MONTREAL

Will the PQ take power in 2022? Pascal Berube says 'everything is possible'

The Canadian Press Published Saturday, December 29, 2018 11:38AM EST

In 2003, Pascal Berube ran as a candidate in Matane but was defeated by Liberal Candidate Nancy Charest. Four years later, in 2007, Berube defeated Charest by just over 200 votes. He was re-elected in 2012 and 2014, and named the Opposition House Leader by Lisee in October 2016. (CTV Montreal)

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The PQ says it intends to form the next provincial government in 2022.

Interim party leader Pascal Berube, in an end-of-year interview with The Canadian Press, said he believes this is a real possibility.

The party experienced a crushing defeat during this year's election, at the hands of the CAQ. The PQ dropped to 10 seats in the National Assembly - amassing only 700,000 votes - compared to the 30 seats and more than one million votes won in 2014.

Berube refers to precedents to build on this hope. The Ontario NDP, for example, was propelled from second opposition status in 1990 to the eventual formation of a majority government led by Bob Rae, with 74 seats.

Additionally, the CAQ - once a second opposition party - now holds the majority government with 75 seats.

According to Berube, the party will be at a crossroads in 2019, with decisions to be made about its leadership and an upcoming convention.

It'll be a period of reconstruction for the party, he added.