Top Qs
Timeline
Chat
Perspective

2022 Quebec general election

Canadian provincial election From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

2022 Quebec general election
Remove ads

The 2022 Quebec general election was held on October 3, 2022, to elect the members of the National Assembly of Quebec.[4] Under the province's fixed election date law, passed in 2013, "the general election following the end of a Legislature shall be held on the first Monday of October of the fourth calendar year following the year that includes the last day of the previous Legislature",[5] setting the date for October 3, 2022.

Quick Facts 125 seats in the National Assembly of Quebec 63 seats needed for a majority, Turnout ...

Premier François Legault's Coalition Avenir Québec (CAQ) increased its parliamentary majority in the election. The Liberals dropped to their lowest raw seat count since 1956, their lowest percentage of seats won since 1948 and their lowest share of the popular vote in their history.[6] The Parti Québecois (PQ) had its worst general election result in history, losing most of its seats, but nevertheless managed to elect its previously seatless leader Paul St-Pierre Plamondon.[7]

Previous promised plans for electoral reform were scrapped in 2021; as such, the election produced a highly distorted result which is common in Quebec's first past the post voting system.[8] As Liberal votes were concentrated on the Island of Montreal, the party received more seats than the rest of the opposition parties combined, remaining the official opposition despite finishing fourth in the popular vote. In contrast, the Conservatives increased their share of the vote to 13%; however, as their support was more spread throughout Quebec, they did not win any seats.[9] Quebecers elected the highest number of female candidates to the National Assembly in the province's history at 59, roughly 47% of the total number of seats.[10]

Remove ads

Background

Summarize
Perspective

The 2018 general election resulted in a landslide victory for the Coalition Avenir Québec (CAQ) led by François Legault, which won 74 of 125 seats, giving the party a majority and unseating Philippe Couillard's Liberal Party after a single term in office. Couillard subsequently resigned as Liberal leader and was replaced on an interim basis by Pierre Arcand until his successor was chosen.[11][12]

Both the Parti Québécois and Québec solidaire won ten seats each, fewer than the twelve needed for official party status; Parti Québécois leader Jean-François Lisée, defeated in his bid for re-election, resigned as party leader, replaced on an interim basis by Pascal Bérubé until his permanent successor was chosen.[13][14] Adrien D. Pouliot, leader of the Conservative Party of Quebec, announced that he was stepping down as leader on October 16, 2020.

Following Couillard's resignation, the Quebec Liberal Party held a leadership race. Dominique Anglade, former Deputy Premier of Quebec, was acclaimed leader of the party after her only rival, former mayor of Drummondville, Alexandre Cusson, stepped down. Following a leadership race, Paul St-Pierre Plamondon was elected leader of the sovereignist party by the members and supporters of the Parti Québécois. Following Pouliot's resignation, the Conservative Party of Quebec held a leadership race. Éric Duhaime, a radio host and former political advisor, was elected as leader with just under 96% of the vote.

Name change of electoral district

In its 2022 amendments to the Charter of the French Language, the National Assembly of Quebec also provided for renaming the electoral district of Bourget as Camille-Laurin,[15] in honour of the Cabinet minister who promoted the original law.[16]

Political parties and standings

The table below lists parties represented and seats held in the National Assembly after the 2018 provincial election and at dissolution.

More information Name, Ideology ...

Timeline

Graph of Quebec general election results by share of votes, 1993–2022; omitted are minor parties consistently registering less than 2% of the vote as well as those who campaigned intermittently.
Graph of Quebec general election results by seats won, 1993–2022; those of independent MNAs are omitted.
More information Party, Gain/(loss) due to ...
More information Seat, Before ...
  1. from positions of Liberal Party leader and MNA
  2. for allegedly leaking confidential information to the CAQ in 2016
  3. claiming that the party had lost its way ideologically
  4. after winning the election for Mayor of Longueuil
  5. to spend more time with family
  6. amid further investigations relating to sexual assault allegations
  7. for breaking COVID-19 restrictions
  8. amid an ethics probe
  9. amid disagreements with party leadership
  10. after giving a donation to the Conservative Party of Quebec
  11. after allegations of workplace harassment

2018

2019

2020

2021

2022

Campaign

Summarize
Perspective

Contests

More information Candidates nominated, Ridings ...

