1970 Quebec general election

The 1970 Quebec general election was held on April 29, 1970, to elect members of the National Assembly of Quebec. The former Legislative Assembly had been renamed the "National Assembly" in 1968, with its members now known in English as Members of the National Assembly (MNAs).

1970 Quebec general election

← 1966 April 29, 1970 1973 →
← outgoing members elected members →
108 seats in the 29th National Assembly of Quebec 55 seats were needed for a majority
First party Second party   Leader Robert Bourassa Jean-Jacques Bertrand Party Liberal Union Nationale Leader since January 17, 1970 October 2, 1968 Leader's seat Mercier Missisquoi Last election 50 seats, 47.29% 56 seats, 40.82% Seats won 72 17 Seat change 22 39 Popular vote 1,304,341 564,544 Percentage 45.40% 19.65% Swing 1.9% 21.17%   Third party Fourth party   PC Leader Camil Samson René Lévesque Party Parti créditiste Parti Québécois Leader since March 22, 1970 October 14, 1968 Leader's seat Rouyn-Noranda Laurier (lost re-election) Last election pre-creation pre-creation Seats won 12 7 Seat change 12 7 Popular vote 321,370 662,404 Percentage 11.19% 23.06% Swing 11.19% 23.06
Premier before election Jean-Jacques Bertrand Union Nationale Premier after election Robert Bourassa Liberal

In the election, the Quebec Liberal Party, led by Robert Bourassa, defeated the incumbent Union Nationale, led by Premier Jean-Jacques Bertrand.

This election marked the first appearance by a new party, the sovereigntist Parti Québécois, led by former Liberal cabinet minister René Lévesque. The PQ won a modest seven seats and came second in the popular vote, although Lévesque was defeated in his own riding.

Only a few months after the election, Quebec faced a severe test with the October Crisis, in which Liberal cabinet minister Pierre Laporte was kidnapped and assassinated by the Front de libération du Québec, a violent pro-independence group.

The Union Nationale, which had governed Quebec through most of the 1940s and 1950s, would never come close to winning power again. This was partly because a significant number of the Union Nationale's younger supporters had embraced sovereigntism and shifted their support to the PQ.

Campaign

The Liberals, Unionists and péquistes all fielded full slates, and the créditistes also nominated 99 candidates, so most constituencies experienced at least four-way contests:

Riding contests, by number of candidates (1970)^[1]

Candidates	Lib	UN	PQ	RC	Ind	NDP	I-PQ	I-Cr	Comm	Soc-W	Total
3	4	4	4								12
4	76	76	76	74		2					304
5	21	21	21	18	14	7		1	1	1	105
6	4	4	4	4	6	2					24
7	3	3	3	3	6	2	1				21
Total	108	108	108	99	26	13	1	1	1	1	466

Results

^[1]

Elections to the Legislative Assembly of Quebec (1970)

Political party		Party leader	MNAs				Votes
			Candidates	1966	1970	±	#	±	%	± (pp)
	Liberal	Robert Bourassa	108	50	72	22	1,304,341	204,906	45.40%	1.89
	Union Nationale	Jean-Jacques Bertrand	108	56	17	39	564,544	384,384	19.65%	21.17
	Ralliement créditiste	Camil Samson	99	–	12	12	321,370	321,370	11.19%	New
	Parti Québécois[a 1]	René Lévesque	108	–	7	7	662,404	458,689	23.06%	14.30
	Independent		26	2	–	2	12,528	51,906	0.44%	2.33
	Other candidates
	█ New Democratic	Roland Morin	13	–	–	–	4,374	4,374	0.15%	New
	█ Independent PQ		1	–	–	–	2,998	2,998	0.10%	New
	█ Independent Créditiste		1	–	–	–	53	53	–	New
	█ Communist	Sam Walsh	1	–	–	–	213	289	0.01%	0.01
	█ Socialist Workers		1	–	–	–	145	145	0.01%	New
Total			466	108	108		2,872,970		100.00%
Rejected ballots							57,029	11,348
Voter turnout							2,929,999	559,489	84.23	10.66
Registered electors							3,478,578	256,276

