Latest news with #PartiQuebecois
CBC
7 days ago
- Politics
- CBC
Quebec adds $540M to education budget after facing criticism from school boards, staff
The Quebec government is adding hundreds of millions of dollars to the education budget for the upcoming school year after coming under fire for announcing cuts that would have amounted to $570 million less in funding. The sum of money announced on Wednesday amounts to $540 million. When announcing the budgetary restrictions last month, Education Minister Bernard Drainville said it was up to school service centres and school boards to respect the budgets they were given. Since then, teachers, parents, unions, school staff and school boards have heavily criticized those budgetary restrictions, arguing that student success and services would be affected. Across the province, there were protests and news conferences to draw attention to their concerns. A petition launched on the National Assembly website to oppose these budget cuts, sponsored by Parti Québécois (PQ) MNA Pascal Bérubé, has already gathered over 157,000 signatures. In a statement on Wednesday, Drainville said the government had listened to people's concerns and was taking action for students. But the funding comes with conditions. "All the money invested must be used for direct student services, not for anything else. Let's be clear: this is not an open bar," read Drainville's statement. "Of the $540 million announced today, $425 million will be paid into a dedicated envelope. To qualify, each [service centre] will have to demonstrate that it has made efforts to reduce its administrative expenses."
CTV News
08-07-2025
- Politics
- CTV News
Highly anticipated Quebec byelection in Arthabaska riding to be held Aug. 11
The leader of the Conservative party of Quebec, Éric Duhaime, greets his supporters during a rally in Victoriaville, Que., on Sunday, May 4, 2025. QUÉBEC — Quebec's government has announced that a hotly contested byelection northeast of Montreal will take place Aug. 11. The Arthabaska riding has been held by the Coalition Avenir Québec since 2012, but polls indicate the governing party is set to lose its stronghold to the Parti Québécois or Conservatives. Conservative Leader Éric Duhaime has put his name forward, hoping to win what would be his party's only seat in the legislature. His main opponent is former Radio-Canada journalist Alex Boissonneault with the PQ — a party on the upswing that has won the last two byelections. Poll aggregator Qc125 indicates the PQ and Conservatives are tied at 37 per cent support, with Premier François Legault's party a distant third in the riding. The CAQ's candidate is Keven Brasseur, a former president of the party's youth commission, while health-care worker Pascale Fortin is representing Québec solidaire in the byelection. The Liberals have not yet named a candidate for the riding left vacant after the CAQ's Eric Lefebvre quit provincial politics to run for the Conservatives in April's federal election. This report by The Canadian Press was first published July 8, 2025. The Canadian Press
CTV News
26-06-2025
- Politics
- CTV News
Support for Quebec Liberal Party surging in the wake of Pablo Rodriguez's election: poll
The effect of Pablo Rodriguez's election as the new leader of the Quebec Liberal Party (QLP) on voting intentions has been confirmed, with a second poll showing the party surging in popularity. In the most recent Léger poll, conducted on behalf of Quebecor Media, 28 per cent of respondents said they would vote for the QLP if an election were held today. The Liberals have thus gained seven percentage points since Léger's previous poll, conducted in May, before Rodriguez became party leader. Voting intentions in Quebec A screenshot of a chart from a Leger poll released on June 26, 2025, showing current voting intentions in Quebec. (Source: Leger) In the poll released on Thursday, the PLQ is now only two points behind the Parti Québécois (PQ), which remains in the lead in voting intentions with 30 per cent. However, the sovereigntist party has lost three points since the May poll. A Pallas Data poll released last week, just after Rodriguez's victory in the PLQ leadership race, also showed an increase in support for the PLQ. That poll put the Liberals at 26 per cent and the PQ at 31 per cent. In the previous Pallas Data poll, published in March, the Liberals had garnered 22 per cent of support. Increased dissatisfaction with the CAQ The Coalition Avenir Québec (CAQ) continues to plummet. François Legault's party lost another three points and now stands at 17 per cent of voting intentions, according to Léger. The CAQ remains ahead of the Conservative Party (14 per cent, up 1 point from the May poll) and Québec solidaire (9 per cent, down 1 point from the May poll). The CAQ's decline in support coincides with an increase in Quebecers' dissatisfaction with the Legault government. In the Léger-Québecor poll, 65 per cent of respondents said they were