Quebec Conservative Party leader Éric Duhaime defeated in Chauveau by Caquiste Sylvain Lévesque.
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The Caquist retained his seat just before 10 p.m. with 47% of the vote for a new term, versus 31.7% for the Conservatives.
Mr Duhaime was both pleased with the level of support for his party and deplored the “political distortion” caused by the current electoral system.
“As I speak to you, we have exactly the same votes as the Quebec Liberal Party, but we have 20 fewer members,” he lamented during his late-night speech.
“We mustn’t be pessimistic,” he continued, drawing a parallel to the early days of Québec solidaire and Action Démocratique du Québec, which had had poorer electoral results.
The Conservative leader allowed himself a sporting analogy to analyze election night. “Politics is like hockey, there are three periods. The first period ends tonight. It was supposed to be a big party, be part of the big leagues and we completed it in a masterful way,” illustrated Mr. Duhaime.
“For several months we have been planting hope in the hearts and minds of many Quebecers. […] I am confident that we will do more on equal terms in the second period,” he continued.
Shortly before, Mr. Duhaime’s spokesman, Cédric Lapointe, had also regretted that the PCQ, despite having a share of votes equal to that of the opposition parties, was without MPs.
“I think what’s most disappointing is that one in six or seven Quebecers will not have representation in the National Assembly,” he said.
Mr Duhaime, who was elected leader of the PCQ in April 2021, took over a dying party from the hands of Adrien Pouliot and cheered it on, filling up with activists by surfing on the dissatisfaction of part of the population against the measures.
The PCQ, which had marginal electoral results prior to Mr Duhaime’s arrival, considers it at least a victory to capture about 13.5% of the vote.
Mr Duhaime had been calling for “bringing dissatisfaction into Parliament” since the beginning of the summer. His message was particularly well received in Beauce and in the Capitale-Nationale region.
The PCQ had only one elected member at the time of the dissolution of the National Assembly, Claire Samson, a defector from the Coalition avenir Québec. This didn’t show up.
More details to come…