader in polls at the start of the campaign.
There will be 3 debates in the campaign: Radio-Canada on September 13; CBC on September 17; and TVA on September 20. The CBC debate will be the first ever English-language debate.
You might recall that Pierre Karl Péladeau was head of the PQ in 2015-2016. Péladeau is the president and CEO of Quebecor Inc., owners of TVA and a potential Quebec Nordiques franchise.
Bill 62 is very troubling but does offer insight into what Quebec thinks
2018 Canadian politics preview
Quebec says non to Parti Quebecois, sovereignty (2014)
CanadianCrossing.com Canadian politics coverage
You might recall that the Liberals in Quebec passed Bill 62 on pressure from the other parties to push through something a lot stronger. The 2018 election won't have sovereignty on the ballot for the first time in about half a century. We shall see how Quebec wants to be governed free from the ropes of sovereignty.
The slightly longer campaign means more time to attack the reigning Liberals but could also expose the inexperience from the PQ and CAQ leadership.
The timing of the Quebec election means there won't be a conflict with the start of the 2018-2019 Montréal Canadiens season in Toronto 2 nights after the election.
photo credit: here
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