The 2008 Quebec general election was held in the

Canadian Canadians () are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of their being ''C ...

province A province is an administrative division within a country or sovereign state, state. The term derives from the ancient Roman , which was the major territorial and administrative unit of the Roman Empire, Roman Empire's territorial possessions ou ...

Quebec Quebec is Canada's List of Canadian provinces and territories by area, largest province by area. Located in Central Canada, the province shares borders with the provinces of Ontario to the west, Newfoundland and Labrador to the northeast, ...

on December 8, 2008. The

Quebec Liberal Party The Quebec Liberal Party (QLP; , PLQ) is a provincial political party in Quebec. It has been independent of the federal Liberal Party of Canada since 1955. The QLP has traditionally supported a form of Quebec federalist ideology with nuance ...

, 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 Maurice Le Noblet Duplessis, (; April 20, 1890 – September 7, 1959) byname "Le Chef" (, "The Boss"), was a Canadian lawyer and politician who served as the 16th premier of Quebec. A Conservatism in Canada, conservative, Quebec nationalism, ...

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 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 establishi ...

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 Parliamentary opposition is a form of political opposition to a designated government, particularly in a Westminster-based parliamentary system. This article uses the term ''government'' as it is used in Parliamentary systems, i.e. meaning ''t ...

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 Stephen Joseph Harper (born April 30, 1959) is a Canadian politician who served as the 22nd prime minister of Canada from 2006 to 2015. He is to date the only prime minister to have come from the modern-day Conservative Party of Canada, ser ...

attacking the credibility of a potential Liberal-

New Democratic Party The New Democratic Party (NDP; , ) is a federal political party in Canada. Widely described as social democratic,The party is widely described as social democratic: * * * * * * * * * * * * * The Editors of ''Encyclopædia Britann ...

coalition government because the

Bloc Québécois The Bloc Québécois (, , BQ) is a centre-left politics, centre-left and list of federal political parties in Canada, federal political party in Canada devoted to Quebec nationalism, Quebecois nationalism, social democracy, and the promotion o ...

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." 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.

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 Monique Jérôme-Forget (; born August 8, 1940) is a psychologist and a former Quebec politician. She was the National Assembly of Quebec, Member of National Assembly (MNA) for the riding of Marguerite-Bourgeoys (provincial electoral district), ...

. 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 The lieutenant governor of Quebec (; , ) is the representative in Quebec of the monarch, who Monarchy in Quebec, operates distinctly within the province but is also shared equally with the Canadian federalism, ten other jurisdictions of Canada. T ...

. *June 26 -

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 (Quebec), member of the National Assembly in various ridings ...

is elected as leader of the Parti Québécois without opposition. *August 13 - Resignation of Rosaire Bertrand as MNA of

Charlevoix Charlevoix ( , ) is a cultural and natural region in Quebec, on the north shore of the Saint Lawrence River as well as in the Laurentian Mountains area of the Canadian Shield. This dramatic landscape includes rolling terrain, fjords, headlands ...

*September 24 - In a

by-election A by-election, also known as a special election in the United States and the Philippines, or a bypoll in India, is an election used to fill an office that has become vacant between general elections. A vacancy may arise as a result of an incumben ...

, 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 A by-election, also known as a special election in the United States and the Philippines, or a bypoll in India, is an election used to fill an office that has become vacant between general elections. A vacancy may arise as a result of an incumben ...

Maka Kotto Maka Kotto (born December 7, 1961) is a Cameroonian-born Canadian politician. Educated in France, Kotto immigrated to Quebec, Canada, where he was an educator before entering politics. Kotto was a Parti Québécois member of the National Assemb ...

, 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 Notre-Dame-de-Grâce (, , ), commonly known as NDG, is a residential neighbourhood of Montreal in the city's West End, with a population of 166,520 (2016). An independent municipality until annexed by the City of Montreal in 1910, NDG is today o ...

*October 23 - ADQ members of the National Assembly André Riedl and Pierre-Michel Auger

cross the floor In some parliamentary systems (e.g., in Canada and the United Kingdom), politicians are said to cross the floor if they formally change their political affiliation to a political party different from the one they were initially elected under. I ...

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

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" �ole 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 Jean-Marc Fournier (born 7 October 1959) is a Quebec politician and a lawyer. He represented the riding of Saint-Laurent in the National Assembly of Quebec from 2010 to 2018, and previously represented the riding of Châteauguay from 1994 to 2 ...

, Châteauguay * Benoît Pelletier, Chapleau

''Péquistes''

* Maxime Arseneau, Îles-de-la-Madeleine * Jacques Côté, Dubuc * Serge Deslières, Beauharnois *

Rita Dionne-Marsolais Rita Dionne-Marsolais (born April 20, 1947) is a former Quebec politician and economist. She was the Member of National Assembly of Quebec for the riding of Rosemont in the Montreal region and represented the Parti Québécois from 1994 to 2008 ...

