Charest elected 4th time in Sherbrooke
Last Updated: Monday, December 8, 2008 | 10:27 PM ET
CBC News
Liberal Leader Jean Charest has been re-elected in his Eastern Township Sherbrooke riding for the fourth time.
Charest was declared the winner just after 10 P.M. time, ahead of his Parti Québécois opponent Laurent-Paul Maheux, and ADQ rival Jacques Joly.
Charest has represented the Sherbrooke riding since 1998, when he left federal politics and his position as national Conservative leader for Quebec's political arena.
He first won the Townships seat in 1998, serving as Opposition leader until 2003, when he led the provincial Liberals to a majority victory over the PQ.
In his fourth bid for office, Charest entered the campaign as the incumbent premier who oversaw the first minority government in the province's modern history.
Charest called this snap fall election just 18 months after Quebecers handed him a minority, in March 2007 – the first in the province's modern history. The Liberals lost significant ground in 2007, ceding more than 20 seats to the right-wing ADQ.
During his short tenure as minority premier, Charest oversaw the release of key provincial inquiries, including the Johnson Commission on the Concorde overpass collapse in Laval, the Castonguay commission on health-care financing, and the Bouchard-Taylor commission on reasonable accommodation.
Quebec City also celebrated its 400th anniversary during Charest's tenure as premier, a year-long event that attracted hundreds of thousands of visitors and dignitaries from around the world.
Charest decided to force a fall election on the grounds that Quebec needs political stability, with the Liberals at the helm, to weather the economic storm creeping across Canada.
Often dogged by protesters in the last provincial election, Charest's campaign has been more low-key this time around, with the party leader mostly sticking to his message about the need for stability, the Liberals' record in office and its fight for Quebec's rights in Ottawa.
