Parti Québécois wins Quebec election, reviving independence debate

The separatist Parti Québécois has won the most seats in Quebec’s provincial election, putting Paul St-Pierre Plamondon on course to become premier and bringing the question of independence back to the forefront of Canadian politics.

Canadian media projected a minority victory for the party in Monday’s vote, the BBC reported. Al Jazeera said it was not yet clear whether the Parti Québécois had reached the 64 seats needed for a majority in the 127-seat National Assembly. If it falls short, it will need opposition support to pass major legislation and survive confidence votes.

The result returns the Parti Québécois to power for the first time since 2014 and ends eight years of government by the Coalition Avenir Québec, a Quebec nationalist party that opposes independence. The Parti Québécois won just three seats in the 2022 election, according to Al Jazeera.

St-Pierre Plamondon has pledged to hold a third referendum on whether the predominantly French-speaking province should leave Canada. Al Jazeera reported that he promised to hold the vote during his first term, but said he would wait until U.S. President Donald Trump leaves office in January 2029.

Quebec voters rejected independence in referendums in 1980 and 1995. The second was decided by a narrow margin, but current support for secession stands at about 30%, according to the BBC and Al Jazeera.

Daniel Beland, a political science professor at McGill University, told The Associated Press that the election result reflected support split among several parties rather than a surge in support for independence. He said a separatist government would nevertheless pose a national-unity challenge for Prime Minister Mark Carney, particularly with an independence-related vote approaching in Alberta.

St-Pierre Plamondon has also signalled that he will challenge Ottawa on provincial matters. During the campaign, he vowed to fight any immigration increases mandated by Carney’s government, the BBC reported. He pledged to “abolish the monarchy in Quebec” and redirect money spent on its institutions to social services.

“We are going to do what we have to do to get the monarchy out of Quebec, repatriate those funds, and send them to social causes,” he told reporters in late September. He suggested defunding the office of Quebec’s lieutenant-governor, who represents King Charles III in the province, and using the money to address homelessness. The BBC reported that the plan would likely face significant legal challenges because of the monarchy’s constitutional role. The lieutenant-governor also grants royal assent to provincial laws.

The BBC reported that Coalition Avenir Québec’s longtime leader, François Legault, lost significant support among voters and that the party’s effort to revive itself by replacing him with Christine Fréchette was unsuccessful. Fréchette conceded her re-election race in Trois-Rivières and said she would work with St-Pierre Plamondon on the transition. The Quebec Liberal Party won the second-most seats, while the Quebec Conservative Party gained seats, according to the BBC.

Carney congratulated St-Pierre Plamondon and said he looked forward to working with him on jobs, housing, homelessness and support for businesses and workers affected by U.S. tariffs. “Building a stronger Québec is core to our mission of building a stronger Canada,” he wrote on social media.