OTTAWA — Quebec Premier Christine Fréchette launched a 39-day provincial election campaign Thursday after asking Lt.-Gov. Manon Jeannotte to dissolve the National Assembly.Quebecers will elect a new government on October 5, with Fréchette seeking a third consecutive mandate for the Coalition Avenir Québec in her first general election as party leader and premier.“It’s a magnificent day,” Fréchette told reporters as she arrived at the legislature Thursday morning. “I’m looking forward to meeting Quebecers throughout Quebec. It’s a wonderful adventure that is beginning.”Fréchette held a final cabinet meeting before visiting Jeannotte and formally beginning the campaign.She was scheduled to deliver her opening campaign address in Quebec City before travelling to the Bas-Saint-Laurent.Fréchette inherited the premiership and CAQ leadership from François Legault earlier this year..The governing party enters the campaign with 79 members in the outgoing legislature, down from the 90 seats it captured under Legault in the 2022 election.The CAQ won 41% of the popular vote four years ago, securing a second majority government.Fréchette begins the campaign facing a difficult fight to retain it.A Léger survey conducted from Aug. 21 to 24 placed the Parti Québécois at 30% support, followed by the CAQ and Quebec Liberals at 23% each.The Quebec Conservatives stood at 16%, while Québec solidaire had 7%.The election will also present voters with a clear divide over Quebec independence. The Parti Québécois and Québec solidaire support independence, while the CAQ, Quebec Liberals and Quebec Conservatives do not campaign for Quebec to leave Canada.The Liberals are explicitly federalist, while the CAQ and Quebec Conservatives favour greater Quebec autonomy within the Canadian federation.A 338Canada aggregation of recent independence polling, updated August 23, placed opposition to independence at 69% and support at 31%. The figures exclude undecided respondents and are adjusted proportionally. The result is a polling average rather than the August 23 Léger voting-intention survey.Fréchette will face Parti Québécois Leader Paul St-Pierre Plamondon, Quebec Liberal Leader Charles Milliard, Quebec Conservative Leader Éric Duhaime and Québec solidaire spokesperson Ruba Ghazal during the campaign.St-Pierre Plamondon has pledged to hold a referendum on Quebec independence during a first PQ mandate, although he recently said it would not take place until after U.S. President Donald Trump leaves office in January 2029.Québec solidaire also identifies itself as an independence party, but approaches the issue from the political left.The CAQ is expected to campaign on the economy, support for families and seniors and its record as a nationalist alternative to both the federalist Liberals and independence-supporting PQ.The election will also be fought against the backdrop of the Canada-U.S. trade dispute and Trump’s tariffs, which have become a major issue for Quebec manufacturers and exporters.Fréchette’s campaign is operating under the banner “Équipe Christine Fréchette,” placing greater emphasis on the new leader than the CAQ brand.The October 5 vote will be the first conducted using Quebec’s new electoral map.The number of constituencies will increase from 125 to 127, with new ridings created in the Laurentides-Lanaudière region and the Estrie-Centre-du-Québec region. A party will need 64 seats to form a majority government.The election period will run the maximum 39 days permitted under Quebec law.