dissatisfied with the CAQ government's performance, four points higher than in the previous poll. In contrast, 28 per cent of participants said they were satisfied with the government's performance, down four points from the previous poll. Last week, when another poll showed the CAQ down in voting intentions, Legault said that such results make him want to 'fight' for Quebecers. When asked who would make the best premier of Quebec, 23 per cent of respondents chose PQ leader Paul St-Pierre Plamondon, 19 per cent chose Rodriguez, and 17 per cent chose Legault. Half of respondents said that Legault should step down as CAQ leader. Sovereignty on the rise among young people When it comes to Quebec sovereignty, 33 per cent of respondents said they were in favour, 59 per cent said they were against, and 8 per cent said they did not know or preferred not to answer. While support for independence remained stable from one month to the next, one figure stands out: support for sovereignty stands at 48 per cent among the 18-34 age group. Support for sovereignty is therefore higher in this age group than among aged 35-54 (28 per cent) and those aged 55 and over (35 per cent), according to Léger's data. The Léger-Québecor poll was conducted online among 1,056 respondents in Quebec from 20 to 22 June. There is no margin of error, as online surveys are not considered a random sample of the population, but a probabilistic sample of this size would have a margin of error of no more than ± 3% (19 times out of 20). This report by The Canadian Press was first published in French on June 26, 2025. By Mathieu Paquette, The Canadian Press
CTV News
13-06-2025
- Politics
- CTV News
Quebec Liberals to chose new leader this weekend
Quebec Liberal leadership candidates Pablo Rodriguez, from the left, Karl Blackburn, Marc Bélanger, Charles Milliard and Mario Roy stand together at the end of a debate in Quebec City Thursday, May 22, 2025. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jacques Boissinot The Quebec Liberal Party is slated to choose its new leader on Saturday following a five-month leadership race. The Liberals lost the last two elections to the Coalition Avenir Québec (CAQ), led by Premier François Legault. They're now trying to regain support from francophone voters in regions of Quebec outside Montreal. A recent poll suggests former federal transport minister Pablo Rodriguez is the likely frontrunner, but his rivals say he's too closely tied to Montreal. Karl Blackburn, former president of a Quebec employers group, says he's best placed to improve Quebec's economy. Charles Milliard, a political newcomer, is pitching himself as a breath of fresh air for a party that needs renewal. Lawyer Marc Bélanger and farmer Mario Roy are also in the running. The Liberals are hoping to have a shot at forming the next government during an election set for October 2026. The sovereigntist Parti Québécois (PQ) has been leading in the polls for months as Legault's government loses momentum. – This report by The Canadian Press was first published in French on June 13, 2024.
CTV News
08-06-2025
- Politics
- CTV News
Tom Mulcair: The Quebec Liberal leadership contender who could put a stop to a surging separatist tide
For those of us who've been through the wringer of very divisive referendums, the threat of separatism is devoid of charm. Alberta Premier Danielle Smith, an able politician whose success is founded on an understated populism, has decided to put her own threat under wraps for the time being and that's a very good thing for Canada. Meanwhile, you guessed it, a resurgent Parti Quebecois has been sabre rattling again and the separatist threat is alive and well in La Belle Province. The PQ's current leader, Paul St. Pierre-Plamondon (PSPP for short), is a studious talkaholic who has managed to reignite his party's standing in the polls, if not support for separatism itself. At least not yet. PSPP is surfing easily on a very large wave of discontent with the hopelessly incompetent CAQ government of Francois Legault, as it stumbles to the end of its second mandate. Paul St-Pierre Plamondon Parti Quebecois Leader Paul St-Pierre Plamondon sums up the spring session as it comes to an end, at the legislature in Quebec City, Friday, June 6, 2025. (THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jacques Boissinot) PSPP is already starting to soft-pedal his supposedly rock hard promise to hold the province's third referendum on sovereignty if the PQ gets reelected. He now talks of a 'consultation,' not of a referendum. To the untrained eye, that's splitting political hairs, but there's a sucker born every minute and no one who knows the place is taking the threat lightly. Legault got just over 40 per cent of the vote in the last election. A perfect split of the remaining 60 per cent among four opposition parties gave his CAQ a massive majority. The Quebec Liberals had their worst showing ever but thanks to a strong concentration of Liberal votes amongst Montreal's Anglo and cultural communities, still managed to eke out official opposition status. The Quebec Liberals haven't had a permanent leader since former head Dominique Anglade stepped down right after the 2022 election debacle. That is about to change as Quebec Liberals will begin voting on Monday for their new leader, who will be announced at a convention in Quebec City on June 14. When former federal minister Pablo Rodriguez indicated he'd be running, the Trudeau government was some 25 per cent behind the Conservatives in the polls. Pablo Rodriguez, Karl Blackburn Quebec Liberal Leadership candidate Pablo Rodriguez speaks as candidate Karl Blackburn, right, looks on during a debate in Quebec City Thursday, May 22, 2025. