Francois Legault has indeed convinced Quebecers to “continue”. His government will begin the 43e legislature with a gain of 14 deputies. the Parti Quebecois and the Quebec Liberal Party lose feathers again, after the Future Quebec Coalition (CAQ) succeeded in breaking their alternation in power in 2018. Here is what the 2022 Quebec elections led to.
The Coalition avenir Québec has elected 90 deputies, a “strong mandate” as requested by the prime minister in campaign. François Legault’s party thus exceeds the threshold necessary to form a majority government by 27 seats.
With its 90 deputies, the CAQ won 72% of the seats in the Blue Room against only 41% of the popular vote. By way of comparison, in 2018, the party won 59% of the seats and 37% of the votes.
Seat changes by party
In addition to retaining all of the seats held when Parliament was dissolved, the CAQ party managed to capture 14 new ridings, thanks in particular to the election of 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, keeping, among other things, 15 castles in Montreal and remaining the official opposition. After a three-way fight, the chef Dominique Anglade was narrowly re-elected in her riding of Saint-Henri–Sainte-Anne. The formation still lost six seats, including that of Hull, passed to the hands of the CAQ.
There will be little change in the composition of the deputies of Solidarity Quebec. Nine of his outgoing deputies will return in the fall, with two new colleagues at their side, the deputies for Maurice-Richard and Verdun. However, the party lost the riding of Rouyn-Noranda, which was the scene of major debates about the Horne Foundry this summer.
After experiencing its worst electoral result since 1976 in the last ballot, three Parti Québécois deputies will stand guard for this 43e legislature. The party leader of Rene Levesque, Paul St-Pierre Plamondon, will enter the National Assembly to represent the citizens of Camille-Laurin, formerly Bourget. The member for Îles-de-la-Madeleine, Joël Arseneau, and that of Matane-Matapédia, Pascal Bérubé, retain their seats.
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 ofEric 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. The Verdun race dithered all Monday evening, and it was ultimately the solidarity candidate Alejandra Zaga Mendez who won the race. She collected 30.8% of the vote while her main opponent, the liberal Isabelle Melançon, follows her closely with 29.3%.
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, but the party 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 62%.
New recruits
Forty-one deputies will enter the National Assembly for the first time this fall, more than half of whom come from the CAQ training. A majority of deputies (68 out of 125) were elected for the first time in 2018, a record.
With Sandrine Vieira