The Parti Québécois is a sovereignist and social democratic provincial political party in Quebec, Canada. The PQ advocates national sovereignty for Quebec involving independence of the province of Quebec from Canada and establishing a sovereign state. The PQ has also promoted the possibility of maintaining a loose political and economic sovereignty-association between Quebec and Canada. The party traditionally has support from the labour movement; however, unlike most other social democratic parties, its ties with organized labour are informal. Members and supporters of the PQ are nicknamed péquistes, a French word derived from the pronunciation of the party's initials.
The Quebec Liberal Party is a provincial political party in Quebec. It has been independent of the federal Liberal Party of Canada since 1955. The QLP has always been associated with the colour red; each of their main opponents in different eras have been generally associated with the colour blue.
This section of the Timeline of Quebec history concerns the events between patriation of the British North America Act and the present day.
The 2007 Quebec general election was held in the Canadian province of Quebec on March 26, 2007 to elect members of the 38th National Assembly of Quebec. The Quebec Liberal Party led by Premier Jean Charest won a plurality of seats, but were reduced to a minority government, Quebec's first in 129 years, since the 1878 general election. The Action démocratique du Québec, in a major breakthrough, became the official opposition. The Parti Québécois was relegated to third-party status for the first time since the 1973 election. The Liberals won their lowest share of the popular vote since Confederation, and the PQ with their 28.35% of the votes cast won their lowest share since 1973 and their second lowest ever. Each of the three major parties won nearly one-third of the popular vote, the closest three-way split in Quebec electoral history until the 2012 election. This was however, the closest three-way race in terms of seat count. Voter turnout among those eligible was 71.23%, a marginal difference from the previous general election in 2003.
Philippe Couillard is a Canadian business advisor and former neurosurgeon, university professor and politician who served as 31st premier of Quebec from 2014 to 2018. Between 2003 and 2008, he was Quebec's Minister of Health and Social Services in Jean Charest's Liberal government and was MNA for Mont-Royal until he resigned in 2008. In the 2014 election, Couillard moved to the riding of Roberval, where he resides. He was the leader of the Quebec Liberal Party from 2013 to 2018. He resigned as Liberal leader and MNA on October 4, 2018.
The 37th National Assembly of Quebec, Canada, was elected in the 2003 Quebec general election, and sat from June 4, 2003 to March 10, 2006 and March 14, 2006 to February 21, 2007.
The 38th National Assembly of Quebec was elected in the 2007 Quebec general election and sat from May 8, 2007 to November 5, 2008. Jean Charest (PLQ) was the Premier and Mario Dumont (ADQ) was the leader of the opposition. It ended when the 2008 general election was called.
Monique Jérôme-Forget is a psychologist and a former Quebec politician. She was the Member of National Assembly (MNA) for the riding of Marguerite-Bourgeois in the Montreal region as a member of the Quebec Liberal Party between 1998 and 2009. With the government in power she was the Finance Minister from 2007 to 2009, the President of the Treasury Board and the Minister of government services and the Minister responsible of the government administration from 2003 to 2008.
Sam Hamad is a Canadian politician. He is the former member of National Assembly (MNA) for the riding of Louis-Hebert in the Quebec City region. Member of the Quebec Liberal Party, he has held various cabinet posts during his 14 years in the National Assembly. He was the Minister of Natural Resources, Minister for Transports and he was also the Minister of Employment and Social Solidarity, Minister of Labour and Minister responsible for the Capitale-Nationale region.
The 2008 Quebec general election was held in the Canadian province of Quebec on December 8, 2008. The Quebec Liberal Party, under incumbent Premier Jean Charest, was re-elected with a majority government, marking the first time since the 1950s that a party or leader was elected to a third consecutive mandate, and the first time for the Liberals since the 1930s, when Louis-Alexandre Taschereau was Premier.