1. 1970 results compared to 1966 combined RIN/RN total

Seats and popular vote by party

Party	Seats	Votes	Change (pp)
█ Liberal	72 / 108	45.40%	-1.89
█ Union Nationale	17 / 108	19.65%	-21.17
█ Ralliement créditiste	12 / 108	11.19%	11.19		11.19
█ Parti Québécois	7 / 108	23.06%	14.30		14.3
█ Independent	0 / 108	0.44%	-2.33
█ Other	0 / 108	0.36%	-0.10

Synopsis of results

Results by riding - 1970 Quebec general election^[1][2]

Riding	Winning party								Turnout [a 1]	Votes
Name	1966		Party		Votes	Share	Margin #	Margin %		Lib	PQ	UN	RC	Ind	NDP	Other	Total
Abitibi-Est		Lib		RC	15,151	43.11%	4,320	12.29%	81.95%	10,831	4,937	4,224	15,151	–	–	–	35,143
Abitibi-Ouest		Lib		RC	6,285	46.52%	1,602	11.86%	87.66%	4,683	917	1,626	6,285	–	–	–	13,511
Ahuntsic		Lib		Lib	17,208	45.53%	972	2.57%	87.68%	17,208	16,236	3,760	588	–	–	–	37,792
Argenteuil		Lib		Lib	9,620	57.98%	5,656	34.09%	86.93%	9,620	1,563	3,964	1,345	99	–	–	16,591
Arthabaska		UN		Lib	8,715	32.13%	263	0.97%	89.88%	8,715	3,852	5,983	8,452	119	–	–	27,121
Bagot		UN		UN	4,591	37.74%	1,250	10.27%	89.29%	3,341	917	4,591	3,280	37	–	–	12,166
Beauce		UN		RC	11,804	38.45%	2,444	7.96%	84.37%	8,139	1,393	9,360	11,804	–	–	–	30,696
Beauharnois		Lib		Lib	12,384	43.00%	2,937	10.20%	89.87%	12,384	9,447	5,515	1,453	–	–	–	28,799
Bellechasse		UN		UN	6,111	50.56%	3,043	25.18%	85.73%	3,068	311	6,111	2,596	–	–	–	12,086
Berthier		UN		UN	5,387	37.72%	164	1.15%	86.29%	5,223	2,866	5,387	807	–	–	–	14,283
Bonaventure		Lib		Lib	11,803	60.39%	6,729	34.43%	83.93%	11,803	2,155	5,074	513	–	–	–	19,545
Bourassa		Lib		Lib	22,197	45.59%	1,371	2.82%	80.48%	22,197	20,826	4,265	1,401	–	–	–	48,689
Bourget		UN		PQ	15,565	40.25%	500	1.29%	85.65%	15,065	15,565	6,689	1,246	–	108	–	38,673
Brome		Lib		Lib	4,666	63.21%	3,036	41.13%	85.54%	4,666	299	1,630	787	–	–	–	7,382
Chambly		Lib		Lib	25,641	56.74%	11,273	24.95%	87.41%	25,641	14,368	3,948	1,231	–	–	–	45,188
Champlain		UN		Lib	9,334	33.06%	2,534	8.98%	86.96%	9,334	5,403	6,800	6,696	–	–	–	28,233
Charlevoix		Lib		Lib	6,602	42.59%	2,439	15.73%	85.40%	6,602	1,680	4,163	3,058	–	–	–	15,503
Châteauguay		Lib		Lib	14,536	59.53%	10,013	41.00%	87.31%	14,536	4,493	4,523	867	–	–	–	24,419
Chauveau		UN		Lib	18,469	36.61%	5,121	10.15%	85.94%	18,469	9,399	9,235	13,348	–	–	–	50,451
Chicoutimi		UN		UN	8,614	36.74%	1,283	5.47%	87.80%	7,331	7,090	8,614	409	–	–	–	23,444
Compton		UN		Lib	3,613	32.09%	270	2.40%	86.94%	3,613	1,030	3,274	3,343	–	–	–	11,260
D'Arcy-McGee		Lib		Lib	36,543	90.41%	33,313	82.42%	85.06%	36,543	3,230	647	–	–	–	–	40,420
Deux-Montagnes		Lib		Lib	12,106	54.21%	6,949	31.12%	87.86%	12,106	4,199	5,157	870	–	–	–	22,332
