The 2008 Quebec general election was held in the Canadian province of Quebec on December 8, 2008. The Quebec Liberal Party, under incumbent Premier Jean Charest, was re-elected with a majority government, marking the first time since the 1950s (when the Union Nationale of Maurice Duplessis won four consecutive elections) that a party or leader was elected to a third consecutive mandate, and the first time for the Liberals since the 1930s, when Louis-Alexandre Taschereau was Premier.
The 2008 election also marked the first time that Québec solidaire won a seat.
Issues Charest called the election on November 5, saying he needed a "clear mandate" and a majority to handle the economic storm. He was criticized, however, by the Parti Québécois and the Action démocratique du Québec for calling a snap election to get a majority when they were willing to work with him to fix the economy.
Most notably, the election was marked by a significant collapse in support for the ADQ. Formerly a relatively minor party, the ADQ had attracted significant protest support in the 2007 election, beating the Parti Québécois to Official Opposition status. In 2008, however, the party's support dropped back to approximately 15 per cent of the popular vote, roughly the same range of support the party attracted before 2007. As a result of this loss of support, Mario Dumont announced in his concession speech that he would step down as party leader.
In the final days of the election campaign, the concurrent parliamentary confidence dispute became an issue, with Prime Minister Stephen Harper attacking the credibility of a potential Liberal-New Democratic Party coalition government because the Bloc Québécois had pledged to support the coalition on motions of confidence. Both Marois and Dumont called upon Charest, a former leader of the federal Progressive Conservatives, to clarify where he stood on the coalition and on Harper's use of anti-sovereigntist rhetoric in the dispute. Charest emphasized that the Bloc MPs had been legitimately elected by Quebecers, and stated that "I live in a society in which people can be sovereigntists or federalists, but they respect each other. The same thing should prevail in the federal parliament."Charest warns against Quebec-bashing in Parliament crisis, CBC News.
Media analysts noted that while Charest's Liberals won a majority, the final result was much narrower in both the popular vote and the seat total than polls even just a few days before the election had predicted, because the Liberals only won an eight-seat majority, a result which was widely credited to a late voter swing toward the PQ as a result of Harper's comments."This has been a great year for Jean Charest" , The Gazette, December 17, 2008.
Timeline
2007 March 26 - 38th Quebec general election April 4 - Mario Dumont becomes the leader of the Official Opposition. April 5 - Swearing in of the liberals members of the National Assembly April 12 - Swearing in of the ADQs members of the National Assembly April 18 - Swearing in of the Cabinet members April 25 - Swearing in of the PQs members of the National Assembly May 8 - Resignation of André Boisclair as leader of the Parti Québécois May 9 - The opening speech of the 38th National Assembly of Quebec is pronounced by Premier Jean Charest. May 10 - François Gendron becomes the interim leader of the Parti Québécois, so the leader of the Second Opposition group. May 24 - The budget speech is pronounced by Monique Jérôme-Forget. Both opposition parties announce that they will vote against the budget, causing a crisis in the National Assembly. June 1 - Monique Jérôme-Forget adds 111 million dollars to the budget to avoid the holding of a general election. The budgetary policy is approved by 46 votes against 44. June 7 - Pierre Duchesne becomes the twenty-eighth Lieutenant Governor of Quebec. June 26 - Pauline Marois is elected as leader of the Parti Québécois without opposition. August 13 - Resignation of Rosaire Bertrand as MNA of Charlevoix September 24 - In a by-election, Pauline Marois is elected MNA of Charlevoix with 59.2% of the vote. October 17 - Resignation of Diane Lemieux as MNA of Bourget November 15 - Resignation of André Boisclair as MNA of Pointe-aux-Trembles
