Quebec general election, 2014

Quebec general election, 2014

April 7, 2014 (2014-04-07)

in the National Assembly of Quebec 63 seats needed for a majority Opinion polls Turnout 71.43%   Majority party Minority party   Leader Philippe Couillard Pauline Marois Party Liberal Parti Québécois Leader since March 17, 2013 June 26, 2007 Leader's seat Roberval Charlevoix–Côte-de-Beaupré (lost re-election) Last election 50 seats, 31.20% 54 seats, 31.95% Seats before 49 54 Seats won 70 30 Seat change +21 -24 Popular vote 1,757,071 1,074,120 Percentage 41.52% 25.38% Swing +10.32pp -6.57pp   Third party Fourth party   Leader François Legault Françoise David and Andrés Fontecilla (as spokespeople) Party Coalition Avenir Québec Québec solidaire Leader since November 4, 2011 David: February 4, 2006 Fontecilla: May 5, 2013 Leader's seat L'Assomption David: Gouin Fontecilla: Ran in Laurier-Dorion (lost) Last election 19 seats, 27.05% 2 seats, 6.03% Seats before 18 2 Seats won 22 3 Seat change +4 +1 Popular vote 975,607 323,124 Percentage 23.05% 7.63% Swing -4.00pp +1.60pp

Results by riding

Premier before election Pauline Marois Parti Québécois Premier-designate Philippe Couillard Liberal

Seating plan following the election.

The 41st Quebec general election was held on April 7, 2014 to elect members to the National Assembly of Quebec.

The Quebec Liberal Party under Philippe Couillard won a majority government of 70 seats, while the incumbent Parti Québécois finished second with 30 seats, becoming the first single-term government since Jean-Jacques Bertrand's Union Nationale government was defeated in 1970. It marked the lowest seat total for the Parti Québécois since 1989 and its smallest share of the popular vote since its inaugural run in 1970, as Premier Pauline Marois lost her own riding. The Coalition Avenir Québec under François Legault made minor gains in terms of seats despite receiving a smaller share of the popular vote than in the previous election. Québec solidaire won an additional seat, though co-spokesperson Andrés Fontecilla failed to win his riding.

At the outset of the campaign, the Parti Québécois had a modest lead in the polls and appeared to have a realistic prospect of winning a majority government. However, the party's support began to collapse rapidly after the party announced Pierre Karl Péladeau, the president and CEO of media conglomerate Quebecor, as a star candidate.^[1] Péladeau's conservative and anti-union business background was widely criticized as being at odds with the party's social democratic history;^[2] and his outspoken support for a third referendum on Quebec sovereignty quickly sidelined the issues — including the Charter of Quebec Values and the corruption allegations against the Liberals, the latter of which had contributed to the defeat of Jean Charest's government in the 2012 election — which the party had identified as its primary campaign themes, alienating many voters who had little desire to revive the sovereignty issue.^[1]

Timeline

2012

• September 4 – The Parti Québécois wins a minority government in the 40th Quebec general election, and Pauline Marois becomes Quebec's first female premier.
• September 12 – The Liberal caucus unanimously approves Jean-Marc Fournier as interim leader.^[3]
• September 19 – Swearing in of the Cabinet members
• October 30 - The National Assembly of Quebec sits.
• November 4 - Amir Khadir steps down as co-spokesperson of Québec solidaire due to party rules that say one co-spokesperson must come from outside the legislature.^[4]
• December 2 - Québec solidaire chooses André Frappier as its interim co-spokesperson.^[5]

