Women are reaching a record number in the National Assembly and are getting closer and closer to perfect parity. At the time of this writing, they had won or were on track to do so in 58 constituencies, which represents a total of 46.4% of the 125 seats.
This is a little more than when the National Assembly was dissolved. They were then 55 women to sit in Quebec, representing 44% of all deputies. Remember that the parity zone is between 40 and 60% of female deputies.
“We elected the largest number of women in the history of Quebec,” rejoiced François Legault in his victory speech on Monday evening.
Unsurprisingly, it was the CAQ that elected the most MNAs, with a total of 40 women, or 45% of the CAQ team. But it is in the PLQ that the percentage of women is the highest. The 15 new deputies represent 65% of the party’s deputation.
Québec solidaire elected 3 women, which represents 30% of the new team. The Parti Québécois and the Conservative Party failed to elect any women.
CAQ
Strong woman of the Legault government, Deputy Prime Minister Geneviève Guilbault was re-elected hands down in Louis-Hébert.
Treasury Board Minister Sonia LeBel was re-elected in Champlain. The Ministers of Culture, Nathalie Roy, in Montarville, the Minister for Transport, Chantal Rouleau, in Pointe-aux-Trembles, and the Minister of Tourism, Caroline Proulx, in Berthier, were also re-elected.
Another star candidate of the CAQ, journalist Martine Biron also won her bet by being elected in Chute-de-la-Chaudière. Just like Kateri Champagne Jourdain, who took over Duplessis, left empty by PQ member Lorraine Richard.
Objections
Unsurprisingly, Manon Massé, co-spokesperson for Québec solidaire, kept her riding of Sainte-Marie–Saint-Jacques, which she has represented since 2014, just like Ruba Ghazal in Mercier and Christine Labrie in Sherbrooke.
In the Liberal Party, leader Dominique Anglade was re-elected. MPs Marwah Rizqy, Jennifer Maccarone, Michelle Setlakwe and Filomena Rotiroti will again represent women in the Liberal Party.
In the PQ, outgoing MP Méganne Perry Mélançon lost the seat she held in Gaspé.
On the side of the Conservative Party of Quebec, the actress Anne Casabonne also failed to be elected.
hopes
On the last day of the campaign, Sunday, the outgoing Prime Minister, François Legault, had indicated his hope of having more women by his side. “My ambition is to make history with the greatest number of women elected to the National Assembly,” he said.
At the time of the dissolution of the government, the CAQ was however just under the parity zone, with 39% of female deputies. But François Legault managed to get a total of 69 candidates who presented themselves in his team under the banner of the CAQ. This represented 55% of all CAQ applications.
In the Québec solidaire team, there were 70 women, for a total of 56%.
The Parti Québécois and the Liberals both recruited 43% women candidates, while the Conservative Party did not reach the parity zone, with a total of 38% women.
But it is the Liberal Party, which, at the time of the dissolution of the National Assembly, had the most women in its caucus, with 56% elected.
Within the five main parties, women accounted for 47% of the candidates. This is a few points less than in 2018, when women represented 47.4% of candidates.