Parti Québécois returns to power without a majority
Quebec’s pro-independence Parti Québécois has won the largest seat total and is preparing a minority government. Paul St-Pierre Plamondon’s referendum pledge now sits alongside the need for cooperation with opposition parties. He wants the vote after Donald Trump leaves office, while polling places support for independence well below a majority of voters.
Geopolitics··Midday
Parti Québécois falls short of a majority
Parti Québécois, the party seeking Quebec’s independence from Canada, has won the largest number of seats in the provincial election and is preparing to govern without a majority. Paul St-Pierre Plamondon is expected to become premier. The projection leaves his party below the 64 seats required for a majority in the 127-member provincial assembly.[1], [2]
The result returns the party to government after its departure from office in 2014. Projections show the outgoing Coalition Avenir Québec, which governed for eight years, winning no seats. The Liberal Party is placed second and Conservatives have gained representation. A change of CAQ leadership after François Legault’s declining support did not prevent the party’s losses.[1]
Referendum planned after Trump’s term
Plamondon has promised an independence referendum during his first term, after US President Donald Trump leaves office in January 2029. He wants voters to decide Quebec’s future through another ballot on separation. That pledge comes with a minority position in the legislature, where cooperation with parties opposed to independence will be necessary for governing.[1]
Support for independence is approximately 30 per cent in polls. Quebec voted against separation in referendums in 1980 and 1995. The new election establishes who will lead the provincial government; public support for leaving Canada remains a separate question. The party’s largest seat total does not provide a completed referendum result or remove the need to work with opposition legislators.[1]
Plamondon seeks to end funding for the monarch’s representative
Immigration powers and the provincial role of the monarchy also featured in the campaign. Plamondon wants to end funding for the office representing the monarch, although that proposal faces legal obstacles. Quebec previously removed the requirement that its legislators swear allegiance to the king. These institutional proposals accompanied the party’s broader independence platform during the contest.[1]
Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney congratulated Plamondon after the election. The emerging administration must now work within a legislature where the governing party lacks an outright majority. Its referendum timetable extends beyond Trump’s current term, while the immediate task is forming and sustaining the provincial government alongside legislators with different views on Quebec’s future within Canada.[1]