Dorchester		UN		RC	6,067	35.30%	1,684	9.80%	78.84%	4,383	2,490	4,245	6,067	–	–	–	17,185
Dorion		Lib		Lib	13,183	45.94%	3,525	12.28%	78.67%	13,183	9,658	4,851	859	–	–	145	28,696
Drummond		Lib		Lib	13,269	40.16%	5,420	16.41%	87.87%	13,269	6,888	5,032	7,849	–	–	–	33,038
Dubuc		UN		UN	8,793	36.19%	440	1.81%	88.20%	8,353	6,505	8,793	647	–	–	–	24,298
Duplessis		Lib		Lib	7,839	45.86%	2,227	13.03%	80.70%	7,839	5,612	3,310	331	–	–	–	17,092
Fabre		Lib		Lib	20,158	41.71%	91	0.19%	87.17%	20,158	20,067	6,213	1,613	92	182	–	48,325
Frontenac		UN		RC	5,204	38.74%	483	3.60%	84.13%	2,604	840	4,721	5,204	65	–	–	13,434
Gaspé-Nord		UN		UN	4,786	41.60%	194	1.69%	88.52%	4,592	1,990	4,786	136	–	–	–	11,504
Gaspé-Sud		Lib		Lib	8,455	49.96%	3,370	19.91%	84.06%	8,455	3,062	5,085	322	–	–	–	16,924
Gatineau		Lib		Lib	19,007	62.37%	13,886	45.56%	82.58%	19,007	3,360	5,121	2,989	–	–	–	30,477
Gouin		Lib		PQ	14,070	40.87%	12	0.03%	78.87%	14,058	14,070	5,053	1,242	–	–	–	34,423
Hull		Lib		Lib	14,478	56.97%	10,664	41.96%	75.63%	14,478	3,814	3,647	3,252	221	–	–	25,412
Huntingdon		Lib		Lib	4,170	55.44%	1,742	23.16%	80.39%	4,170	611	2,428	312	–	–	–	7,521
Iberville		UN		UN	4,110	40.17%	768	7.51%	90.07%	3,342	2,036	4,110	743	–	–	–	10,231
Îles-de-la-Madeleine		Lib		Lib	3,560	56.68%	1,275	20.30%	89.57%	3,560	366	2,285	70	–	–	–	6,281
Jacques-Cartier		Lib		Lib	25,743	67.16%	19,427	50.68%	84.72%	25,743	6,316	3,027	922	2,322	–	–	38,330
Jean-Talon		Lib		Lib	12,565	41.63%	6,068	20.10%	82.07%	12,565	6,497	6,381	4,625	114	–	–	30,182
Jeanne-Mance		Lib		Lib	21,515	48.48%	4,649	10.48%	83.81%	21,515	16,866	4,797	1,197	–	–	–	44,375
Joliette		UN		Lib	10,929	40.32%	3,235	11.93%	88.66%	10,929	7,376	7,694	1,107	–	–	–	27,106
Jonquière		Lib		Lib	15,010	49.49%	3,656	12.05%	88.64%	15,010	11,354	3,108	856	–	–	–	30,328
Kamouraska		UN		Lib	4,889	37.73%	1,136	8.77%	80.89%	4,889	762	3,555	3,753	–	–	–	12,959
L'Assomption		UN		Lib	10,754	38.30%	1,382	4.92%	87.16%	10,754	9,372	7,955	–	–	–	–	28,081
L'Islet		UN		Lib	4,000	35.99%	292	2.63%	82.20%	4,000	506	3,708	2,899	–	–	–	11,113
Labelle		UN		UN	6,263	46.41%	3,341	24.76%	84.83%	2,922	2,724	6,263	1,585	–	–	–	13,494
Lac-Saint-Jean		UN		Lib	9,339	39.76%	1,466	6.24%	89.23%	9,339	7,873	5,515	761	–	–	–	23,488
LaFontaine		UN		PQ	18,113	40.69%	2,611	5.87%	83.96%	15,502	18,113	8,948	1,731	89	128	–	44,511
Laurier		Lib		Lib	17,934	50.20%	4,331	12.12%	83.25%	17,934	13,603	3,073	1,113	–	–	–	35,723
Laval		Lib		Lib	27,262	57.64%	14,086	29.78%	84.28%	27,262	13,176	5,353	1,507	–	–	–	47,298