Jean-François Simard is a teacher, Quebec provincial politician, and Cabinet Minister. He was a member of the National Assembly of Quebec (MNA) for the riding of Montmorency from 1998 to 2003, representing the Parti Québécois. He served as a delegate minister in the Cabinet of Quebec Premier Bernard Landry for over a year.
Yves Bolduc is a Canadian doctor and politician in the province of Quebec. He was named the new Minister of Health and Social Services of Quebec on June 25, 2008, succeeding Philippe Couillard who resigned on the same day following five years as Minister for that portfolio. and was member of the National Assembly of Quebec of the Quebec City riding of Jean-Talon. He is a member of the Quebec Liberal Party.
The 39th National Assembly of Quebec consisted of those elected in the 2008 Quebec general election. It was in session from January 13, 2009 to February 22, 2011 and from February 23, 2011 to August 1, 2012. Jean Charest (Liberal) served as Premier and Pauline Marois (PQ) was the leader of the opposition.
Jean-Martin Aussant is a Canadian economist, musician, and politician, now serving as Executive director of the Chantier de l'économie sociale. He represented Nicolet-Yamaska in the National Assembly of Quebec from 2008 to 2012, first as a member of the Parti Québécois and then as leader of his own party, Option nationale. He was defeated when he ran for re-election in Nicolet-Bécancour in the 2012 general election. He later rejoined the Parti Québécois to run unsuccessfully in the 2018 Quebec election.
The 2012 Quebec general election took place in the Canadian province of Quebec on September 4, 2012. Lieutenant Governor Pierre Duchesne dissolved the National Assembly on August 1, 2012, following Premier Jean Charest's request. The Parti Québécois were elected to a minority government, with Pauline Marois becoming the first woman to be Premier of Quebec. The Quebec Liberal Party took second place, with Premier Jean Charest losing his seat. The newly formed party Coalition Avenir Québec led by François Legault took third place, while Québec solidaire took 2 seats out of the 125.
The 2014 Quebec general election was held on April 7, 2014 to elect members to the National Assembly of Quebec. The incumbent Parti Québécois which had won a minority government in 2012 was defeated by the Quebec Liberal Party under Philippe Couillard who 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. Pauline Marois electoral defeat marked the shortest stay of any Quebec provincial government since the Canadian Confederation. 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. This election saw the return of the Liberals to power 2 years after their defeat in 2012. To date this is the last election where the Liberal Party won a majority of seats in the Quebec Assembly.
The 40th National Assembly of Quebec consisted of those elected in the 2012 general election and two by-elections in December 2013. Pauline Marois (PQ) was the premier. The leader of the opposition changed twice. Jean-Marc Fournier (Liberal) started as leader of the opposition after the resignation of former Liberal Premier Jean Charest who lost his seat in the last provincial election. Philippe Couillard was elected Liberal leader and won election to the assembly in a by-election on December 9, 2013. The assembly was dissolved on March 5, 2014.
The Quebec Liberal Party held a leadership convention in 2013 following Jean Charest's resignation after the party's 2012 election loss. The convention was held March 16–17, 2013, at the Verdun Auditorium in Montreal. The choice of venue was in part influenced by a lack of funds due to a recent drop in donations to the party. Philippe Couillard was elected on the first ballot.
The 2020 Quebec Liberal Party leadership election was to have taken place from May 30–31, 2020 after outgoing leader Philippe Couillard resigned on October 4, 2018, and left politics after the party finished second in the 2018 Quebec general election. On March 20, 2020, the party suspended the election indefinitely due to the COVID-19 pandemic in Quebec. On May 11, 2020, candidate Alexandre Cusson withdrew from the race and after a meeting of the party's executive committee, the sole remaining candidate, Dominique Anglade, was selected as leader by acclamation.
The 2022 Quebec general election was held on October 3, 2022, to elect the members of the National Assembly of Quebec. Under the province's fixed election date law, passed in 2013, "the general election following the end of a Legislature shall be held on the first Monday of October of the fourth calendar year following the year that includes the last day of the previous Legislature", setting the date for October 3, 2022.
