The Parti Québécois wins Quebec with a minority government. It promises a referendum, but only after Trump leaves office
The Parti Québécois won Quebec's Oct. 5 general election and will form a minority government. CBC News projected the minority, and CTV, the Globe and Mail, CNN, Al Jazeera and AFP reported the same result. The PQ took about 59 of the 127 seats in the National Assembly, five short of the 64 needed for a majority. The Quebec Liberal Party, led by Charles Milliard, took about 40 and will be the official opposition. The Parti conservateur du Québec of Éric Duhaime won about 19, and Québec solidaire roughly nine on a live tracker. The Coalition Avenir Québec, in office since 2018, won none, and Premier Christine Fréchette lost Trois-Rivières. The PQ's vote share was about 28%, the lowest ever for a winning party in the province. Leader Paul St-Pierre Plamondon promised a referendum on independence in his first mandate but only after Donald Trump leaves office in January 2029.
This is the first PQ government since 2014, in a province that held referendums in 1980 and 1995 and rejected independence both times. The party does not hold a majority and won on a minority of the vote, so the practical question is how long it lasts and what it can pass. A government that depends on the Liberals or Conservatives for every confidence vote cannot move quickly on a referendum, but it can use the office to press Ottawa on immigration, language and funding. The result also arrives two weeks before Alberta's non-binding vote on a separation process, which gives national unity a second front.
Nothing changes at your door this week. Quebec law and federal law stay as they are, and the minority means no referendum is imminent. If you do business in Quebec, watch for early signals on language rules and public-sector contracts, which a PQ cabinet can adjust without a new law.
The PQ won more seats than anyone else, and a mandate is a mandate. A party that has said for years it wants independence put a date range on a referendum, and voters made it the largest party anyway. Ottawa should take that seriously rather than treat it as a protest.
Seven in ten voters chose someone else. A government elected with 28% has no mandate to break up the country, and its own leader said voters asked it to work with other parties. The sensible reading is a vote for change from the CAQ, not for independence.
Watch the arithmetic, not the speeches. A referendum needs a motion to pass the National Assembly, and no opposition party has said it would vote for one. The number to track is whether the Liberals or Conservatives agree to support the PQ on any confidence vote, and on what terms. If neither does, this government may not survive its first budget.
DailyDrop Canada edition No. 1 · Morning · MON., OCT. 5, 2026