2008 March 8 - 97.2% of the liberals delegates support their leader, Jean Charest. March 13 - Monique Jérôme-Forget pronounces her second budget speech. Mario Dumont announces that the ADQ will vote for the budget, whereas Pauline Marois announces that the PQ will vote against. Thus, the government is safe. March 16 - 94.8% of the ADQ's delegates support their leader, Mario Dumont. March 29 - Guy Rainville is elected as leader of the Green Party against Scott McKay. April 9 - Resignation of Roch Cholette as MNA of Hull May 12 - In by-elections, Maka Kotto, Maryse Gaudreault and Nicole Léger are respectively elected MNAs of Bourget, Hull and Pointe-aux-Trembles. The voter turnout is around 34% in the three electoral districts. June 25 - Resignation of Philippe Couillard as MNA of Jean-Talon and swearing in of Yves Bolduc as minister of Health and Social Services July 14 - Resignation of Michel Bissonnet as president of the National Assembly September 24 - Resignation of Michel Bissonnet as MNA of Jeanne-Mance–Viger September 29 - In a by-election, Yves Bolduc is elected MNA of Jean-Talon with 58.5% of the vote. October 21 - Election of François Gendron as president of the National Assembly October 22 - Resignation of Russell Copeman as MNA of Notre-Dame-de-Grâce October 23 - ADQ members of the National Assembly André Riedl and Pierre-Michel Auger cross the floor to sit as members of the Liberal caucus. November 5 - Premier Jean Charest calls a general election for December 8. November 25 - Leaders debate
Opinion polls
Polling firmLast date of pollingLink QLP ADQ PQ GPQ QS OtherAngus Reid StrategiesDecember 5, 2008PDF421336351Léger MarketingDecember 4, 2008PDF451532341CROPDecember 3, 2008PDF451529650Léger MarketingNovember 23, 2008PDF461234440CROPNovember 23, 2008PDF451232550Nanos ResearchNovember 22, 2008PDF441236441Léger MarketingNovember 19, 2008PDF441533440CROPNovember 13, 2008DOC421531741EnvironicsNovember 12, 2008HTML451439110Léger MarketingNovember 10, 2008PDF411435442Léger MarketingOctober 27, 2008PDF421434442CROPOctober 27, 2008DOC381732751CROPSeptember 28, 2008DOC411632640CROPAugust 24, 2008DOC421732630CROPJune 23, 2008DOC361731780Léger MarketingJune 15, 2008PDF421432741CROPMay 26, 2008PDF411432661CROPApril 27, 2008DOC381729951Léger MarketingApril 20, 2008PDF371833642CROPMarch 26, 2008DOC342230761CROPFebruary 24, 2008DOC352132750CROPJanuary 27, 2008DOC312435540Léger MarketingJanuary 17, 2008PDF332730541CROPDecember 2, 2007DOC302634631Léger MarketingNovember 4, 2007PDF312731551CROPOctober 28, 2007DOC312831640CROPSeptember 23, 2007HTML243430750Léger MarketingSeptember 8, 2007PDF283034422CROPAugust 26, 2007DOC272933641CROPJune 25, 2007PDF272829961Léger MarketingJune 24, 2007PDF283132540CROPJune 3, 2007PDF282929850CROPMay 28, 2007HTML283227750Léger MarketingMay 26, 2007PDF283330441CROPApril 29, 2007PDF273223971Léger MarketingMarch 29, 2007PDF313822530Last electionMarch 26, 2007HTML33.1%30.8%28.4%3.9%3.6%0.2%
Polling by Language +Date(s)FirmSample Parti QuébécoisQuebec Liberal PartyAction démocratique du QuébecQuébec solidaireOtherRef.FrancophonesNon FrancophonesFrancophonesNon FrancophonesFrancophonesNon FrancophonesFrancophonesNon FrancophonesFrancophonesNon Francophones December 4, 2008Léger38%9%36%79% 18%5%5%1%3%6%HTML November 23, 2008Léger40%11%38%78% 14%6%4%1%4%5%HTML November 17, 2008Léger39%12%37%68% 15%14%5%3%4%3%HTML November 9, 2008Léger39%17%34%66% 17%15%4%5%6%7%HTML June 15, 2008Léger36%18%35%68% 17%4%4%2%8%9%HTML 26 May 2008CROP38%6%32%82% 17%3%6%5%7%3%HTML April 20, 2008Leger 37%13%30%64% 20%11%5%0%7%12%HTML 17 January 2008Leger 37%7%23%72% 31%12%4%2%5%7%HTML November 4, 2007Leger 36%6%25%61% 30%18%5%2%4%13%HTML September 8, 2007Leger 39%8%20%59% 34%14%3%3%4%16%HTML June 24, 2007Leger 36%13%20%66% 35%13%5%1%4%7%HTML May 26, 2007Leger 34%8%22%58% 36%20%3%6%5%7%HTML 29 April 2007CROP27%5%20%59% 35%18%8%6%10%12%HTML
