Continuons. The Coalition Avenir Québec (CAQ) slogan roughly translates to "Let's go on." The CAQ actually increased its numbers, based on unofficial results from last night's election in Quebec.
François Legault won 89 seats last night, compared to 76 seats at the dissolution of the assembly and 74 seats in 2018. The party took seats from the Parti Québécois in the east and Liberal seats surrounding the island of Montréal. The CAQ took 7 PQ seats and 5 Liberal seats.
Liberal leader Dominique Anglade, in her first election as leader, watched her party fall from 31 seats in 2018, 27 seats as the race began, to 23 seats last night. The Liberal Party dominated the island of Montréal as the preferred party of anglophones but there was very little red outside the island.
Québec solidaire, the left-wing party with Gabriel Nadeau-Dubois with Manon Massé are co-spokespeople, must love the number 10 (Guy Lafleur's number) with 10 seats last night, same as the 2018 election.
The Parti Québécois sank to a new low with only 3 seats, lowest in party history. Party leader Paul St-Pierre Plamondon did win his seat; the party had 7 seats at the start of the election cycle, down from the 10 seats won in 2018.
The irony was that the Parti Québécois had a higher vote share (unofficially) than any party outside of the CAQ. The Liberals and Conservative Party, no relation to the federal party, with Éric Duhaime as the leader had similar vote totals yet the latter party didn't win a single seat. The Conservative Party had 1 seat on a floor crossing before the dissolution of the assembly.
Back-to-back majorities solidify CAQ as a powerhouse. https://t.co/2LGj9AHyCo
— CBC News (@CBCNews) October 4, 2022
The Coalition Avenir Québec has a stronger majority despite troubles during the campaign. Jean Boulet, CAQ immigration minister, spoke at a debate in Trois-Rivières and reportedly said,"80 per cent of immigrants go to Montreal, do not work, do not speak French or do not adhere to the values of Quebec society." Hours later, Legault told the Chamber of Commerce of Metropolitan Montreal that immigration above 50,000 per year would be "suicidal" to the province. "If we increase the number of immigrants while French is in decline, it would be a bit suicidal for French."
The Liberals got off to a slow start in the campaign. The fight on Bill 96 wasn't as strong as it could or should have been.
The Québec solidaire lost momentum defending what had been labelled as "le tax orange."
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Kateri Champagne Jourdain (CAQ) from the Duplessis riding is the first female Indigenous MNA in the history of Quebec.
Legault said the CAQ elected more women than any other party in history. The party had 40 women win, up 12 from the 2018 election. The Liberals elected 15 women of its 23 seats, down 1 from 2018. Québec solidaire went from 5 women in 2018 to 3 women in 2022. The Parti Québécois had 4 women in 2018 and fell to 0 in 2022.
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We noted when victory speeches feature French in other Canadian provinces. Legault did speak briefly in English, vowing to be the "premier of all Quebeckers." "When I say that Quebeckers form a great nation I mean all Quebeckers, from all regions, of all ages, of all origins."
Difficult to know how sincere that was on the heels of Bill 96 and Bill 21 along with the use of the notwithstanding clause.
Bill 21 should reach the Supreme Court of Canada during this Legault term. We will be curious if there is a more conciliatory path toward anglophones and allophones in the next 4 years.
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The Ontario-Quebec comparisons have a few layers. Both were 2022 elections. Right-wing parties that had failing track records on COVID-19 where the population didn't seen retribution. The Nova Scotia election in 2021 turned on handling of COVID-19 among other issues.
Quebec was not as bad as Ontario was but had issues that other provinces avoided. Like Ontario, the Quebec populace wasn't eager to punish the right-wing party in charge for how the pandemic was handled.
The economic insecurity didn't affect either incumbent government.
The big difference: Ontario set a new low with a 43% turnout. Quebec's turnout was down a couple of points yet rested at 64% in 2022.
photo credit and Twitter capture: CBC News
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