Prime Minister François Legault has until August 29 to formally call the election campaign. If it seems that the political parties have already been campaigning, it is because it is true.
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QUEBEC — With political parties nominating their candidates and making their first promises, Quebecers will return from summer vacation just in time for the provincial election campaign.
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Officially, voting day will be Monday, October 3, four years after the 2018 general election, in which the Avenir Québec Coalition and leader François Legault came to power, replacing Philippe Couillard’s Liberals.
It will be a short campaign, about five weeks. Under Quebec’s fixed-date electoral law, the campaign can be as short as 33 days or as long as 36, depending on when it launches, giving Legault some wiggle room, but not much.
The latest possible date you can have the lieutenant governor sign the election order to vote on October 3 is August 29, which is a Monday. Sources said this week that the government is considering a launch on Sunday, August 28, but the exact date has not been announced.
On Friday in Laval, making his first electoral promise even before launch ($1.8 billion over four years for affordable housing), Legault refused to show his cards.
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“It’s very technical,” Legault told reporters. “It will be at the end of August, but we will tell you the exact date that he will definitely set.”
If it seems that the political parties have already been campaigning, it is because it is true. The big five parties and smaller rookies like Bloc Montréal and the Quebec Canadian Party have been in action for weeks.
So far, the Liberals are the only party to have produced an official electoral platform, but the Conservatives will make theirs public on Sunday in Drummondville.
The race to get good candidates has been fierce. Some surprising people, including media personalities Bernard Drainville and Martine Biron, have announced plans to seek election, in both cases, with the CAQ.
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There are 125 seats in the National Assembly. As of Friday, Québec solidaire was the first to announce its list of candidates, with 121 elected. The CAQ is close behind with 120, including two announced Friday for Hull and Pontiac.
The Conservatives have announced 112 candidates, including high-profile former Liberal Bonnie Feigenbaum at the helm of D’Arcy-McGee. The Liberals had named 73, but that number dropped on a Friday when the party dropped Anne DeBlois, her candidate in Charlesbourg, because of anti-Islamic comments she made in the past.
The subplot in the Montreal region is the battle for the non-Francophone vote being waged by the Liberals, the Conservatives, the Montreal Bloc, and the Quebec Canadian Party.
The latter three of those parties hope to capitalize on minority communities’ anger at the Liberals for their handling of Bill 96, the revision of the Charter of the French Language.
The dynamic is such that while many rides on the island of Montreal are normally reserved for liberals, this time around many seem to be up for grabs.
According to polling expert Philippe J. Fournier, as many as 12 Liberal constituencies in Montreal could be in jeopardy, largely due to vote splitting of the party’s traditional base.
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Another consequence of Quebec’s fixed-date electoral law is the long lead-up to the campaign, which is not covered by the spending caps imposed during the actual campaign.
When asked about the situation on Friday, Legault said he didn’t see a real problem, noting that all parties have been making announcements ahead of the formal race.
But Quebec electoral director Pierre Reid said this week that it is time to end the “open bar” of pre-campaign spending. The CAQ, in particular, has been airing dozens of pre-election promotional spots.
Legault said he’s open to a discussion of some sort of pre-campaign spending framework.
In the meantime, other election-related events are looming. On Saturday, the liberal youth wing will hold its annual political convention at a downtown Montreal hotel, with a speech by party leader Dominique Anglade.
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On Monday, Auditor General Guylaine Leclerc will make public her independent review of Quebec’s books. The audit ensures that all parties know the state of Quebec’s finances as they prepare their own expensive boutique election promises.
Legault has already hinted that he could give Quebecers another $500 check to deal with inflation, as he did in March. And on Friday, he again hinted at a tax cut if voters re-elect his government.
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