Premier Christine Fréchette is scheduled to kick off the provincial election campaign by meeting with Quebec’s lieutenant-governor on Thursday morning. The day’s agenda includes a cabinet meeting in Quebec City at 10 a.m., followed by Fréchette’s meeting with Lieutenant-Governor Manon Jeannotte at 10:30 a.m. A news conference is set to take place at 11 a.m. after the meeting.
In compliance with the Quebec electoral system, the head of the government must request the lieutenant-governor — the King’s representative — to dissolve the National Assembly to initiate an election campaign. The campaign is expected to last 39 days, culminating in the election day on Monday, Oct. 5.
After the campaign launch, party leaders will embark on their campaign buses. This election will see 127 ridings instead of 125, raising the majority seat requirement to 64 seats.
For the first time since 2018, Quebecers will elect a government not led by François Legault, who secured consecutive majority governments in 2018 and 2022. Christine Fréchette, who assumed office in April after winning the Coalition Avenir Québec (CAQ) leadership race, will represent her party in Trois-Rivières, Que. She will face off against the Parti Québécois’s (PQ) Paul St-Pierre Plamondon in eastern Montreal’s Camille-Laurin riding.
Charles Milliard of the Quebec Liberal Party (PLQ) and Éric Duhaime of the Conservative Party of Quebec (PCQ) are both contesting without seats in Orford and Bellechasse, respectively. Ruba Ghazal of Québec Solidaire (QS) aims to secure Montreal’s Mercier riding for a third term.
Despite the Parti Québécois leading in the polls, there is limited public support for a referendum, a key promise of the party’s first term agenda.