Laviolette		UN		Lib	6,974	28.57%	297	1.22%	85.20%	6,974	5,365	5,390	6,677	–	–	–	24,406
Lévis		UN		RC	10,268	31.14%	209	0.63%	87.54%	10,059	4,470	8,179	10,268	–	–	–	32,976
Limoilou		UN		Lib	12,582	32.78%	2,807	7.31%	84.07%	12,582	7,381	9,775	8,650	–	–	–	38,388
Lotbinière		UN		RC	4,823	35.83%	369	2.74%	87.19%	4,454	504	3,678	4,823	–	–	–	13,459
Louis-Hébert		Lib		Lib	25,026	54.09%	13,471	29.12%	87.49%	25,026	11,555	6,949	2,738	–	–	–	46,268
Maisonneuve		UN		PQ	16,012	45.16%	4,605	12.99%	77.18%	11,407	16,012	6,007	1,777	–	252	–	35,455
Marguerite-Bourgeoys		Lib		Lib	28,694	68.85%	20,787	49.88%	84.41%	28,694	7,907	3,584	850	262	378	–	41,675
Maskinongé		UN		UN	5,113	43.06%	1,299	10.94%	90.46%	3,814	757	5,113	2,190	–	–	–	11,874
Matane		Lib		Lib	8,800	41.67%	2,922	13.84%	84.93%	8,800	5,878	5,338	1,103	–	–	–	21,119
Matapédia		Lib		Lib	4,319	32.69%	514	3.89%	84.84%	4,319	3,805	2,564	871	1,655	–	–	13,214
Mégantic		UN		RC	8,201	28.79%	501	1.76%	88.09%	6,954	5,626	7,700	8,201	–	–	–	28,481
Mercier		Lib		Lib	15,337	46.65%	3,061	9.31%	79.82%	15,337	12,276	4,145	1,011	106	–	–	32,875
Missisquoi		UN		UN	6,789	40.22%	543	3.22%	84.60%	6,246	2,042	6,789	1,804	–	–	–	16,881
Montcalm		UN		UN	4,950	45.27%	338	3.09%	86.66%	4,612	1,372	4,950	–	–	–	–	10,934
Montmagny		UN		UN	5,596	42.54%	1,932	14.69%	82.25%	3,664	634	5,596	3,261	–	–	–	13,155
Montmorency		UN		Lib	9,714	32.65%	41	0.14%	87.35%	9,714	3,729	6,337	9,673	300	–	–	29,753
Napierville-Laprairie		Lib		Lib	14,408	48.71%	7,394	25.00%	80.74%	14,408	7,014	6,739	1,194	225	–	–	29,580
Nicolet		UN		UN	7,380	45.53%	1,819	11.22%	88.21%	5,561	1,764	7,380	1,505	–	–	–	16,210
Notre-Dame-de-Grâce		Lib		Lib	31,930	87.26%	29,147	79.65%	84.04%	31,930	2,783	680	357	–	843	–	36,593
Olier		Lib		Lib	22,649	50.38%	5,958	13.25%	81.52%	22,649	16,691	3,994	1,624	–	–	–	44,958
Outremont		Lib		Lib	25,955	74.21%	18,660	53.35%	86.42%	25,955	7,295	1,419	–	–	307	–	34,976
Papineau		UN		Lib	12,651	43.23%	3,648	12.47%	84.92%	12,651	2,634	9,003	4,974	–	–	–	29,262
Pontiac		UN		Lib	5,152	53.46%	1,162	12.06%	81.00%	5,152	253	3,990	242	–	–	–	9,637
Portneuf		UN		RC	11,086	38.14%	3,105	10.68%	83.82%	7,981	3,681	6,315	11,086	–	–	–	29,063
Richelieu		UN		Lib	12,047	42.01%	2,228	7.77%	89.02%	12,047	5,866	9,819	947	–	–	–	28,679
Richmond		Lib		RC	7,485	36.02%	1,137	5.47%	86.70%	6,348	3,655	3,290	7,485	–	–	–	20,778
Rimouski		Lib		Lib	9,987	35.89%	1,560	5.61%	85.67%	9,987	8,427	5,247	4,168	–	–	–	27,829
Rivière-du-Loup		UN		Lib	8,586	41.40%	1,001	4.83%	86.03%	8,586	2,008	7,585	2,558	–	–	–	20,737
Robert-Baldwin		Ind		Lib	46,169	87.46%	41,316	78.26%	86.86%	46,169	4,853	1,769	–	–	–	–	52,791