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jacques Boissinot That, of course, changed very rapidly after the arrival of Mark Carney, but Rodriguez was not in a position to have the second thoughts of a Sean Fraser or Anita Anand who both reversed their announced decisions to quit politics. Rodriguez had left what had been a sinking ship and his lifeboat was going to be the Quebec Liberals. He couldn't swim back. Rodriguez was himself a Montreal MP and he garnered early strong support from the Quebec Liberal caucus, which was concentrated in the Montreal area. That support and some general general polling results, led many to believe that Rodriguez would win in a romp. The problem for Rodriguez was that the polling in question was general and didn't zero in on party members. Another challenge was that under the leadership rules, each one of the 125 ridings was attributed the same number of points, irrespective of the number of members. Of the 3,000 points per riding, 1,000 were reserved for members under 25. Navigating those rules required hard work across the province and across age groups. The majority of Quebec ridings are located outside of the Montreal area. In fact, Legault only has two seats in Montreal and yet has totally dominated the rest of Quebec in winning his two majorities. Karl Blackburn It took forever for the team supporting Rodriguez to understand that math and it may now be too late as a tireless campaign across Quebec regions by former Member of the National Assembly, Karl Blackburn, is showing exceptional strength. Recent deep polling of a large sample of party members by Mainstreet shows Blackburn beating Rodriguez in the second, run-off ballot. Karl Blackburn Quebec Liberal Leadership candidate Karl Blackburn speaks during a debate in Quebec City Thursday, May 22, 2025. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jacques Boissinot Only one other candidate, pharmacist and former Chamber of Commerce head Charles Milliard is considered to be a real, if unlikely, contender. Don't let the family name fool you, Blackburn is a dyed in the wool francophone Quebecer from the resource rich Saguenay-Lac-St. Jean region. I first met him when he won an implausible victory in Roberval as the Charest government rolled into power some 20 years ago. I was the environment minister and I got to see how Blackburn worked on what could easily have become a contentious file concerning competing uses for one of that area's majestic rivers. Blackburn always knew his files better than anyone and has an innate knack for keeping everyone on side. He doesn't divide, he always adds. He has held the highest offices in the Quebec Liberal party and went on to a career at the top level in the forestry industry before becoming president and CEO of the Conseil du Patronat (Quebec's larget employers' group). Blackburn also has a unique openness for the ethnocultural reality of Montreal. I reconnected with him last year when we met during an important event for the large Maghrebine community. No longer in politics, Blackburn was not obliged to spend his Saturday evening attending an event of this type. He stayed throughout because of his strong interest in understanding the rich fabric of Montreal's diversity. Blackburn was late into the race. A bout with prostate cancer sidelined him from the first months. Many in the party thought it was too late for him to throw his hat into the ring. When he decided to run, he collected the necessary signatures in the required number of ridings in record time. He prevailed in his fight against the disease and and has campaigned across the province relentlessly, with special emphasis on the regions outside of the big cities and it's worked. One of the jobs that Blackburn held at the Liberal Party was that of chief organizer, and it shows. He has brought back, and brought together, an A-Team of seasoned political pros that the Quebec Liberals haven't seen in years. Keep an eye on Blackburn. He represents the very best of the party of Robert Bourassa, able to build bridges where the separatists are promising to blow them up. A man for his era, if he does win the leadership, he could well lead the Quebec Liberals to victory in next year's general election.
