CAQ wins majority government in Quebec provincial election

François Legault’s Coalition Avenir Québec (CAQ) will form the next majority government in Quebec. The election marks a first for the party and a stunning defeat to the defending Quebec Liberals.

Merci! Merci! Merci!
Je suis très touché de votre confiance.
Mon équipe et moi avons très hâte de nous mettre au travail pour vous.

— François Legault (@francoislegault) October 2, 2018

The CAQ held a commanding lead after the polls closed, with the Liberals in second place and the Parti Québécois (PQ) coming in third.

Francois Legault, a former successful businessman and PQ cabinet minister, created the CAQ in 2011. The concept was to be a Quebec nationalist option between the sovereigntist PQ and federalist Liberals.

Over the campaign, Legault and his party proposed a French language and values test to keep immigrants out of the country.

A big focus of the CAQ is reducing the tax burden of Quebecers, prioritizing to harmonize school taxes which could translate to a tax cut of $700 million. The CAQ also lobbied to turn Quebec’s St. Lawrence Valley into a sort of Silicon Valley for innovation, which they’ve named “The Saint-Laurent Project.”

On education, Legault pushed for the closing of school boards and opening service centres that would provide administrative support to schools.

And on immigration, their proposal to oblige French tests and potential expulsion for immigrants who fail it, has become a very easy target. Legault has received consistent attacks from all sides, and is being accused of mistreating and scaring immigrants away before they even arrive.

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