A day after taking the blame for the Coalition Avenir Québec’s performance on election night, Christine Fréchette is stepping down as leader.
“I leave with the feeling of having served Quebec to the best of my ability,” Fréchette said Tuesday at the National Assembly.
The CAQ did not manage to win a single riding in Monday’s provincial election, a stunning reversal from the 90-seat majority it claimed four years ago. It also managed just 13 per cent of the vote.
In her concession speech, she told a subdued room of party supporters that she accepted full responsibility for the party’s loss. “The defeat is mine, not yours. Keep your head high,” she said.
READ: ‘Defeat is mine’: Fréchette concedes after Quebecers hand a stunning loss to CAQ
Fréchette, who became premier after winning the CAQ leadership race to succeed François Legault, previously said she would remain as party leader even if she lost her own riding of Trois-Rivières, which she did.
On Tuesday, she explained that the party’s poor results in the election made her change her mind. She says it will now be up to the party’s governing bodies to handle the next steps and find a new leader, she added.
Fréchette reaffirmed her belief in the “third way” represented by the CAQ, calling it the “best option for Quebec.”
“I will no longer champion it as leader, but I will continue to deeply believe in it,” she maintained.
She expressed confidence that the CAQ would survive this bitter defeat, thanks to the activists, volunteers, and the party’s permanent staff. “Thanks to you, our party will remain very much alive. It will be able to get back on its feet and renew itself.”
The CAQ’s defeat on Monday was widely predicted in voter intention surveys released in the later part of the five-week campaign, which showed the party slipping into third place behind the PQ and the Quebec Liberals — even though it appeared it would be a three-way race when the election was called.
In some polls, the CAQ’s support was less than 20 per cent, effectively erasing the gains made by the party since Fréchette came to power in April and after the campaign rollout.
In both cases, it was largely bolstered by the economic uncertainty brought on by the ongoing Canada-U.S. trade war. Fréchette herself tried to capitalize on U.S. President Donald Trump’s tariff threats, which also boosted her own popularity among Quebecers as the best leader to steer the economy.
However, as the campaign unfolded, Fréchette was unable to shake off the CAQ’s unpopularity after two consecutive terms under then-premier François Legault.
Fréchette often found herself on the defensive as her opponents attacked her over the province’s crises in housing and homelessness, affordability and health care. Controversies surrounding claims of U.S. interference in Quebec elections and a projected cost overrun for software projects at Santé Québec threatened to upend her campaign.
Fréchette also tried to walk a fine line defending the French-language laws and courting Anglophone voters after Élections Québec announced it would only send out voter information cards in French and that it had instructed poll workers to speak to voters in French.
On the weekend before voting day, Fréchette expressed regret for not warning Quebecers about the economic consequences of the PQ’s quest for a referendum while pitching her party’s “autonomist” third-way approach.
Fréchette left office after one of the shortest tenures for a Quebec premier – the shortest since the 1980s – just shy of six months. She served as Quebec’s 33rd premier and the second woman to hold the office, after Pauline Marois.
Fréchette, who is from Trois-Rivières, came to power after defeating Bernard Drainville in the CAQ leadership race to succeed Legault, who stepped down in April.
The outgoing premier said she would have a conversation with Legault to get his opinion on what went wrong for the party.
Before running for the leadership, Fréchette served as minister in the Legault cabinet, holding ministries like the economy, energy and immigration. She was elected as MNA from Sanguinet, a riding on Montreal’s South Shore, in 2022. Prior to joining the CAQ, Fréchette worked as deputy chief of staff to former Parti Québécois minister Jean-François Lisée from 2012 to 2014.
Her selection as leader of the party — and therefore premier of Quebec — was the CAQ’s attempt to breathe new life into the party. Legault resigned from office following the CAQ’s consistent low approval ratings and a series of controversies.
–With files from Manoj Subramaniam
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