The 2014 Quebec general election was held on April 7, 2014 to elect members to 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 ...

. The incumbent

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 ...

which had won a minority government in 2012 was defeated by 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

Philippe Couillard Philippe Couillard (; born June 26, 1957) is a Canadian business advisor and former neurosurgeon, university professor and politician who served as 31st premier of Quebec from 2014 to 2018. Between 2003 and 2008, he was Quebec's Minister of H ...

who won a majority government of 70 seats, while the incumbent

finished second with 30 seats, becoming the first single-term government since

Jean-Jacques Bertrand Jean-Jacques Bertrand (; June 20, 1916 – February 22, 1973) was a Canadian politician and lawyer who served as the 21st premier of Quebec, from October 2, 1968, to May 12, 1970. He led the Union Nationale (Quebec), Union Nationale party. Me ...

's Union Nationale government was defeated in

1970 Events January * January 1 – Unix time epoch reached at 00:00:00 UTC. * January 5 – The 7.1 1970 Tonghai earthquake, Tonghai earthquake shakes Tonghai County, Yunnan province, China, with a maximum Mercalli intensity scale, Mercalli ...

. Pauline Marois electoral defeat marked the shortest stay of any Quebec provincial government since the

Canadian Confederation Canadian Confederation () was the process by which three British North American provinces—the Province of Canada, Nova Scotia, and New Brunswick—were united into one federation, called the Name of Canada#Adoption of Dominion, Dominion of Ca ...

. It marked the lowest seat total for the Parti Québécois since

1989 1989 was a turning point in political history with the "Revolutions of 1989" which ended communism in Eastern Bloc of Europe, starting in Poland and Hungary, with experiments in power-sharing coming to a head with the opening of the Berlin W ...

and its smallest share of the popular vote since its inaugural run in 1970, as Premier

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 ...

lost her own riding. The

Coalition Avenir Québec The Coalition Avenir Québec (, , CAQ) is a Quebec nationalism, Quebec nationalist, Autonomism in Quebec, autonomist and conservatism, conservative

under

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 ...

made minor gains in terms of seats despite receiving a smaller share of the popular vote than in the previous election.

Québec solidaire Quebec is Canada's 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, New Brunswick to the southeast and a coastal border ...

won an additional seat, though co-spokesperson

Andrés Fontecilla Andrés Fontecilla (born 20 September 1967) is a Canadian politician from Quebec. He was elected to the National Assembly of Quebec in the 2018 provincial election, representing the electoral district of Laurier-Dorion as a member of Québec so ...

failed to win his riding. This election saw the return of the Liberals to power 2 years after their defeat in 2012. To date this is the last election where the Liberal Party won a majority of seats in the Quebec Assembly.

Summary

At the outset of the campaign, the Parti Québécois had a modest lead in the polls and appeared to have a realistic prospect of winning a

majority government A majority government is a government by one or more governing parties that hold an absolute majority of seats in a legislature. Such a government can consist of one party that holds a majority on its own, or be a coalition government of multi ...

. However, the party's support rapidly collapsed after the party announced

Pierre Karl Péladeau Pierre Karl Péladeau (; born 16 October 1961), also known by his initials PKP, is a Canadian businessman, billionaire and former politician. He was also the MNA ( Member of the National Assembly) for Saint-Jérôme. Péladeau is the president ...

, the president and CEO of media conglomerate

Quebecor Quebecor Inc. is a Canadian diversified media and telecommunications company serving Quebec 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 ...

, as a

star candidate A star candidate () is high-profile individual who is entering or re-entering elected politics. In Canada and the United Kingdom, the recruitment of a star candidate often includes a guaranteed nomination in a winnable seat. Star candidates com ...

.Tu Thanh Ha
"Three reasons the PQ lost, and Couillard’s biggest challenge"
''

The Globe and Mail ''The Globe and Mail'' is a Newspapers in Canada, Canadian newspaper printed in five cities in Western Canada, western and central Canada. With a weekly readership of more than 6 million in 2024, it is Canada's most widely read newspaper on week ...

'', April 8, 2014. Péladeau's conservative and anti-union business background was widely criticized as being at odds with the party's

social democratic Social democracy is a Social philosophy, social, Economic ideology, economic, and political philosophy within socialism that supports Democracy, political and economic democracy and a gradualist, reformist, and democratic approach toward achi ...

history; and his outspoken support for a third

referendum A referendum, plebiscite, or ballot measure is a Direct democracy, direct vote by the Constituency, electorate (rather than their Representative democracy, representatives) on a proposal, law, or political issue. A referendum may be either bin ...

