The 2020

Parti Québécois The Parti Québécois (; ; PQ) is a sovereignist and social democratic provincial political party in Quebec, Canada. The PQ advocates national sovereignty for Quebec involving independence of the province of Quebec from Canada and establishin ...

leadership election A leadership election is a political contest held in various countries by which the members of a political party determine who will be the leader of their party. Generally, any political party can determine its own rules governing how and when a l ...

was held on 9 October 2020, to replace

Jean-François Lisée Jean-François Lisée (born February 13, 1958) is a Quebec nationalist politician who served as the leader of the Parti Québécois from October 2016 until October 2018. He was first elected a member of the National Assembly of Quebec in the 2 ...

, who resigned on 1 October 2018 after leading the

to a third-place finish in the 2018 Quebec general election and failing to be re-elected in his own riding.

Paul St-Pierre Plamondon Paul St-Pierre Plamondon (; often identified by his initials: PSPP; born February 17, 1977) is a Canadian lawyer, television columnist and politician. He has been the leader of the Parti Québécois since October 9, 2020. He represents Camill ...

was elected on the third ballot with 56% of the vote. The election was originally scheduled for 19 June but was postponed due to the

COVID-19 pandemic in Quebec The COVID-19 pandemic in Quebec is part of an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), a novel infectious disease caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). Until 2021, Quebec had reported t ...

Background

On 1 October 2018, the

came in third in the Quebec general election, winning only ten seats and 17% of the popular vote, an all-time low. PQ leader

announces his resignation as leader after losing his own riding. Pascal Bérubé was named interim leader on 9 October 2018. On 13 December 2019, Bérubé announced that the campaign would start on 1 February 2020 and that the leader would be chosen before 24 June 2020.

Process

The nomination period officially began on March 2 and ended on April 9. To obtain an application form, each aspiring candidate had to give the party a non-refundable amount of $10,000. To make their candidacy official, each candidate must have submitted their ballot signed by at least 2,000 members from at least 9 administrative regions and at least 50 local associations and pay the party a non-refundable amount of $15,000. For the first time, the Parti Québécois allowed both party members and supporters to participate in the election of the leader. Supporters had to pay $5̩ to obtain the right to vote. Anyone enjoying the status of voter in Quebec could contribute to the campaign of a leadership contestant by paying him an amount that cannot exceed $500. Applicants' maximum campaign expenses could not exceed $125,000. Two debates were to be organized by the Parti Québécois between April 15 and May 20, with one to take place in

Montreal Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-most populous city in Canada and List of towns in Quebec, most populous city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian ...

and the other in Centre-du-Québec, but they were postponed. The voting period was to have begun on June 15 at 9 a.m. and end on June 19 at 3 p.m. but was delayed until the autumn. Voting took place by preferential ballot. Thus, a candidate who collected 50% + 1 vote would win. If necessary, a second or even a third round would be held to, after distribution of the 2nd and 3rd choices, choose a winner. The results were to be announced by the returning officer, in a location to be determined in either the

Capitale-Nationale Capitale-Nationale (; en, National Capital region) is one of the 17 administrative regions of Quebec. It is anchored by the provincial capital, Quebec City, and is largely coextensive with that city's metropolitan area. It has a land area of 18,7 ...

or Chaudière-Appalaches regions.

Candidates

Declared

Frédéric Bastien Frédéric Bastien is a Canadian author, historian, and journalist, best known for the book ''La Bataille de Londres. Dessous, secrets et coulisses du rapatriement constitutionnel'', whose allegations surrounding the 1982 patriation of Canada's ...

, historian, college teacher *

Sylvain Gaudreault Sylvain Gaudreault (born July 8, 1970) is a Canadian politician and teacher. He was the Member of National Assembly of Quebec for the riding of Jonquière in the city of Saguenay from 2007 to 2022. He represents the Parti Québécois. On May 6, ...

, former interim leader of

(2016), former Leader of the Official Opposition in Quebec (2016), MNA for

Jonquière Jonquière (; ; 2021 population: 60,250) is a borough (arrondissement) of the city of Saguenay in the Saguenay–Lac-Saint-Jean region of Quebec, Canada. It is located on the Saguenay River, near the borough of Chicoutimi. History Jonquièr ...

(2007–present), Minister of Transport and Municipal Affairs under

Pauline Marois Pauline Marois (; born March 29, 1949) is a retired Canadian politician, who served as the 30th premier of Quebec from 2012 to 2014. Marois had been a member of the National Assembly in various ridings since 1981 as a member of the Parti Québ� ...

* , comedian * Paul Saint-Pierre Plamondon, 2016 leadership candidate (fourth place), lawyer, political columnist, essayist and commentator.

