Quebec Election - A New Direction for Nationalism?
Francois Legault has been re-elected to lead the Canadian province of Quebec, continuing his influence on the long-lasting separatist movement within the province. Source for photo: The Globe and Mail
Francois Legault and the Coalition Avenir Quebec (CAQ) easily won the October 3rd, 2022 regional legislative elections and captured 90 of 125 seats in Quebec’s provincial assembly. Legault ran what was widely considered a nervous and uninspired campaign marked by embarrassing gaffes and reversals. Yet Legault and the CAQ managed to dramatically increase their seat share over more traditional parties such as the Liberals and the separatist Parti Quebecois. At the end of vote counting, the Liberals remained the main opposition party, joined by Quebec Solidaire with eleven seats and the Parti Quebecois with three.
Beyond the CAQ’s sweeping victory, the election results are also notable for the sharp defeat of the Parti Quebecois and its platform of full independence from Ottawa. Yet the decline of the party most traditionally linked with Quebec separatism is not a decline of the nationalist project itself. Rather, the victory of the CAQ marks a redefinition, not a repudiation, of Quebec nationalism. In its traditional form, Quebec nationalism demands full political separation from Ottawa and identifies itself with global progressive liberation movements. The version championed by Legault, however, downplays demands for full legal independence from Canada-proper and instead seeks to defend an exclusively-defined Quebec identity from threats such as immigrants and the increasing use of English throughout everyday life in Canada’s main French-majority province.
Though often identified as a conservative or center-right party, the CAQ won re-election in part due to its platform mimicking claims made by far-right nationalist movements in France and other European countries. During its prior tenure in office, the CAQ received pushback over its policies that restrict the use of English in official business and ban the display of religious symbols such as Muslim headscarves in public spaces, including school buildings. While some Conservative-leaning Canadian provinces imposed relatively loose restrictions during the COVID-19 pandemic, Legault’s Quebec saw the introduction of a very active pandemic policy. Quebec became the first province in Canada to implement a COVID-related curfew, and Legault’s measures contrasted significantly with the lighter touch taken by other conservative-leaning provincial premiers. Legault has also stirred controversy by demanding that Quebec receive further control over immigration to the province and through his advocacy of a new hydroelectric dam on indigenous territory.
Considering that it was only founded in 2011, the CAQ has certainly made a name for itself in Quebec. Yet the real question for Legault is how well he can manage the various challenges ahead. In addition to the high inflation and labor shortages facing the province and the rest of the country, Legault’s focus on Quebec’s French nationalism and identity will bring additional conflicts with the province’s Anglophones, environmentalists, pro-immigration advocates and indigenous groups.
The election results can be seen as a capstone to Legault’s attempts to turn the CAQ from an ailing economically centrist party to a cultural nationalist force reminiscent of the French far right. Yet Legault’s ability to retain the premiership remains unclear. It is unlikely that the Liberal government in Ottawa will easily allow Quebec to become a bastion of cultural conservatism. The large English-speaking population in Montreal has already started to push back against some of the CAQ’s language measures, deepening a divide with the French-speaking small towns and rural areas in the rest of the province. While Legault has displayed a knack for winning elections, he will now have to walk a line between proving his economic bona fides and showing his base that he can deliver on his cultural promises.