Quebecers are casting ballots Monday after the leaders of the province’s five main parties made their last pitches to voters.
The 39-day campaign covered a broad range of issues, from sovereignty and nationalism to immigration, labour rights and help for families.
The Parti Québécois (PQ), which wants Quebec to leave Canada and has pledged a referendum on the question in 2029, has been ahead in the polls since the campaign began. A new Leger survey for Journal/TVA Nouvelles shows the party with 29 per cent support and a 16-point edge among francophones.
Leader Paul St-Pierre Plamondon has spent much of the campaign on the attack, courting voters eager for a new government. The Leger poll found 77 per cent of Quebecers want change after eight years under the Coalition Avenir Québec (CAQ), whose time in office St-Pierre Plamondon has called “catastrophic.”
The PQ has not governed since 2014, and it is not yet clear whether it can secure a majority in the National Assembly. Still, St-Pierre Plamondon has steadily grown the party’s support.
Holding a sovereignty referendum is still at the heart of the PQ’s platform, though St-Pierre Plamondon has promised not to hold one while Donald Trump is U.S. president. And despite the party’s lead in the election race, recent polling on a referendum shows the federalist side in front.
The PQ is also presenting itself as the party that can fix Quebec’s finances after the province ran a $7.2-billion deficit last fiscal year. On the campaign trail, its candidates say voters have raised worries about the cost of living, homelessness, immigration, language policy and economic uncertainty linked to the U.S.
Economist and PQ candidate Marceau said a PQ government would rein in spending, cut business taxes and scale back subsidies to multinational companies. The party has promised a balanced budget by 2028-29.
CAQ Leader Christine Fréchette, whose party has faced steady criticism over its eight years in power, said over the weekend she is relying on undecided voters to make the difference. Early in the campaign, she framed Trump as her true rival and said the CAQ would stand up for Quebec in dealings with Ottawa as trade talks go on.
The earlier notes still apply: Marceau needs a first name, and the referendum polling and trade-talks lines should be checked against the original reporting.
