Premier Jean Charest says he has had one of the most productive legislative sessions since his start in provincial politics a decade ago, and doesn't see any reason for an election next year.

The Quebec legislature adopted 34 laws this fall even though Charest's Liberals faced the challenge of having a minority government — the first seen in the province in more than a century.

Highlights include a new gun control law and a stricter highway safety code that makes snow tires mandatory, limits cellphone use and introduces photo radar.

The minority government was "competent and centered on Quebecers' priorities," despite some opposition resistance to certain legislative projects, the premier declared in a news conference in Quebec City on Thursday.

"Even as a minority government, we are a government for all Quebecers," and there is no need for an election any time soon because people don't want it, he said.

If there has to be an election in 2008, it will be a federal one, Charest said.

But the new year may bring a cabinet shuffle as Quebec's current roster of 18 Liberal ministers is stretched to the limit, he hinted.

"I've observed how this has worked in the last few months, and it's a lot to ask our colleagues, because their workload is very [significant]," he said.

"In our political system it means they have a great deal of work to do, and they can't be everywhere."

Charest said he didn't find it easier to work with either the Parti Québécois or the Action Démocratique du Québec this fall, because sometimes the Liberals teamed up with one party, and sometimes with the other.

But the relationship is one of cohabitation rather than coalition, the premier insisted.

He said he was disappointed opposition parties defeated the Liberals' attempt to lower the legal blood alcohol limit for drivers to 0.05, from 0.08.

He called it a partisan move that will cost lives.

Missed opportunities

PQ Leader Pauline Marois summed up the fall session as a series of missed opportunities for Charest and Opposition leader Mario Dumont.

Marois said Charest no longer commands the federal government's attention at a time when he should be pressing Ottawa to act quickly in the manufacturing crisis that has cost Quebec thousands of jobs and dozens of factories.

Meanwhile, Dumont has been an irresponsible Opposition leader, opposing things for the sake of opposing things, Marois said.

Dumont admitted his rookie team of legislature members had made some mistakes during the fall session, but he said they learned from the experience and overall the ADQ performed well.

Dumont accused the Liberals and PQ of being status quo parties, and reproached Charest for spending too much time consulting and not enough solving problems.

The ADQ leader wouldn't say whether his party was ready to trigger an election in the new year.

"The rush for us is change in Quebec, the rush is not to have an election," Dumont said Thursday afternoon. "But there are key moments, there are important moments and we take them one by one, we analyze them in the best interests of the Quebec population, and we'll see."

With files from the Canadian Press