2013

• February 21 - The Parti Québécois narrowly win a confidence motion on the budget by 52 members to 51 members.^[6]
• February 24 - Claude Sabourin resigns as leader of the Green Party.^[7]
• March 17 - Philippe Couillard is elected leader of the Quebec Liberal Party.^[8]
• May 5 - Andrés Fontecilla is chosen as co-spokesperson of Québec solidaire.^[9]
• May 21 - MNA for Blainville, Daniel Ratthé, is suspended from the CAQ caucus.^[10]
• June 13 - An Act to amend the Election Act for the purpose of establishing fixed-date elections is given royal assent.^[11]
• June 19 - Jean-Martin Aussant resigns as leader of Option nationale. Nathaly Dufour (president) becomes interim leader.^[12]
• August 9 - Liberal Viau MNA Emmanuel Dubourg resigns to run in the Bourassa federal by-election.^[13]
• August 26 - Liberal Outremont MNA Raymond Bachand resigns his seat, and leaves politics.
• October 26 - Option Nationale elects Sol Zanetti as its new leader, with 67.4% of votes.
• December 9 - In by-elections, Liberal leader Philippe Couillard is elected MNA of Outremont with 55% of the vote, and Liberal David Heurtel is elected MNA of Viau with 60% of the vote.^[14]

2014

• January 20 - Fatima Houda-Pepin leaves the Liberal party to sit as an independent over disagreement on the party's stance on the Quebec Charter of Values.^[15]
• February 20 - The Parti Québécois government table a budget before a two week recess, sparking election speculation.^{[16][17][18][19]}
• March 5 - Lieutenant Governor Pierre Duchesne dissolves the National Assembly, on Premier Pauline Marois's request, and calls an election for April 7, 2014.^[20]
• March 22 - Deadline for nominations.^[21]
• March 28 - Returning office open for advanced vote 9:00 am to 9:00 pm ET (UTC−4).^[22]
• March 29 - Returning office open for advanced vote 9:00 am to 5:00 pm ET.^[22]
• March 30 & 31 - Advance polls open 9:30 am to 8:00 pm ET.^[23]
• April 1 - The electoral commission, Elections Quebec, was criticized as anglophone students have been rejected the right to vote although they have in some cases been Quebec residents for more than four years.^[24]
• April 1 & 2 - Returning office open for advanced vote 9:00 am to 9:00 pm ET.^[22]
• April 3 - Returning office open for advanced vote 9:00 am to 2:00 pm ET.^[22]
• April 7 - Election Day. Polls open 9:30 am to 8:00 pm ET.^[25]

Incumbent MNAs who did not run for re-election

Results

Summary analysis

Pairing off the top three parties, swings were calculated to be:

• PQ to Liberal: 8.45%
• CAQ to Liberal: 7.16%
• PQ to CAQ: 1.29%

Detailed analysis

Notes:

^† The party designates David and Fontecilla as co-spokespeople. 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 Pierre-Paul St-Onge.^[34]

^†† Party contested the 2012 election under the name Coalition pour la constituante.

* Party did not nominate candidates in the previous election.

Opinion polls

Evolution of voting intentions during the 2014 Quebec general election campaign. Dots represent results of individual polls. Lines connect successive polls by the same pollster. Dashes represent the results of the April 7 election.

¹ Results among "likely voters"

Pre-campaign period

Evolution of voting intentions according to polls released by CROP and Léger Marketing since the 2012 Quebec provincial election. Points represent results of individual polls. Trend lines represent two-poll moving averages.

List of candidates^[35]

Bas-Saint-Laurent and Gaspésie–Îles-de-la-Madeleine

Saguenay–Lac-Saint-Jean and Côte-Nord

Capitale-Nationale

Mauricie

Estrie

Montréal

East

West

Outaouais

Abitibi-Témiscamingue and Nord-du-Québec

Chaudière-Appalaches and Centre-du-Québec

Laval

Lanaudière

Laurentides

Montérégie

Eastern

South Shore

Media endorsements

Parti Québécois

• Le Devoir^[36]

Quebec Liberal Party

• La Presse^[37]
• Montreal Gazette^[38]

See also

• 40th Quebec Legislature
• Politics of Quebec
• List of premiers of Quebec
• List of leaders of the Official Opposition (Quebec)
• National Assembly of Quebec
• Timeline of Quebec history
• Political parties in Quebec

References

External links

• Chief Electoral Officer of Quebec (DGE)