Quebec sovereignty The Quebec sovereignty movement (French: ''mouvement souverainiste du Québec'', ) is a political movement advocating for Quebec's independence from Canada. Proponents argue that Quebecers form a distinct nation with a unique culture, language, ...

quickly sidelined the issues — including the

Charter of Quebec Values The ''Charter of Quebec Value''s ( or ) was Bill 60 in the Canadian province of Quebec, introduced by the governing Parti Québécois in 2013 under Premier Pauline Marois, trying to legislate the Quebec controversy on reasonable accommodatio ...

and the corruption allegations against the Liberals, the latter of which had contributed to the defeat of

Jean Charest John James "Jean" Charest (; born June 24, 1958) is a Canadian lawyer and former politician who served as the 29th premier of Quebec from 2003 to 2012. Prior to that, he was a member of Parliament (MP) between 1984 and 1998. After holding se ...

's government in the 2012 election — which the party had identified as its primary campaign themes, alienating many voters who had little desire to revive the sovereignty issue. In March 2014, Premier

was accused of antisemitism by The Center for Israel and Jewish Affairs (CIJA) surrounding the statements made by party member Louise Mailloux. Mailloux had written statements equating the Jewish practice of circumcision to rape and claimed that halal and kosher food prices were kept high to fund religious activities abroad. She wrote that the money went to: “For the Jews, to finance Israel’s colonization in Palestinian territories? And for Muslims, to fund the

Muslim Brotherhood The Society of the Muslim Brothers ('' ''), better known as the Muslim Brotherhood ( ', is a transnational Sunni Islamist organization founded in Egypt by Islamic scholar, Imam and schoolteacher Hassan al-Banna in 1928. Al-Banna's teachings s ...

, the Islamists who want to impose Islam worldwide?” Marois defended Mailloux, denying antisemitism within the party and stated that she had "very good relations with the leaders of this community and the leaders of all the different communities in Quebec.” CIJA claimed Marois's apology and statements were inadequate and "meaningless excuses" with CIJA Quebec vice-president, Luciano Del Negro, stating: "She alleges a misunderstanding and refuses to basically recognize her views are not only offensive, but anti-Semitic in nature.”

Timeline (2012-2014)

Seat changes

Changes of party leaders

Other developments

Incumbent MNAs who did not run for re-election

Opinion polls

Results among "likely voters"

Pre-campaign period

Media endorsements

Parti Québécois *''

Le Devoir (, ) is a French-language newspaper published in Montreal and distributed in Quebec and throughout Canada. It was founded by journalist and politician Henri Bourassa in 1910. is one of few independent large-circulation newspapers in Quebec ...

'' Quebec Liberal Party *''

La Presse is a French-language online newspaper published daily in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Founded in 1884, it is now owned by an independent nonprofit trust. ' was formerly a broadsheet daily, considered a newspaper of record in Canada. Its Sunday edi ...

'' *''

Montreal Gazette ''The Gazette'', also known as the ''Montreal Gazette'', is a Canadian English-language broadsheet daily newspaper which is owned by Postmedia Network. It is published in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. It is the only English-language daily newspape ...

Results

Summary analysis

Pairing off the top three parties, swings were calculated to be: :* PQ to Liberal: 8.45% :* CAQ to Liberal: 7.16% :* PQ to CAQ: 1.29%

Detailed analysis

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

2012 2012 was designated as: *International Year of Cooperatives *International Year of Sustainable Energy for All Events January *January 4 – The Cicada 3301 internet hunt begins. * January 12 – Peaceful protests begin in the R ...

, style="font-size:80%;" , Dissol. , 2014 , style="font-size:80%;" , Change , % , style="font-size:80%;" , Number , % , style="font-size:80%;" , Change ( pp) , style="text-align:left;" ,

, 125 , 50 , 49 , 70 , +21 , 56.00 , 1,757,071 , 41.52 , +10.32 , style="text-align:left;" ,

, 124 , 54 , 54 , 30 , -24 , 24.00 , 1,074,120 , 25.38 , -6.57 , style="text-align:left;" ,

, 122 , 19 , 18 , 22 , +4 , 17.60 , 975,607 , 23.05 , -4.00 , 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 ...

