Quebec: The Parti Quebecois (PQ), a pro-independence party, has won the most seats in Quebec’s provincial election and is set to form the next government of the predominantly French-speaking Canadian province, according to media reports.
The election result has brought the long-running question of Quebec’s independence back into the national spotlight and could pose a fresh challenge to Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney’s efforts to strengthen national unity.
PQ leader Paul St-Pierre Plamondon is expected to become Quebec’s next premier. During the election campaign, he pledged to hold a third referendum on Quebec’s independence during his first term in office. However, he remarked that the vote would not take place until after US President Donald Trump leaves office in January 2029.
It remained unclear whether the Parti Quebecois had secured the 64 seats required for a majority in Quebec’s 127-seat National Assembly. If the party falls short of that threshold, it would govern as a minority administration and require support from opposition parties to pass key legislation and survive confidence votes.
The PQ’s victory represents a dramatic political comeback for the party, which secured only three seats in the 2022 provincial election. Its return to government also ends eight years of rule by the Coalition Avenir Quebec (CAQ), a centre-right Quebec nationalist party that opposes independence.
Political science professor Daniel Beland of McGill University remarked that the result did not necessarily indicate a major increase in support for Quebec independence. Daniel Beland attributed the PQ’s success largely to Quebec’s fragmented multiparty political landscape, where votes are divided among several parties.
According to Beland, support for independence remains around 30 percent, which is relatively low compared with historical levels. Nevertheless, the election result presents a new national-unity challenge for Carney, particularly as questions over separatism are also emerging in Alberta. Beland noted that the timing of the Quebec result, coming shortly before an independence-related referendum in Alberta, could reinforce perceptions in Washington that national unity remains a significant issue for Canada.
Quebec has previously held two referendums on independence, in 1980 and 1995, with voters rejecting separation from Canada on both occasions. The 1995 referendum was narrowly defeated, but Quebec has not held another independence vote in the three decades since.
The return of the Parti Quebecois to power is therefore likely to place the issue of Quebec sovereignty back at the centre of Canadian politics, potentially reviving a debate that has remained largely dormant since the 1995 referendum.
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