Neha Patil (Editor)

Quebec general election, 2014

Updated on
Edit
Like
Comment
Share on FacebookTweet on TwitterShare on LinkedInShare on Reddit
April 7, 2014 (2014-04-07)
  
42nd →

50 seats, 31.20%
  
54 seats, 31.95%

70
  
30

Start date
  
April 7, 2014

Turnout
  
71.43%

49
  
54

21
  
24

Quebec general election, 2014 httpsuploadwikimediaorgwikipediacommonsthu

Winner
  
Philippe Couillard

Quebec general election 2014


The 41st Quebec general election was held on April 7, 2014 to elect members to the National Assembly of Quebec.

Contents

The Quebec Liberal Party under Philippe Couillard won a majority government of 70 seats, while the incumbent Parti Québécois finished second with 30 seats, becoming the first single-term government since Jean-Jacques Bertrand's Union Nationale government was defeated in 1970. It marked the lowest seat total for the Parti Québécois since 1989 and its smallest share of the popular vote since its inaugural run in 1970, as Premier Pauline Marois lost her own riding. The Coalition Avenir Québec under François Legault made minor gains in terms of seats despite receiving a smaller share of the popular vote than in the previous election. Québec solidaire won an additional seat, though co-spokesperson Andrés Fontecilla failed to win his riding.

At the outset of the campaign, the Parti Québécois had a modest lead in the polls and appeared to have a realistic prospect of winning a majority government. However, the party's support began to collapse rapidly after the party announced Pierre Karl Péladeau, the president and CEO of media conglomerate Quebecor, as a star candidate. Péladeau's conservative and anti-union business background was widely criticized as being at odds with the party's social democratic history; and his outspoken support for a third referendum on Quebec sovereignty quickly sidelined the issues — including the Charter of Quebec Values and the corruption allegations against the Liberals, the latter of which had contributed to the defeat of Jean Charest's government in the 2012 election — which the party had identified as its primary campaign themes, alienating many voters who had little desire to revive the sovereignty issue.

2012

  • September 4 – The Parti Québécois wins a minority government in the 40th Quebec general election, and Pauline Marois becomes Quebec's first female premier.
  • September 12 – The Liberal caucus unanimously approves Jean-Marc Fournier as interim leader.
  • September 19 – Swearing in of the Cabinet members
  • October 30 - The National Assembly of Quebec sits.
  • November 4 - Amir Khadir steps down as co-spokesperson of Québec solidaire due to party rules that say one co-spokesperson must come from outside the legislature.
  • December 2 - Québec solidaire chooses André Frappier as its interim co-spokesperson.

    • 2013

  • February 21 - The Parti Québécois narrowly win a confidence motion on the budget by 52 members to 51 members.
  • February 24 - Claude Sabourin resigns as leader of the Green Party.
  • March 17 - Philippe Couillard is elected leader of the Quebec Liberal Party.
  • May 5 - Andrés Fontecilla is chosen as co-spokesperson of Québec solidaire.
  • May 21 - MNA for Blainville, Daniel Ratthé, is suspended from the CAQ caucus.
  • June 13 - An Act to amend the Election Act for the purpose of establishing fixed-date elections is given royal assent.
  • June 19 - Jean-Martin Aussant resigns as leader of Option nationale. Nathaly Dufour (president) becomes interim leader.
  • August 9 - Liberal Viau MNA Emmanuel Dubourg resigns to run in the Bourassa federal by-election.
  • August 26 - Liberal Outremont MNA Raymond Bachand resigns his seat, and leaves politics.
  • October 26 - Option Nationale elects Sol Zanetti as its new leader, with 67.4% of votes.
  • December 9 - In by-elections, Liberal leader Philippe Couillard is elected MNA of Outremont with 55% of the vote, and Liberal David Heurtel is elected MNA of Viau with 60% of the vote.

    • 2014

  • January 20 - Fatima Houda-Pepin leaves the Liberal party to sit as an independent over disagreement on the party's stance on the Quebec Charter of Values.
  • February 20 - The Parti Québécois government table a budget before a two-week recess, sparking election speculation.
  • March 5 - Lieutenant Governor Pierre Duchesne dissolves the National Assembly, on Premier Pauline Marois's request, and calls an election for April 7, 2014.
  • March 22 - Deadline for nominations.
  • March 28 - Returning office open for advanced vote 9:00 am to 9:00 pm ET (UTC−4).
  • March 29 - Returning office open for advanced vote 9:00 am to 5:00 pm ET.
  • March 30 & 31 - Advance polls open 9:30 am to 8:00 pm ET.
  • April 1 - The electoral commission, Elections Quebec, was criticized as anglophone students have been rejected the right to vote although they have in some cases been Quebec residents for more than four years.
  • April 1 & 2 - Returning office open for advanced vote 9:00 am to 9:00 pm ET.
  • April 3 - Returning office open for advanced vote 9:00 am to 2:00 pm ET.
  • April 7 - Election Day. Polls open 9:30 am to 8:00 pm ET.

    • Summary analysis

    Pairing off the top three parties, swings were calculated to be:

  • PQ to Liberal: 8.45%
  • CAQ to Liberal: 7.16%
  • PQ to CAQ: 1.29%

    • Detailed analysis

    Notes:

    † The party designates David and Fontecilla as co-spokespeople. The party's power is held by the general meetings of the members and a board of 16 directors; the de jure leader recognized by the Chief Electoral Officer of Quebec (DGE) is Pierre-Paul St-Onge. †† Party contested the 2012 election under the name Coalition pour la constituante. * Party did not nominate candidates in the previous election.

    Opinion polls

    1 Results among "likely voters"

    Media endorsements

    Parti Québécois

  • Le Devoir

    • Quebec Liberal Party

  • La Presse
  • Montreal Gazette

    • References

    Quebec general election, 2014 Wikipedia
    (Text) CC BY-SA