The separatist Parti Québécois won Quebec’s provincial election on Monday, returning to power for the first time in more than a decade with a promise to hold another referendum on independence from Canada.
The PQ will form a minority government after capturing 59 of the 127 seats in the National Assembly — five short of the 64 needed for a majority — forcing the separatists to rely on opposition parties even as they try to revive Quebec’s independence debate.
Leader Paul St-Pierre Plamondon, who becomes premier-designate, has pledged to hold another independence referendum during the PQ’s first term, though he has said none would take place while Donald Trump is US president — meaning not before January 2029.
The result completed a dramatic comeback: the PQ was reduced to three seats in 2022, while the governing Coalition Avenir Québec was wiped off the electoral map, failing to win a single seat despite taking 13.3 percent of the vote. The Liberals will form the official opposition with 40 seats, and the Conservatives entered the legislature for the first time in modern Quebec history with 19.
But the victory does not mean most Quebecers support leaving Canada. Independence support remains at roughly 30 percent, low by historical standards, according to McGill political scientist Daniel Béland, who said the result reflects a desire for change more than a sovereignty surge. Prime Minister Mark Carney congratulated Plamondon and signaled Ottawa would work with the incoming government.