Roberval		UN		Lib	9,845	37.85%	2,609	10.03%	84.64%	9,845	5,977	7,236	2,956	–	–	–	26,014
Rouville		UN		Lib	6,564	40.90%	309	1.93%	88.93%	6,564	2,327	6,255	904	–	–	–	16,050
Rouyn-Noranda		UN		RC	9,573	51.91%	5,560	30.15%	88.37%	4,013	2,756	2,101	9,573	–	–	–	18,443
Saguenay		Lib		PQ	12,392	44.77%	2,248	8.12%	82.19%	10,144	12,392	4,007	1,138	–	–	–	27,681
Saint-Henri		UN		Lib	14,096	46.88%	2,701	8.98%	79.28%	14,096	11,395	4,036	–	244	295	–	30,066
Saint-Hyacinthe		UN		Lib	10,628	38.24%	2,044	7.36%	86.53%	10,628	5,696	8,584	2,801	81	–	–	27,790
Saint-Jacques		UN		PQ	8,554	39.01%	1,490	6.80%	71.16%	7,064	8,554	5,377	848	84	–	–	21,927
Saint-Jean		UN		Lib	8,993	38.55%	2,172	9.31%	89.43%	8,993	6,821	6,605	909	–	–	–	23,328
Saint-Laurent		Lib		Lib	33,109	72.03%	23,650	51.45%	84.81%	33,109	9,459	2,917	–	–	483	–	45,968
Saint-Louis		Lib		Lib	12,303	64.71%	7,708	40.54%	70.20%	12,303	4,595	1,526	–	–	376	213	19,013
Saint-Maurice		UN		UN	11,921	36.93%	4,045	12.53%	85.86%	7,857	7,876	11,921	4,625	–	–	–	32,279
Saint-Sauveur		UN		RC	9,217	31.22%	532	1.80%	82.07%	8,685	4,912	6,712	9,217	–	–	–	29,526
Saint-Anne		Ind		Lib	8,914	48.00%	4,039	21.75%	70.02%	8,914	3,809	804	–	5,045[a 2]	–	–	18,572
Sainte-Marie		UN		PQ	10,707	42.57%	2,513	9.99%	73.11%	8,194	10,707	5,165	1,088	–	–	–	25,154
Shefford		UN		UN	10,480	33.21%	1,636	5.18%	87.00%	8,844	4,113	10,480	8,124	–	–	–	31,561
Sherbrooke		UN		Lib	17,319	34.26%	5,603	11.08%	84.25%	17,319	10,783	10,421	11,716	–	307	–	50,546
Stanstead		Lib		Lib	8,897	49.10%	3,973	21.92%	84.04%	8,897	2,000	2,300	4,924	–	–	–	18,121
Taillon		Lib		Lib	16,501	42.63%	5,363	13.86%	80.56%	16,501	11,138	4,997	2,826	247	–	2,998	38,707
Témiscamingue		Lib		Lib	3,747	43.88%	902	10.56%	84.17%	3,747	499	1,448	2,845	–	–	–	8,539
Témiscouata		UN		UN	3,929	35.51%	573	5.18%	84.68%	3,356	877	3,929	2,901	–	–	–	11,063
Terrebonne		UN		Lib	30,452	45.54%	12,467	18.64%	85.42%	30,452	17,985	13,406	5,028	–	–	–	66,871
Trois-Rivières		UN		Lib	12,899	39.84%	4,193	12.95%	81.15%	12,899	6,995	8,706	3,778	–	–	–	32,378
Vaudreuil-Soulanges		Lib		Lib	11,841	50.12%	5,452	23.08%	84.88%	11,841	4,183	6,389	1,158	–	–	53	23,624
Verchères		Lib		Lib	14,822	53.23%	6,796	24.41%	86.65%	14,822	8,026	3,995	1,001	–	–	–	27,844
Verdun		Lib		Lib	23,630	59.85%	14,332	36.30%	83.53%	23,630	9,298	4,129	1,117	1,121	186	–	39,481
Westmount		Lib		Lib	32,703	85.30%	29,056	75.78%	80.47%	32,703	3,647	1,126	336	–	529	–	38,341
Wolfe		UN		UN	3,712	44.40%	1,630	19.50%	88.76%	2,082	706	3,712	1,860	–	–	–	8,360
Yamaska		UN		Lib	3,826	46.88%	487	5.97%	86.90%	3,826	558	3,339	438	–	–	–	8,161

