More than six million voters are expected to elect Quebec’s 125 MPs. The current governing right-wing coalition should, unless surprised, be renewed.
Polling stations for the general elections opened in Quebec on Monday, October 3, where the right-wing coalition in power in this French-speaking Canadian province, which has centered on the issue of immigration and Quebec’s identity, should be renewed without difficulty . debates.
More than 6 million voters are called to the polls to elect the 125 members of the Quebec Assembly. Voting started at 9:30 a.m. (3:30 p.m. French time) and will end at 8:00 p.m. Shortly after opening in an office in a gym in central Montreal, crowds were very light, an AFP journalist noted. “Few vote, so the election result is wrong,” regrets Angèle Hebert, 22.
A quarter of voters voted in advance
This voter, who has voted for the second time in her life, said she was sad to see “only half of the population who can vote votes.” According to figures released by Élections Québec, an independent body, almost a quarter of voters had opted to vote in advance (by mail or at dedicated polling stations) – a record.
The Coalition Avenir Québec (CAQ), a heterogeneous right-wing nationalist party led by current Prime Minister François Legault, has been credited with nearly 38% of voting intentions in recent polls. Behind, the Quebec Liberal Party (PLQ) would cap at around 17%, which would be the worst result for the party that ruled Quebec for nearly 15 years prior to 2018. The other opposition parties have, with the exception of the Parti Québécois (PQ), Sovereignist, which has scored a few points in the polls.
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Four years ago, the ex-multimillionaire and businessman François Legault succeeded in enforcing a “Third Way” with his bet. Neither separatist nor federalist, Air Transat founder claims a “businesslike” approach to politics and nationalist values. The question of Quebec’s identity once again excited the campaign with a party in power multiplying the sensational declarations.
It would be “a bit suicidal” to admit more newcomers given the decline of French, said François Legault, who previously linked violence and immigration to the top. In the province, which suffers from a serious shortage of staff, young people, some as young as 16, are present at the polling stations for the first time to act as vote counters, even if they do not have the right to vote. The results are expected in the evening.
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