(Quebec) It’s done: Quebec will go to the polls on October 3rd. Prime Minister François Legault met his Council of Ministers virtually on Sunday morning to adopt the decrees ordering the dissolution of the House. He then met with Lieutenant-Governor Michel Doyon to ask him to dissolve the National Assembly and call the elections.
Posted at 9:38
Updated at 10:02 a.m.
Under a radiant sun on Parliament Hill in Quebec City, Mr. Legault made a first brief scrum by walking between the Honoré-Mercier building, where the Department of the Executive Council is located, and the André-Laurendeau building, where are located the offices of Mr. Doyon.
François Legault said he takes nothing for granted and that he aims to obtain a majority government on October 3. “Trust is earned every day,” he said.
PHOTO EDOUARD PLANTE-FRÉCHETTE, THE PRESS
Premier François Legault visited Lieutenant Governor Michel Doyon with his wife Isabelle Brais.
His priorities for the next few weeks will be education, health, the economy, identity issues (such as the French language or secularism) and the environment, a theme he neglected during the last election campaign. Mr. Legault will hold a press briefing in Quebec City in the morning, then will travel to the Saguenay–Lac-Saint-Jean region in the afternoon.
The leader of the Liberal Party, Dominique Anglade, was also present Sunday morning in Quebec. She will hold a rally on Sunday afternoon in Montreal. Gabriel Nadeau-Dubois of Québec solidaire launches his electoral campaign in Sherbrooke, while Paul St-Pierre Plamondon of the Parti québécois will kick off in the riding where he is trying to get elected, Camille-Laurin, in Montreal . Éric Duhaime of the Conservative Party is participating in a militant rally in the Quebec region.
PHOTO EDOUARD PLANTE-FRÉCHETTE, THE PRESS
Liberal leader Dominique Anglade
The election campaign will last 36 days. The leaders will cross swords during two national debates, the first on the TVA network, on September 15, and finally on September 22 on Radio-Canada. Several issues will certainly mark this campaign, in particular the question of the cost of living, while inflation is high in Quebec as elsewhere, but also the question of public safety in Montreal, marked by an increase in armed violence.