Free, real, ready, and irritated: Quebec opposition parties set the table for a fiery campaign

Quebec’s election hasn’t even been called yet, but leaders of Quebec’s largest parties have already started campaigning in a race which, according to polls, will likely see the tightest results in second place.

Projections from both 338Canada and Leger put Francois Legault’s incumbent Coalition Avenir Quebec (CAQ) well ahead of other parties. The projected gap is so significant that, if the election were held tomorrow, Quebecers would send the CAQ back to Quebec City with a healthy majority of 97 seats, effectively lapping the runner-up Liberals five times in representation, according to 338.

However, with more than two months still to go before the first ballot is cast, a lot can change.

Quebec Solidaire Leader Gabriel Nadeau-Dubois questions the government on education, Tuesday, October 26, 2021 at the legislature in Quebec City. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jacques Boissinot

‘I PLAY TO WIN’

Quebec Solidaire (QS) campaigners spent Sunday morning in Montreal’s Ville Emard neighbourhood.

Last election, the left-leaning Quebec nationalist party came in second place there, and campaigners hope to make gains in October. A win would be quite an upset – Ville Emard is part of the Saint-Henri – Saint-Anne riding, which belongs to Quebec Liberal Leader Dominique Anglade, at least, for now.

“In sports and politics I don't play to participate,” said Solidaire spokesperson Gabriel Nadeau Dubois, whose party serves as second official opposition, behind the Liberals.

It would be a big jump, but not totally unprecedented. In 2018, QS broke double digits in the National Assembly with 10 seats, on par with the Parti Quebecois, which had formed government just six years prior.

One of those seats had previously belonged to then-PQ Leader Jean-Francois Lisee.

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The usurping candidate, Vincent Marissal, told CTV on the night of his victory that he wasn’t focused on Lisee during his campaign. Instead, “I was just trying, which I did, to offer something else to the people of Rosemont.”

On Sunday, this year, Nadeau Dubois struck a similar tone.

“If the people give us the mandate to be the official opposition in Quebec. We are ready to deliver,” he said.

“I play to win, I want to win.”

Quebec Liberal Party Leader Dominique Anglade, centre, speaks at their general council meeting in Montreal, Saturday, June 11, 2022. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Graham Hughes

‘SINCERELY IRRITATED’

For now, the Liberals are the official opposition, and polls suggest they'll stay there. However, this October, Anglade says she’s not looking to settle for second.

Setting her sights on first place, she took aim at Quebec Premier Francois Legault, accusing him of dividing to conquer.

“They're talking about being fed up of being divided between Anglophone and Francophone, of immigrant and non-immigrant. That division has got to stop,” she said on a Sunday gathering of Liberal faithful.

“When I hear Francois Legault saying he's the premier of the majority, I'm really getting annoyed by that, like sincerely irritated.”

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The Liberals have championed their opposition to Bill 96, Quebec's language reform law which has been routinely criticized by prominent voices in the English-speaking community.

But while the party has found popularity among that demographic, it’s facing some new competition this year, with several parties vying for English votes.

Quebec Conservative Party leader Eric Duhaime speaks during the unveiling of his election campaign platform in Drummondville, Que., Sunday, August 14, 2022. Quebecers will go to the polls on October 3rd. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Graham Hughes

‘ANGLOPHONES HAVE BEEN HOSTAGES’

Quebec’s Conservative party may have been last to the starting line, but it was the first to jump the gun Sunday, officially launching its campaign under the slogan “Freedom to choose.”

Party leader Eric Duhaime wants to make that freedom of choice clear to English speakers.

“Anglophones have been hostages to the Liberals,” he said Sunday.

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Some polls have already are putting the Conservatives in second place, while recent 338 and Leger projections put them in fourth.

“Obviously, for a new party it's a challenge. We were at 1 per cent a little more than a year ago,” said Duhaim. “We've been moving up in the polls.”

Parti Quebecois Leader Paul St-Pierre Plamondon greets supporters prior to speaking at the party’s national council meeting in Boucherville, Que., Saturday, May 28, 2022. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Graham Hughes

‘FOR REAL’

Quebec’s third opposition party, the Parti Quebecois, launched their own campaign on Sunday, and unveiled a new slogan.

“Le Québec qui s’assume. Pour vrai.”

The motto is not easily translated into English -- Quebec which assumes itself, for real, or in essence, a province which has realized its potential. Regardless, it will likely be repeated many times during the PQ’s campaign focused on Quebec independence in the face of climate change and language protection.

READ MORE: Despite 'adversity' in polls, sovereignty remains key for Parti Quebecois

Since falling out of power in 2012, it’s now Quebec’s third opposition. In this latest push to regain some representation in Quebec City, the party appears to be sticking to its bread and butter.

“Look our candidates in the eye and ask them the question: why did you choose to get into politics?” wrote party leader Paul St-Pierre Plamondon in a Sunday press release.

“All will answer you that it is for their deep conviction that Quebec has no other choice but to become independent.”