Did not qualify

* Laurent Vézina, businessman * Gloriane Blais, lawyer

Declined

Yves-François Blanchet Yves-François Blanchet (; born April 16, 1965) is a Canadian politician who has served as leader of the Bloc Québécois (BQ) since 2019. He has been the Member of Parliament (MP) for Beloeil—Chambly since the 2019 election. Before federal ...

, MP for

Beloeil—Chambly Beloeil—Chambly is a federal electoral district in Quebec. It encompasses a portion of Quebec formerly included in the electoral district of Chambly—Borduas. Beloeil—Chambly was created by the 2012 federal electoral boundaries redistri ...

(2019–present),

Bloc Québécois The Bloc Québécois (BQ; , "Québécois people, Quebecer Voting bloc, Bloc") is a list of federal political parties in Canada, federal political party in Canada devoted to Quebec nationalism and the promotion of Quebec sovereignty movement, Que ...

leader (2019–present), Québec Minister of Sustainable Development, Environment, Wildlife and Parks (2012-2014), MPP in Quebec National Assembly (2008-2014) *

Alexandre Cloutier Alexandre Cloutier (born September 1, 1977) is a Canadians, Canadian politician and lawyer. He was a member of National Assembly of Quebec for the Riding (division), riding of Lac-Saint-Jean (provincial electoral district), Lac-Saint-Jean in the S ...

, two-time PQ leadership runner-up in the

2015 File:2015 Events Collage new.png, From top left, clockwise: Civil service in remembrance of November 2015 Paris attacks; Germanwings Flight 9525 was purposely crashed into the French Alps; the rubble of residences in Kathmandu following the Apri ...

and 2016, MNA for

Lac-Saint-Jean Lac-Saint-Jean () is a federal electoral district in the Saguenay–Lac-Saint-Jean region, northeast Quebec, Canada, that was represented in the House of Commons of Canada from 1925 to 2004, and has been represented since 2015. Demographics ...

(2007–2018), Minister responsible for the

Nord-du-Québec Nord-du-Québec (; en, Northern Quebec) is the largest, but the least populous, of the seventeen administrative regions of Quebec, Canada. With nearly of land area, and very extensive lakes and rivers, it covers much of the Labrador Peninsu ...

region,

Côte-Nord Côte-Nord (, ; ; land area ) is the second-largest administrative region by land area in Quebec, Canada, after Nord-du-Québec. It covers much of the northern shore of the Saint Lawrence River estuary and the Gulf of Saint Lawrence past Tadous ...

region, Canadian Intergovernmental Affairs, the Canadian Francophonie and Sovereignist Governance under

, currently out of politics. *Stéphane Handfield, lawyer *

Véronique Hivon Véronique Hivon (born 1970) is a Canadians, Canadian politician in the province of Quebec. Hivon was elected to represent the riding of Joliette (provincial electoral district), Joliette in the National Assembly of Quebec in the 2014 Quebec ge ...

, PQ deputy leader, MNA for Joliette (2008–present), Minister of Social Services and Youth Protection, Minister responsible for the

Lanaudière Lanaudière (, ) is one of the seventeen administrative regions of Quebec, Canada, situated immediately to the northeast of Montreal. It has a total population ( 2016 Census) of 494,796 inhabitants, an increase of 4.9% over the 2011 census. Geog ...

region and Minister responsible for the Die in Dignity commission under

* Pierre Karl Péladeau, former PQ leader (2015–2016), MNA for

Saint-Jérôme Saint-Jérôme () ( 2021 population 80,213) is a suburban city located about northwest of Montreal on the Rivière du Nord. It is part of the Montreal of Greater Montreal. It is a gateway to the Laurentian Mountains and its resorts via the ...

(2014–2016), President and CEO of

Quebecor Quebecor Inc. is a Canadian diversified media and telecommunications company serving Québec based in Montreal. It was spelled Quebecor in both English and French until May 2012, when shareholders voted to add the acute accent, Québecor, in F ...

Campaign

Paul Saint-Pierre Plamondon

Pierre Plamondon supported "forceful measures" to promote the French language while preserving the rights of the Anglophone minority. Plamondon also pledged to hold a sovereignty referendum in the first mandate of a PQ government.

Guy Nantel

Guy Nantel advocated giving English the status of a "national language minority".

Results

Notes

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Parti Quebecois leadership election

Next Next may refer to: Arts and entertainment Film * ''Next'' (1990 film), an animated short about William Shakespeare * ''Next'' (2007 film), a sci-fi film starring Nicolas Cage * '' Next: A Primer on Urban Painting'', a 2005 documentary film Lit ...

Elections in Quebec Quebec, Parti Quebecois leadership election Elections postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic Parti Québécois leadership election