The Conservative Party of Quebec (CPQ; , PCQ) is a provincial political party in
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, ...
,
Canada
Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...
. It was authorized on 25 March 2009 by the
Chief Electoral Officer of Quebec
Chief may refer to:
Title or rank
Military and law enforcement
* Chief master sergeant, the ninth, and highest, enlisted rank in the U.S. Air Force and U.S. Space Force
* Chief of police, the head of a police department
* Chief of the boat ...
.
The CPQ has gradually run more candidates in successive elections, with 27 in the
2012 general election and 125 (all seats contested) in
2022
The year began with another wave in the COVID-19 pandemic, with SARS-CoV-2 Omicron variant, Omicron spreading rapidly and becoming the dominant variant of the SARS-CoV-2 virus worldwide. Tracking a decrease in cases and deaths, 2022 saw ...
. The party has not won a seat in the
National Assembly of Quebec
The National Assembly of Quebec (, ) is the Legislature, legislative body of the Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Quebec in Canada. Legislators are called MNAs (Members of the National Assembly; ). The lieutenant governor of Que ...
; however, under leader
Éric Duhaime the CPQ won about 12.9% of the popular vote in the 2022 election, a major increase from prior elections. Previously on June 18, 2021
Claire Samson crossed 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 join the party after having won election in 2018 as a candidate of the governing
Coalition Avenir Québec
The Coalition Avenir Québec (, , CAQ) is a Quebec nationalism, Quebec nationalist, Autonomism in Quebec, autonomist and conservatism, conservative (CAQ).
For the
2014 provincial election, the party used the name "Équipe Adrien Pouliot – Parti conservateur du Québec" (). For the
2022 provincial election, the party used the name "Parti conservateur du Québec – Équipe Éric Duhaime" ().
History
Initial phase
In 2009, former
Union Nationale Members of the
National Assembly of Quebec
The National Assembly of Quebec (, ) is the Legislature, legislative body of the Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Quebec in Canada. Legislators are called MNAs (Members of the National Assembly; ). The lieutenant governor of Que ...
(MNAs)
Serge Fontaine and
Bertrand Goulet announced the formation of a new Conservative Party of Quebec.
In November 2009, Fontaine offered
Éric Caire
Éric Caire (; born May 21, 1965) is a Canadian politician who serves as a member of the National Assembly for the electoral district of La Peltrie.
Early career
Caire was born in Sorel-Tracy, Quebec. He was the owner of a local business f ...
, who at the time sat with the
Action démocratique du Québec
The (, ), commonly referred to as the , was a right-wing populist and conservative provincial political party in Quebec, Canada. On the sovereignty question, it defined itself as autonomist; it had support from nationalists and federalists. Its ...
(ADQ), the opportunity to join the party and become its leader, with the goal of attracting disaffected ADQ supporters. This did not materialize and Caire sat as an independent before joining the
Coalition Avenir Québec
The Coalition Avenir Québec (, , CAQ) is a Quebec nationalism, Quebec nationalist, Autonomism in Quebec, autonomist and conservatism, conservative in 2011.
In November 2011, party leader Fontaine left the Conservative Party to join the CAQ led by
François Legault
François Legault (; born May 26, 1957) is a Canadian politician serving as the 32nd premier of Quebec since 2018. A founding member of the Coalition Avenir Québec (CAQ), he has led the party since it began in 2011. Legault sits as a Nationa ...
.
2012 and later
In January 2012, the party, which still existed on paper, was taken over by the former
federal Conservative Member of Parliament (MP) for the
Louis-Hébert riding,
Luc Harvey, who became its leader.
In contrast to the newly formed CAQ, which is neutral on the sovereignty issue, Harvey said the Conservatives will be federalist, promote a social conservative agenda and a
flat tax
A flat tax (short for flat-rate tax) is a tax with a single rate on the taxable amount, after accounting for any deductions or exemptions from the tax base. It is not necessarily a fully proportional tax. Implementations are often progressi ...
.
In March 2012, the party's website announced that former
Action démocratique du Québec
The (, ), commonly referred to as the , was a right-wing populist and conservative provincial political party in Quebec, Canada. On the sovereignty question, it defined itself as autonomist; it had support from nationalists and federalists. Its ...
