At the end of a campaign that experts considered to be hotly contested, the candidate of the Parti Québécois (PQ), Pascal Paradis, against all expectations, was elected with a strong majority ahead of the candidate of the Coalition Avenir Québec (CAQ), Marie -Anik Shoiry. With the wind in its sails during the latest polls, the PQ has managed to gain the trust of a large majority of Jean-Talon’s voters.
“Tonight, the Parti Québécois is back in Quebec, the Parti Québécois is back in Quebec… This evening, dear friends, we have demonstrated beyond any doubt that the CAQ is no longer invincible… It is the first time in the entire great history of our political formation, the first time in 55 years since our founding, that we have managed to win in Jean-Talon,” rejoiced Paul St-Pierre Plamondon.
The victory of the PQ is unequivocal. It represents the progressive rise of the PQ in the latest polls. However, the dominant factor in this rise of the PQ towards its growing popularity rests, in my opinion, largely on its leader, Paul St-Pierre Plamondon, who succeeded, upon his appointment as leader of the party, in relaunching the PQ on the path to credibility by adopting honesty and transparency both in its press briefings and in the National Assembly.
Furthermore, the CAQ’s procrastination in the third link issue certainly worked against it and created a very legitimate doubt among citizens about the transparency of François Legault and his team. Add to this the devastating upheavals caused by labor shortages in health and education, which undeniably affect the credibility of the CAQ.
Finally, the convincing victory of the PQ in a riding recognized for years as a fortress of the Liberal Party of Quebec (PLQ) and captured by the CAQ in the last election demonstrates to what extent the sovereignist movement is gradually regaining its letters of nobility on the Quebec political scene.