^† , 124 , 2 , 2 , 3 , +1 , 2.40 , 323,124 , 7.63 , +1.60 , style="text-align:left;" ,

Sol Zanetti Sol Zanetti (born 1982) is a Quebec politician, who was elected to the National Assembly of Quebec in the 2018 Quebec general election, 2018 provincial election. He represents the electoral district of Jean-Lesage as a member of Québec solidair ...

, 116 , — , — , — , — , — , 30,697 , 0.73 , -1.16 , style="text-align:left;" , Alex Tyrrell , 44 , — , — , — , — , — , 23,163 , 0.55 , -0.44 , style="text-align:left;" , Adrien Pouliot , 59 , — , — , — , — , — , 16,429 , 0.39 , +0.21 , colspan="2" style="text-align:left;" ,

Independent Independent or Independents may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Artist groups * Independents (artist group), a group of modernist painters based in Pennsylvania, United States * Independentes (English: Independents), a Portuguese artist ...

, 11 , — , 2 , — , — , — , 15,361 , 0.36 , +0.09 , style="text-align:left;" , Renaud Blais , 24 , — , — , — , — , — , 7,539 , 0.18 , +0.12 , style="text-align:left;" ,

Hugô St-Onge Hugô St-Onge is a politician in Quebec, Canada. Since 2002, he has been the leader of the Bloc pot. The Bloc pot is a Quebec political party dedicated to the end of marijuana prohibition. He founded in 1999 along with other Bloc pot activists th ...

, 14 , — , — , — , — , — , 2,690 , 0.06 , +0.05 , style="text-align:left;" , Pierre Chénier , 24 , — , — , — , — , — , 2,016 , 0.05 , ±0.00 , style="text-align:left;" , Patricia Domingos , 5 , — , — , — , — , — , 1,645 , 0.04 , +0.04 , style="text-align:left;" , Frank Malenfant , 5 , — , — , — , — , — , 1,291 , 0.03 , -0.09^†† , style="text-align:left;" , Claude Dupré , 6 , * , — , — , * , — , 521 , 0.01 , * , style="text-align:left;" , Guy Boivin , 5 , — , — , — , — , — , 400 , 0.01 , -0.04 , style="text-align:left;" , Paul Biron , 3 , — , — , — , — , — , 241 , 0.01 , -0.02 , style="text-align:left;" , Robert Genesse , 1 , — , — , — , — , — , 163 , 0.00 , -0.01 , style="text-align:left;" , Michel Lepage , 1 , — , — , — , — , — , 126 , 0.00 , -0.03 , style="text-align:left;" , Marc-André Lacroix , 1 , — , — , — , — , — , 58 , 0.00 , -0.05 , - style="background-color:#e9e9e9;" , colspan="3" style="text-align:left;" , Total , 814 , 125 , 125 , 125 , 0 , 100.00 , 4,232,262 , 100.00 , , - , colspan="9" style="text-align:left;" , Valid ballots , 4,232,262 , 98.54 , -0.24 , - , colspan="9" style="text-align:left;" , Rejected ballots , 62,793 , 1.46 , +0.24 , - , colspan="9" style="text-align:left;" , Voter turnout , 4,295,055 , 71.44 , -3.16 , - , colspan="9" style="text-align:left;" , Registered electors , 6,012,440 , colspan="2" , Notes: :^† The party designates David and Fontecilla as co-spokespeople. The party's power is held by the general meetings of the members and a board of 16 directors; the ''de jure'' leader recognized 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 ...

(DGE) is Pierre-Paul St-Onge. :^†† Party contested the 2012 election under the name Coalition pour la constituante. :* 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 (2014 vs 2012)

Seats that changed hands

Summary analysis

References

External links

Chief Electoral Officer of Quebec (DGE)
{{Quebec elections Quebec general election Elections in Quebec

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

Summary

Timeline (2012-2014)

Seat changes

Changes of party leaders

Other developments

Incumbent MNAs who did not run for re-election

Opinion polls

Pre-campaign period

Media endorsements

Results

Summary analysis

Detailed analysis

Synopsis of results

Comparative analysis for ridings (2014 vs 2012)

Seats that changed hands

Summary analysis

See also

References

External links