Similar to the Liberal Party of Canada, the Quebec Liberal Party (PLQ) is voting for a new party leader. The provincial leadership race began on Monday, January 13 and will last five months, culminating at the Leadership Convention in Quebec City on June 14. The PLQ is one of Quebec’s oldest political parties; however, they have not had a fixed party leader since 2022, highlighting the importance of this election.
As of now, four candidates are running for party leadership. The current list of candidates includes Pablo Rodriguez, an MP who has worked under the Trudeau government but is now independent; Denis Coderre, the former mayor of Montreal; Charles Milliard, the former president of the Federation of Chambers of Commerce of Quebec (FCCQ), a federation of provincial businesses; and Marc Bélanger, a tax lawyer who has previously run for federal office.
Discourse concerning whether the PLQ should maintain a traditional platform similar to its opponents or reinvent itself is particularly relevant considering the Liberal Party of Canada’s decline. The PLQ’s support has been diminishing among the francophone population outside of Montréal, a bilingual city with an anglophone minority. As a result, Maura Forrest from CBC News stresses that the provincial party’s success depends on its ability to distinguish itself from the federal party.
The PLQ’s interim leader Marc Tanguay holds a positive outlook on revitalizing the party’s political position: “The challenges are many,” he said, “but as you are aware…the Quebec Liberal Party has always been able to reinvent itself.” Some of the candidates have expressed this same rhetoric of distinguishing the PLQ from its political opponents, while others have adopted other positions to gain popularity. Millard’s campaign avoids nationalist and language rights discourse used by the Coalition for the Future of Quebec (CAQ), yet Coderre has adopted this discourse to counter the Quebec Party (PQ)’s popularity by advocating against the centralization of federalism at the expense of provincial autonomy.
Sylvia Martin-Laforge, the Director General of the Quebec Community Groups Network (QCGN), stresses that the party’s provincial success is dependent on the discourse of language rights and that a “traditional image of economic stewardship” should be maintained. Millard is in solidarity with both francophones and anglophones in Quebec, emphasizing that “the Quebec Liberal Party is the only political party in Quebec that can talk to all Quebecers” in an interview with CBC. While both Rodriguez and Millard’s campaigns focus on public welfare programs, such as healthcare and education, Coderre and Bélanger have targeted the economy with a focus on developing natural resource programs.
In terms of the voting process, party members of the PLQ will gather on June 14 to select their party leader for the next four years. At the provincial level, parties use direct elections, encouraging more participation as one’s vote is not mediated by a convention delegate, a method first implemented by the PQ in 1985. While voting is limited to party members, there may be voting fees and a requirement regarding the length of time one has been a member of the party. On their website, the PLQ explained that “members in good standing will be able to vote by telephone or Internet,” reducing issues of lower vote turnout due to mobility issues during the voting period from June 9 to 14. Rather than counting up votes, the PLQ is using a points system where the votes are weighted by age group and riding. Each riding has an equal say, as all constituencies are given 250,000 points, while 125,000 points are given to party members 25 years of age or under. Candidates are then assigned points based on the share of votes given in each riding.
Voter participation will be a key deciding factor in this election. One of the PLQ’s greatest concerns is consolidating a strong voting base outside of Montréal, as the electorate is composed of whichever party members choose to vote. Thus, levels of participation may vary regionally, reflecting political cleavages. This is why the party has employed a points system instead of rounding up the votes, where instead of a vote per member, different amounts of points are allocated based on the members in different ridings. Both Rodriguez and Millard are supported by the Liberal caucus, Millard having also consolidated a youth voter base. This is particularly important considering that the PLQ voter base had little support among younger demographics, as reported by The Montreal Gazette. Lower youth participation is also noted at the provincial level among the age groups of 18 to 24 and 25 to 34, and at the federal level among those 18 to 24 years of age.
Moreover, the newly elected leader of the PLQ will inform the party’s success in the provincial elections on October 5, 2026. In the provincial general election, voters from each constituency or riding vote for the candidate that they would like to represent them in Parliament, known as a Member of Parliament (MP) or, in the case of Quebec, a member of the National Assembly (MNA). According to the first-past-the-post system, the constituent that accumulates more votes than other candidates first wins. Unlike an absolute majority, in a simple majority, an MP/MNA can be elected with less than half of the votes as long as they garner more votes than their competitors. Each riding has a seat in Parliament/National Assembly; thus the elected MP/MNA of each riding has a seat in Parliament where they can vote on legislation on behalf of the people. As of 2022, the Liberals have 19 out of the 125 seats in the Quebec National Assembly, while the governing CAQ party has 86 and the PQ has 4. Despite this, CBC reports that the PQ has been rising in polls, particularly due to their “young, charismatic leader,” Paul St-Pierre Plamondon.
While it is early in terms of establishing a party campaign for the 2026 elections, the economy, immigration, and language policies remain contested issues in Quebec, as they were in the last provincial election in 2022. Electing a new party leader will determine the PLQ’s party platform in the 2026 general election and whether they will keep pursuing a traditionalist platform or reinvent themselves.