PQ regains Quebec from the Liberals

Incumbent Parti Québécois MNA Luc Ferland, who was re-elected Sept. 4, poses with PQ leader Quebec’s new premier Pauline Marois during the November 2010 visit to Kuujjuaq. (PHOTO BY JANE GEORGE)

(update 4:00 p.m., Sept. 5)

The Parti Québécois will form the next government in Quebec, following the results of the Sept. 4 provincial election.

By the end of the evening of Sept. 4, the PQ retained its lead, winning, according to a Sept. 5 tally, with 54 seats out of 125 seats.This means that Pauline Marois will become the next premier of Quebec, leading a minority government.

The Liberals won 50 seats, the Coalition Avenir Québec 19 seats and the Québec Solidaire two seats.

In the Ungava riding, the incumbent MNA Luc Ferland received 4,854 votes.

Ferland won by 1,153 votes over Gérald Lemoyne of the Liberal party who received 3,701 votes. The CQ’s Stéphane Robichaud received 1,176, the QS’s Sylvain Couture 655 votes and the Option Nationale’s Dominic Hamelin-Johnston 298 votes.

Fewer than half the voters in Ungava turned out to vote, with a total of 10,882 votes cast.

Commentators generally expressed surprise that the Liberals performed more strongly than some polls suggested and that the CAQ didn’t rally more support.

However, Jean Charest lost in his home riding of Sherbrooke.

“We have done great things, we will do great things, and the Liberal party will always be there,” he told a gathering of his supporters in Sherbrooke after his loss to the PQ candidate.

Prime Minister Stephen Harper issued a statement late Sept. 4 on the outcome of the Quebec provincial election, thanking the outgoing premier Charest “for his leadership and for his dedication to the people of Quebec.”

“The people of Quebec have made the decision to elect a minority government led by the Parti Québécois. On behalf of the Government of Canada, I would like to congratulate Pauline Marois on her election victory, and the other candidates for taking part in this democratic process,” he said.

“We do not believe that Quebecers wish to revisit the old constitutional battles of the past. Our government will remain focused on jobs, economic growth and sound management of the economy. We believe that economic issues and jobs are also the priorities of the people of Quebec.With this in mind, we will continue to work with the Government of Quebec toward our common goals.”

However, the PQ’s Sept. 4 victory celebration was marred by violence: a man, dressed in a blue bathrobe with a black hood, entered the downtown Montreal’s Metropolis club where the PQ party was taking place, with a gun, and shot “at least one shot toward two victims,” according to police.

The man also allegedly set a fire at the back door of the Metropolis.

The PQ leader’s victory speech ended abruptly before midnight, as bodyguards ushered her off the stage.

Marois later returned to the podium briefly, asking the people in the hall to leave peacefully.

“I would be lying to you to confirm 100 per cent that there was no danger to her or the people inside, but the shot was fired at the back of the building,” Cmdr. Ian Lafrenière of the Montreal police told reporters.

A man in his 40s died at the scene, a second man was critically injured, and a third man was taken to hospital and treated for shock.

Police arrested the man outside the building, who shouted in French at television cameras “the English are waking up!”