Campaign slogans Action démocratique du Québec: Donnez-vous le pouvoir ("Give yourselves the power") Parti libéral du Québec: L'économie d'abord OUI ("The economy first YES") Parti québécois: Québec gagnant avec Pauline ("Quebec is a winner with Pauline") Parti vert du Québec : Votons pour l'avenir ("Let's vote for the future") Québec solidaire : Pour un système de santé public / Pour des salaires décents / Pour une souveraineté solidaire / Pour une économie verte et locale / Pour Éole Québec ("For a public health system" / "For decent incomes" / "For an independence in solidarity" / "For a green and local economy" / "For Wind Québec" [Éole Québec is a play on the state-run Hydro-Québec power utility, and refers to the nationalization of the wind energy industry])
Incumbent MNAs not running for re-election
Liberals Maurice Clermont, Mille-Îles Jean-Marc Fournier, Châteauguay Benoît Pelletier, Chapleau
Péquistes Maxime Arseneau, Îles-de-la-Madeleine Jacques Côté, Dubuc Serge Deslières, Beauharnois Rita Dionne-Marsolais, Rosemont Louise Harel, Hochelaga-Maisonneuve Guy Lelièvre, Gaspé
List of candidates and results per riding The results in each riding (electoral division) were:
Bas-Saint-Laurent and Gaspésie–Îles-de-la-Madeleine
|bgcolor=whitesmoke|Bonaventure || |Nathalie Normandeau 10,707 64.29% | |Denise Porlier 586 3.52% | |Marcel Landry 4,829 28.99%
|Patricia Chartier 533 3.20%
|Nathalie Normandeau |- |bgcolor=whitesmoke|Gaspé || |Georges Mamelonet 8,886 56.08% | |Marcelle Guay 499 3.15% | |Annie Chouinard 6,285 39.67%
|Simon Tremblay-Pepin 175 1.10%
|Guy Lelièvre |- |bgcolor=whitesmoke|Îles-de-la-Madeleine || |Germain Chevarie 3,510 49.85% | |Patrick Leblanc 121 1.72% | |Jeannine Richard 3,194 45.36% | |Nicolas Tremblay 129 1.83% | |Jacques Bourdeau 87 1.24%
|Maxime Arseneau |- |bgcolor=whitesmoke|Kamouraska-Témiscouata || |Claude Béchard 11,048 53.70% | |Ian Sénéchal 4,436 21.56% | |Michel Forget 4,351 21.15%
|Manon Côté 604 2.94% | |Alexie Plourde (Ind.) 134 0.65% || |Claude Béchard |- |bgcolor=whitesmoke|Matane | |Éric Plourde 5,503 33.27% | |Denis Paquette 1,127 6.81% || |Pascal Bérubé 9,589 57.98%
|Gilles Arteau 320 1.93%
|Pascal Bérubé |- |bgcolor=whitesmoke|Matapédia | |Jean-Yves Roy 5,828 33.94% | |Cindy Rousseau 1,982 11.54% || |Danielle Doyer 8,815 51.34%
|Eve-Lyne Couturier 544 3.17%
|Danielle Doyer |- |bgcolor=whitesmoke|Rimouski | |Raymond Guiguère 9,424 35.33% | |Frédéric Audet 3,410 12.78% || |Irvin Pelletier 12,873 48.26%
|Alain Thibault 967 3.63%
|Irvin Pelletier |- |bgcolor=whitesmoke|Rivière-du-Loup | |Jean-Pierre Rioux 5,795 26.98% || |Mario Dumont 11,115 51.75% | |Stephan Shields 3,049 14.20% | |Alain Gagnon 513 2.39% | |Stacy Larouche 400 1.86% | |Victor-Lévy Beaulieu (Ind.) 607 2.83% || |Mario Dumont
Côte-Nord and Saguenay–Lac-Saint-Jean
|bgcolor=whitesmoke|Chicoutimi | |Joan Simard 12,128 41.61% | |Jean-Philippe Marin 2,455 8.42% || |Stéphane Bédard 13,402 45.98%
|Réjean Godin 1,164 3.99%
|Stéphane Bédard |- |bgcolor=whitesmoke|Dubuc || |Serge Simard 9,723 42.85% | |Robert Émond 2,789 12.29% | |André Michaud 9,272 40.86%
|Marie-France Bienvenue 708 3.12% | |Fernand Bouchard (Ind.) 199 0.88% || |Jacques Côté |- |bgcolor=whitesmoke|Duplessis | |Pierre Cormier 6,300 34.28% | |Bernard Lefrançois 1,532 8.34% || |Lorraine Richard 9,619 52.34% | |Jacques Gélineau 459 2.50% | |Olivier Noël 469 2.55%
|Lorraine Richard |- |bgcolor=whitesmoke|Jonquière | |Martine Girard 10,367 37.80% | |Marc Jomphe 2,913 10.62% || |Sylvain Gaudreault 13,077 47.68%
|Gabrielle Desbiens 1,068 3.89%
|Sylvain Gaudreault |- |bgcolor=whitesmoke|Lac-Saint-Jean | |Pierre Simard 7,825 29.94% | |Sylvain Carbonneau 2,764 10.57% || |Alexandre Cloutier 14,539 55.62% | |France Bergeron 483 1.85% | |Samuel Thivierge 527 2.02%