1. including spoilt ballots
2. Frank Hanley (4,875 votes) was the incumbent

  = open seat

  = turnout is above provincial average

  = winning candidate was in previous Legislature

  = incumbent had switched allegiance

  = previously incumbent in another riding

  = not incumbent; was previously elected to the Legislature

  = incumbency arose from byelection gain

  = other incumbents renominated

  = previously an MP in the House of Commons of Canada

  = multiple candidates

Analysis

Elections to the National Assembly of Quebec – seats won/lost by party, 1966-1970

Party		1966	Gain from (loss to)										1970
			Lib		UN		RC		PQ		Ind
	Liberal	50			25			(3)		(2)	2		72
	Union Nationale	56		(25)				(9)		(5)			17
	Ralliement créditiste	–	3		9								12
	Parti Québécois	–	2		5								7
	Independent	2		(2)									–
Total		108	5	(27)	39	–	–	(12)	–	(7)	2	–	108

Party candidates in 2nd place^[1]

Party in 1st place		Party in 2nd place					Total
		Lib	UN	RC	PQ	Ind
	Liberal		24	10	37	1	72
	Union Nationale	16			1		17
	Ralliement créditiste	9	3				12
	Parti Québécois	7					7
Total		32	27	10	38	1	108

Candidates ranked 1st to 5th place, by party^[1]

Parties	1st	2nd	3rd	4th	5th
█ Liberal	72	32	4
█ Union Nationale	17	27	56	8
█ Ralliement créditiste	12	10	14	58	5
█ Parti Québécois	7	38	33	30
█ Independent		1		2	14
█ New Democratic			1	5	6
█ Independent PQ				1
█ Independent Créditiste					1
█ Communist					1
█ Socialist Workers					1

Resulting composition of the 28th Quebec Legislative Assembly^[2]

Source		Party
		Lib	UN	RC	PQ	Total
Seats retained	Incumbents returned	34	17			51
	Open seats held	8				8
	Ouster of incumbent changing allegiance	1				1
	Byelection loss reversed	1				1
Seats changing hands	Incumbents defeated	24		7	7	38
	Open seats gained	3		5		8
	Incumbent changing allegiance	1
Total		72	17	12	7	108

See also

• List of Quebec premiers
• Politics of Quebec
• Timeline of Quebec history
• List of Quebec political parties
• 29th National Assembly of Quebec
• New Democratic Party of Quebec candidates, 1970 Quebec provincial election

Further reading

• Saywell, John, ed. (1971). Canadian Annual Review for 1970. Toronto: University of Toronto Press. ISBN 978-0-8020-1818-2.