Timeline

  • August 28, 2022: Campaign period officially begins with the calling of an October 3 election.
  • September 1, 2022: PQ Parti Québécois leader Paul St-Pierre Plamondon stages an event in Ottawa.[37]
  • September 4, 2022: Radio-Canada's Five leaders, one election.
  • September 7, 2022: (CAQ) Coalition Avenir Québec Premier François Legault apologizes for comments linking immigration and 'extremism,' and 'violence'.[38]
  • September 11, 2022: In a speech in Drummondville (CAQ) Coalition Avenir Québec Premier François Legault, Says that non-French speaking immigration threatens Quebec cohesion. He was criticized by the leaders of Quebec solidaire, Quebec Liberal and Parti Québécois.[39]
  • September 12, 2022: (CAQ) Coalition Avenir Québec Premier François Legault defends the comments he said the day before about immigration.[40]
  • September 15, 2022: First leaders debate TVA Leaders' Debate.[41][42]
  • September 22, 2022: Radio Canada's Leaders' Debate.
  • September 28, 2022: (CAQ) Coalition Avenir Québec Premier François Legault says during a speech, that having higher immigration numbers would be suicidal for Quebec and the French language. Legault was criticized by the other party leaders.[43][44][45]
    • CAQ Immigration and labour minister Jean Boulet walks back from his past comments during a debate a few days before. He said that 80% of immigrants go to Montreal, don't work, don't speak French and don't adhere to the values of Quebec.[46]

Party slogans

More information Party, French ...

Issues

More information Issue ...

Role of disinformation during the campaign

During the campaign, the issue of online political disinformation misleading voters has been raised by outlets including the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC). In September 2022, the CBC reported that opponents of COVID-19 pandemic restrictions used Facebook to spread a false rumor that Legault was booed out of a restaurant. According to CBC, "The post is one of many on social media that are misleading or outright false, with real-world consequences to both those who read it and to those involved in the event".[67]

According to the Centre for Media, Technology and Democracy (MTD) at McGill University, false allegations that polling outlets are unfairly biased against certain parties have spread on social media. Some online supporters of the Conservative Party of Quebec alleged collusion between the governing Coalition Avenir Québec (CAQ) and polling firm Léger. In response, a citizens' initiative emerged on Facebook urging individuals to file complaints over Léger, despite the fact that Élections Québec has no power to regulate the polling industry.[68]

Remove ads

Candidates

Summarize
Perspective

The candidates standing for election generally had the following characteristics:

More information Characteristic, Party ...

Incumbents not running for reelection

More information Electoral district, Date announced ...

Candidate controversies

Quebec Liberal Party

  • Deepak Awasti, the party's candidate in Laurier-Dorion, for denying Quebec's right to register itself as a nation within the Canadian constitution and to have French as its sole official language, contrary to his party's official position.[95]

Parti Québécois

  • Pierre Vanier, the party's candidate in Rousseau, for past social media posts emerged where Vanier expressed anti-Islamic views. He was suspended as a candidate.[96]
  • Catherine Provost, the party's candidate in L’Assomption, for past social media posts emerged where Provost expressed Anti-Islam views.[97]
  • Lyne Jubinville, the party's candidate in Sainte-Rose, for past social media posts emerged where Jubinville expressed Anti-Islam views.[98][99]
  • Andréanne Fiola, candidate for Laval-des-Rapides, previously made porn. Party leader Paul St-Pierre Plamondon defended Fiola and condemned the individuals who outed her.[100]
  • Paul St-Pierre Plamondon's use of the word nègre during a televised debate. [101]

Québec Solidaire

  • Marie-Eve Rancourt, the party's candidate in Camille-Laurin, withdrew from the race after she was caught removing PQ leaflets.[102]
  • Gabriel Nadeau-Dubois' use of the nègre during a televised debate.[101]

Coalition Avenir Québec

  • Shirley Dorismond, the party's candidate in Marie-Victorin, for blocking numerous constituents and electors on social media after facing criticisms on her comments about the September 13, 2022 floods in Longueuil.[103]

Opinion polls

Summarize
Perspective

This chart depicts opinion polls conducted since the 2018 election, using a local regression. The table below provides a list of scientific, public opinion polls that were conducted from the 2018 Quebec general election leading up to the 2022 Quebec general election, which was held on October 3, 2022.

Thumb
Evolution of voting intentions since the 2018 Quebec general election campaign. Plot generated in R from data in the table below. Trendlines are local regressions, with polls weighted by proximity in time.
More information Timeline of opinion polls, Polling organisation ...
Thumb
Francophones Polling
Thumb
Anglophones Polling

Cancelled electoral reform referendum

Summarize
Perspective
Quick Facts

François Legault was elected on a promise to reform the electoral system within a year of his victory. On September 25, 2019, Minister of Justice Sonia LeBel presented Bill 39, An Act to establish a new electoral system which aims to replace the first-past-the-post electoral system in favour of a mixed-member proportional representation system. According to the bill, the National Assembly would have kept 125 members. Of the 125 members, 80 would have been elected by receiving a plurality of votes in single-member districts, similar to the existing system, matching the 78 federal ridings with the addition of 2 unique districts: Îles-de-la-Madeleine and Ungava. The remaining 45 members would have been chosen according to their order in a regional party list. All 17 regions of Québec would have been guaranteed at least one MNA.[104]

The proposed system was as such:

More information Federal region, Provincial region ...

