François Legault has indeed convinced Quebecers to “continue”. His government will begin the 43e legislature with a gain of 13 deputies. The Parti Québécois and the Liberal Party of Quebec are losing their feathers again, after the Coalition avenir Québec (CAQ) succeeded in breaking their alternation in power in 2018. Here is what the 2022 Quebec elections led to.
The Coalition avenir Québec elected 89 deputies, a “strong mandate” as demanded by the Prime Minister in the campaign. François Legault’s party thus exceeds the threshold necessary to form a majority government by 26 seats.
With its 89 deputies, the CAQ won 71.2% of the seats in the Blue Room. At the time of writing (midnight), the party had won 41% of the popular vote. By way of comparison, in 2018, the party won 59% seats and 37% of the votes.
Seat changes by party
In addition to retaining all of the seats held at the dissolution of Parliament, the CAQ party managed to capture 13 new constituencies, thanks in particular to several star candidates such as Martine Biron, in Chutes-de-la-Chaudière, and Bernard Drainville, in Lévis. All his ministers who were seeking a new mandate as deputy were re-elected, including Geneviève Guilbault, Christian Dubé, Simon Jolin-Barrette, Jean-François Roberge and Benoit Charette.
Despite the debacle of 2018, the Liberal Party of Quebec managed to save the furniture, by keeping, among other things, 16 strongholds in Montreal and remaining the official opposition. After a three-way battle, leader Dominique Anglade was narrowly re-elected in her riding of Saint-Henri–Sainte-Anne. The formation still lost four seats, including that of Hull, passed to the hands of the CAQ.
There will be little change in the composition of the members of Québec solidaire. The two co-spokespersons, Gabriel Nadeau-Dubois and Manon Massé, were both re-elected. The riding of Verdun was still hotly contested at the time these lines were written.
After experiencing its worst electoral result since 1976 in the last ballot, three Parti Québécois deputies will hold the fort for this 43e legislature. The leader of René Lévesque’s party, Paul St-Pierre Plamondon, will enter the National Assembly to represent the citizens of Camille-Laurin, formerly Bourget.
Although the Conservative Party of Quebec was not elected in the last election, MP Claire Samson joined the party after leaving the CAQ last summer. However, she did not show up. The formation of Éric Duhaime failed to elect a deputy, the leader having himself lost in Chauveau.
What were the tightest fights?
Several constituencies were the scene of heated struggles during the evening. As of midnight Tuesday, the Verdun winner was still to be determined. Solidarity candidate Alejandra Zaga Mendez led the race with a lead of only 114 votes.
The two ridings of Beauce are also part of this list, having been targeted as “pivots” by Qc125 throughout the campaign. The promises of Éric Duhaime’s Conservative Party particularly resonated with the citizens of the region, who ultimately failed to elect a deputy.
Female representation
The composition of the deputies of the Blue Room will again be in an equal zone, with 58 women and 67 men elected at the end of the campaign. With 46% of parliamentarians, the proportion of women MPs continues to reach the parity zone in addition to progressing slightly since the last election, when 44% of women were brought to power. Remember that the parity zone is between 40 and 60% of female deputies.
The CAQ, which won a large majority, is of course the party that brought the most women into the Blue Room. However, it was the Liberal Party that elected the highest proportion of female MPs, with 65%.
New recruits
Forty deputies will enter the National Assembly for the first time this fall, more than half of whom come from the CAQ formation. A majority of deputies (68 out of 125) were elected for the first time in 2018, a record.