, Rosemont * Louise Harel, Hochelaga-Maisonneuve * Guy Lelièvre, Gaspé

Results

The overall results were: , - style="background-color:#CCCCCC;" ! rowspan="2" colspan="2" style="text-align:left;" , Party ! rowspan="2" style="text-align:left;" , Party leader ! rowspan="2" style="text-align:center;font-size:80%;" , Candi-
dates ! colspan="5" style="text-align:center;" , Seats ! colspan="3" style="text-align:center;" , Popular vote , - style="background-color:#CCCCCC;text-align:center;" ,

2007 2007 was designated as the International Heliophysical Year and the International Polar Year. Events January * January 1 **Bulgaria and Romania 2007 enlargement of the European Union, join the European Union, while Slovenia joins the Eur ...

, style="font-size:80%;" , Dissol. , 2008 , style="font-size:80%;" , Change , % , # , % , style="font-size:80%;" , Change , style="text-align:left;" , Jean Charest , 125 , 48 , 48 , 66 , +18 , 52.80% , 1,366,046 , 42.08% , +9.00% , style="text-align:left;" ,

, 125 , 36 , 36 , 51 , +15 , 40.80% , 1,141,751 , 35.17% , +6.82% , style="text-align:left;" , Mario Dumont , 125 , 41 , 39 , 7 , -34 , 5.60% , 531,358 , 16.37% , -14.47% , style="text-align:left;" ,

Françoise David Françoise David (; born January 13, 1948) is a former spokesperson of Québec solidaire – a left-wing, feminist, and sovereigntist political party in the province of Quebec, Canada. She was elected to serve as the Member of the National As ...

Amir Khadir^† , 122 , - , - , 1 , +1 , 0.80% , 122,618 , 3.78% , +0.14% , style="text-align:left;" , Guy Rainville , 80 , - , - , - , - , - , 70,393 , 2.17% , -1.68% , style="text-align:left;" ,

Éric Tremblay Éric eʁikis a French masculine given name, the equivalent of English Eric. In French-speaking Canada and Belgium it is also sometimes unaccented, and pronounced "Eric" as English with the stress on the "i". A notable French exception is Erik Sat ...

, 19 , * , - , - , * , - , 4,227 , 0.13% , * , style="text-align:left;" , Pierre Chénier , 23 , - , - , - , - , - , 2,727 , 0.08% , +0.03% , style="text-align:left;" , Durable , style="text-align:left;" , Sébastien Girard , 1 , * , - , - , * , - , 567 , 0.02% , * , style="text-align:left;" , Republic of Quebec , style="text-align:left;" , Gilles Paquette , 1 , * , - , - , * , - , 140 , <0.01% , * , colspan="2" style="text-align:left;" , Independents , 30 , - , - , - , - , - , 6,506 , 0.20% , +0.09% , style="text-align:left;" colspan="4" , Vacant , 2 , style="text-align:center;" colspan="5" , , - style="font-weight:bold;" , style="text-align:left;" colspan="3" , Total , 651 , 125 , 125 , 125 , - , 100% , 3,246,333 , 100% , - , style="text-align:left;" colspan="13" , Notes: :"Change" refers to change from previous election. :^† The party designated David and Khadir as co-spokespeople; the ''de jure'' leader recognized by the Directeur général des éléctions was Benoît Renaud. :* Party did not nominate candidates in the previous election. , -

Synopsis of results

: = open seat : = turnout is above provincial average : = winning candidate was in previous Legislature : = incumbent had switched allegiance : = previously incumbent in another riding : = not incumbent; was previously elected to the Legislature : = incumbency arose from byelection gain : = other incumbents renominated : = previously an MP in the

House of Commons of Canada The House of Commons of Canada () is the lower house of the Parliament of Canada. Together with the Monarchy of Canada#Parliament (King-in-Parliament), Crown and the Senate of Canada, they comprise the Bicameralism, bicameral legislature of Ca ...

: = multiple candidates

Comparative analysis for ridings (2008 vs 2007)

Seats that changed hands

Summary analysis

References

External links

Results by party (total votes and seats won)

Results for all ridingsDemocraticSPACE 39e élection générale du QuébecOfficial election site by Chief Electoral Officer of QuebecPredictions HKDP - Electoral Scenario Creator

Chart Tracking of 2008 Quebec MNA & Federal Riding Projection models
Election Almanac - Quebec Provincial Election
{{Quebec elections Elections in Quebec Quebec general election

General election A general election is an electoral process to choose most or all members of a governing body at the same time. They are distinct from By-election, by-elections, which fill individual seats that have become vacant between general elections. Gener ...

Quebec general election