(ADQ) MNAs
Monique Roy Verville and
Albert De Martin would run for the party in the upcoming election.
On 10 September 2012, it was announced that Harvey was stepping down as party leader. De Martin was named interim leader on 21 September.
In December 2012, De Martin launched a leadership election. As a result, two contenders,
Daniel Brisson and
Adrien D. Pouliot, declared their intention to run.
In mid-February 2013, Brisson withdrew from the leadership election, leaving Pouliot as the sole candidate.
Pouliot was acclaimed the new leader on 23 February 2013 and immediately put a new constitution forward for the members present at its convention. It was immediately ratified by all the members and refocused the stance of the party to more of a
centre-right
Centre-right politics is the set of right-wing politics, right-wing political ideologies that lean closer to the political centre. It is commonly associated with conservatism, Christian democracy, liberal conservatism, and conservative liberalis ...
value system. Later that day, he took a stance against the proposed
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 ...
laws 14 and 20.
In the
2014 provincial election, the party nominated 60 candidates, who won 16,429 votes, 0.4 percent of the total votes cast in the province. In the
2018 election, these numbers increased to 101 nominated candidates winning 59,055 votes, or 1.5 percent of the total votes.
On 16 October 2020, Adrien Pouliot announced he would be resigning as leader of the party to pursue further business ventures, but opted to stay on until a new leader was elected in the
2021 leadership election, which was won by
columnist
A columnist is a person who writes for publication in a series, creating an article that usually offers commentary and opinions. Column (periodical), Columns appear in newspapers, magazines and other publications, including blogs. They take the ...
Éric Duhaime who handily defeated repeat candidate Brisson in a two-way contest.
On 18 June 2021,
Claire Samson became the first member of the modern Conservative Party of Quebec to sit in the Quebec legislature. This followed her expulsion from the CAQ three days prior, after she donated $100 to the Conservative Party of Quebec.
The Conservative Party of Quebec nominated candidates in all 125 ridings for the
2022 provincial election. The party won 12.91% of the popular vote, placing fifth in the popular vote and winning no seats despite four opposition parties being closely matched in the popular vote, but performing strongly in many ridings, especially in the
Capitale-Nationale
Capitale-Nationale (; ) 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 18,684.78 km2. It reported ...
and
Chaudière-Appalaches
Chaudière-Appalaches (, ) is an administrative region in Quebec, Canada. It comprises most of what is historically known as the " Beauce" (; compare with the electoral district of Beauce). It is named for the Chaudière River and the Appalachia ...
regions with a strong conservative tradition. However, the party made gains throughout the province at the expense of Liberals, reducing the Liberal vote share in its traditional strongholds such as Montreal. Party leader Duhaime expressed his opposition to
Bill 96.
Executive
The Conservative Party of Quebec's executive consists of its leader, its president, its secretary-general, an official agent, an executive director, committee chairs, and regional vice-presidents.
* Leader:
Éric Duhaime
* President: Chantal Dauphinais
* Vice-president: Donald Gagnon
* Official Agent: Patrice Raza
* Interim Executive Director: Eric Tetrault
* Secretary-General & Chairperson of the Constitution Committee: Konstantinos Merakos
* Chairperson of the Communications Committee: Eric Tetrault
* Chairperson of the Organizational & Finance Committee: Olivier Dumais
* Chairperson of the Policy Committee: Karim Elayoubi
* Regional Vice-presidents:
** Bas-Saint-Laurent, Gaspésie-Îles-de-la-Madeleine and Côte-Nord: Louise Moreault
** Montreal and Laval: Marie-France Lemay
** Capitale-Nationale and Chaudière-Appalaches: Christian Gauthier
** Mauricie, Centre-du-Québec and Saguenay-Lac-Saint-Jean: Jessy Comtois
** Montérégie and Estrie: Marylaine Bélair
** Nord-du-Québec, Abitibi-Témiscamingue, Outaouais, Laurentides and Lanaudière: Ange Claude Bigilimana
Leaders
Election results
Notes
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Conservative Party of Quebec (2009-present)
Conservative parties in Canada
2009 establishments in Quebec
Political parties established in 2009
Provincial political parties in Quebec
Right-wing politics in Canada
Right-wing parties in North America