This Quebec election campaign has shaped up to be one of the closest races in recent provincial history, with no party claiming a significant lead after the polls opened Monday.
Dozens of ridings across the province are seeing three-way races with no clear sense of who will come out ahead at the end of the night. Several ridings worth watching, in alphabetical order:
Abitibi-Est
Pierre Corbeil, the former Liberal natural resources minister, faced serious difficulties in his bid to be re-elected as Parti Québécois candidate Alexis Wawanoloath, a young Abenaki activist, capitalized on frustration in the region over job losses in the forestry sector. Wawanoloath successfully defeated Corbeil in 2007.
Bonaventure
This Gaspé riding distinguished itself in the 2007 election campaign as the only political battleground featuring an all-woman cast of candidates. Liberal incumbent Nathalie Normandeau, who served as municipal affairs minister under Jean Charest, beat opponents including the Action Démocratique du Québec's Karine Delarosbil, Québec Solidaire candidate Hélène Morin and the PQ's Doris Chapados.
Chambly
This large riding on Montreal's South Shore served as a stage for one of the province's fiercest three-way tug-of-wars in this campaign. The PQ's Louise Beaudoin lost her seat here in 2003 to Liberal Diane Legault. Both women have since moved on from politics, leaving a new generation of politicians to fight over the territory. Marc Tanguay aimed to retain the seat for the Liberals, but got little room to manoeuvre with the PQ's Bertrand St-Arnaud and ADQ candidate Richard Merlini performing favourably in polls. Ultimately, Merlini won the seat.
D'Arcy McGee
Few expect any surprises in this Liberal stronghold in Montreal's West Island, where Lawrence Bergman was seeking re-election. What was interesting to watch was how much support competing parties managed to grab from the Liberals, who have been severely criticized in the riding for the way they handled municipal demergers. In the end, Bergman held on to the riding, but his take of the popular vote was down more than nine per cent.
Jean-Talon
Philippe Couillard, the popular health minister, left Mont-Royal and was parachuted into this Quebec City Liberal fortress when outgoing MNA Marguerite Delisle chose not to run for office again. Couillard was feeling the heat from ADQ candidate Luc de la Sablonnière and the PQ's Véronique Hivon, but in the end, Couillard held on to the riding.
Jonquière
PQ candidate Sylvain Gaudreault, who made headlines in the campaign after a local radio host called him a "fag," snatched this riding from incumbent Françoise Gauthier, the former Liberal tourism minister. This riding is a toss-up in the traditionally sovereigntist region, where Liberals and the ADQ are trying to steal support from the PQ.
Laurier-Dorion
The PQ's 28-year-old rising star Elsie Lefebvre surprised many when she stole this federalist fort in a 2004 byelection. Lefebvre, who is fluent in Spanish as well as French and English, is getting a run for her money from lawyer and Liberal candidate Gerry Sklavounos, the ADQ's Louise Lévesque and Québec Solidaire hopeful Ruba Ghazal.
St-Jean
This is a bellwether riding, where voters have elected MNAs from the winning party in every election in the past 50 years. In the end, ADQ's Lucille Méthé won a three-way race against Liberal Jean-Pierre Paquin and PQ candidate Dave Turcotte.
Verdun
Nine candidates are running in this eclectic middle-class riding in Montreal's southwest corner, making Verdun a veritable petri dish for pluralism. Liberal Henri-François Gautrin, a physicist by trade, has held the seat since 1989. He faced competition from Péquiste Richard Langlais, ADQ Sylvie Tremblay and playwright David Fennario, the author of Balconville, who is running for Québec Solidaire. In spite of them all, Gautrin took the riding again.
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| Party | Elected | Leading | Total | Vote Share |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| LIB | 48 | 0 | 48 | 33.08% |
| ADQ | 41 | 0 | 41 | 30.80% |
| PQ | 36 | 0 | 36 | 28.32% |
| QS | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3.65% |
| GRN | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3.89% |
| OTH | 0 | 0 | 0 | .26% |
| Last Update:March 27, 12:52:21 AM EDT | ||||
Quebec Votes 2007 Headlines »
- Que. Liberals take minority win with grain of salt
- Quebec Premier Jean Charest said he'll build bridges with the Parti Québécois and the Action Démocratique du Québec to ensure a stable minority government.
- Dumont will work with Quebec Premier Charest
- Quebec's new Opposition Leader Mario Dumont said he wants stability at the national assembly and pledged to work with the Liberal minority government on a case-by-case basis.
- Boisclair remains at helm after PQ finishes 3rd
- André Boisclair is staying on as leader of the Parti Québécois and vowed to help rebuild the fractured party after it suffered major losses in Monday's provincial election.
- Quebec election result 'good news' for Canada: PM
- Stephen Harper says voters in the Quebec election have used their ballots to reject calls for another referendum in a "great result" for Canada.
- Charest keeps seat as Liberals cling to power in Quebec
- Quebecers are waking up to a minority Liberal government — the first minority in the province in 130 years — and a new official Opposition.