Premier Christine Fréchette is scheduled to kick off the provincial election campaign in Quebec by meeting with Lieutenant-Governor Manon Jeannotte on Thursday morning. The campaign will officially begin after a cabinet meeting in Quebec City at 10 a.m., followed by Fréchette’s meeting with Jeannotte at 10:30 a.m. A news conference is set to take place at 11 a.m. following the meeting.
In line with the Quebec electoral system requirements, the Premier will ask the lieutenant-governor, who represents the King, to dissolve the National Assembly to initiate the election campaign. The campaign is slated to span 39 days, culminating in the election day on Monday, October 5.
After the campaign launch, party leaders will embark on their campaign buses to engage with voters across the province. This election cycle will see an increase in the number of ridings to 127, up from the previous 125, thereby raising the majority threshold to 64 seats.
This election marks a significant shift as Quebecers will be electing a government not led by François Legault for the first time since 2018. Legault had previously secured back-to-back majority governments in 2018 and 2022.
The key party leaders in the upcoming election include Christine Fréchette of the Coalition Avenir Québec (CAQ), Paul St-Pierre Plamondon of the Parti Québécois (PQ), Charles Milliard of the Quebec Liberal Party (PLQ), Éric Duhaime of the Conservative Party of Quebec (PCQ), and Ruba Ghazal of Québec Solidaire (QS).
Despite the Parti Québécois leading in current polls, there is limited public enthusiasm for a referendum, a key promise of the party’s platform.