Bill 39 was intended to be debated in the legislature before June 2021. The bill's implementation would have been contingent on popular support expressed in a referendum held on the same day as the general election.[105] Had this referendum been successful, then the first legislature to be elected under mixed-member proportional would have been the 44th, in October 2026 at the latest. On April 28, 2021, Justice Minister LeBel informed a legislative committee hearing that the government would not move forward with a referendum on electoral reform in 2022. LeBel blamed the COVID-19 pandemic for altering the government's timeline and could not or would not commit to providing an alternate date for the referendum, effectively ending discussions about electoral reform in Quebec.[106]

Remove ads

Results

Summarize
Perspective

All parties experienced uneven results across the province:

  • While the CAQ saw its share of the vote rise by over 10 percentage points from 2018 in 21 ridings, its support also declined in 38 ridings, most significantly in those in Centre-du-Québec and Chaudière-Appalaches.[107] In those regions, and in Mauricie, the contests were between the CAQ and the Conservatives.[108] In Quebec City, the QS is also a significant player.[108] In the Côte-Nord and Saguenay–Lac-Saint-Jean its principal opponent is the PQ.[108]
  • The Liberal Party lost support in all ridings, with the exception of Marquette, and its decline in the ridings along the Orange Line in Montreal worsened from 2014.[107] In Saguenay–Lac-Saint-Jean, its share of the vote fell to 4%, and in the Côte-Nord it dropped to 3%.[108]
  • Québec Solidaire lost the riding of Rouyn-Noranda–Témiscamingue only because of a swing from the Liberals to the CAQ.[107]
  • While the PQ lost several strongholdsnotably in Jonquière, René-Lévesque and Rimouskiits support remained stable in 29 ridings and showed small gains in 28 others.[107]
  • The Conservative Party saw its total share of the vote increase ninefold with its percentage vote share rising in all contests, and in 12 ridings it increased by more than 20 percentage points. In addition to its strong gains in the regions south of Quebec Citywith several second-place resultsit also received significant anglophone support in the West Island ridings of Nelligan, Robert-Baldwin and D'Arcy-McGee.[107]

In Beauce-Nord, the Conservatives sought a judicial recount as they had come within 202 votes of defeating the CAQ incumbent Luc Provençal. The application was dismissed by the Court of Quebec.[109]

Overview

Thumb

More information Party, Leader ...

    Synopsis of the riding results

    More information Riding, Winning party ...
    1. "Data archives". www.dgeq.org. Élections Québec. Retrieved May 22, 2024.
    2. "Les résultats électoraux depuis 1867" [Electoral results since 1867] (in French). National Assembly of Quebec. Retrieved May 12, 2024.
    3. including spoilt ballots
    4. All parties with more than 1% of the vote are shown individually. Independent candidates and other minor parties are aggregated separately. Parties are presented in the order shown on EQ data.
    5. Balarama Holness of Bloc Montreal receuved 1,701 votes.
      = 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

    Comparative analysis for ridings (2022 vs 2018)


    More information Riding and winning party, Turnout ...
    1. Drawn from "Data archives". www.dgeq.org. Élections Québec. Retrieved May 22, 2024.
    2. Share won by winning candidate, with difference noted from share achieved by the same party in 2018.
    3. Positive indicates improvement to standing of party winning in 2018; negative points to 2018's second-place party being swung to.

    Post-election pendulum

    The robustness of the margins of victory for each party can be summarized in electoral pendulums. These are not necessarily a measure of the volatility of the respective riding results. The following tables show the margins over the various 2nd-place contenders, for which one-half of the value represents the swing needed to overturn the result. Actual seat turnovers in the 2022 election are noted for reference.

      = seats that turned over in the election
    More information Post-election pendulum - 2022 Quebec general election ...

      Results summary by region

      More information Region, Seats ...

      Detailed analysis

      More information Party in 1st place, Party in 2nd place ...
      More information Parties, Seats ...
      More information Party, 1st ...

      Seats changing hands

      More information Party, Gain from (loss to) ...

      The following seats changed allegiance from the 2018 election:

      * - byelection gains held

      More information Source, Party ...

      Incumbent MNAs who were defeated

      More information Party, Riding ...

      Significant results among independent and minor party candidates

      Those candidates not belonging to a major party, receiving more than 1,000 votes in the election, are listed below:

      More information Riding, Party ...

      Notes

      1. Québec solidaire designates Nadeau-Dubois and Manon Massé as co-spokespeople. Nadeau-Dubois was the party's candidate for premier during the 2022 election.[2] The party's power is held by the general meetings of the members and a board of 16 directors; the de jure leader recognized by the Chief Electoral Officer of Quebec (DGE) is Nicolas Chatel-Launay.[3]
      2. Including PVQ at 1%
      3. Including PVQ at 2%
      4. Including PVQ at 2%
      5. Including PVQ at 3%
      6. Including PVQ at 3%
      7. Including PVQ at 3%
      8. Including PVQ at 2%
      9. Archived August 14, 2019, at the Wayback Machine
      10. Archived November 7, 2020, at the Wayback Machine
      Remove ads

      References

      Loading related searches...

      Wikiwand - on

      Seamless Wikipedia browsing. On steroids.

      Remove ads