A PQ minority could face an uphill battle from Day 1

at 6:00 a.m. Last Updated: September 21, 2026 at 4:49 p.m. Quebec’s splintered five-party race could hand the province a minority government on Oct. 5 — and the same fragmentation that produces it could make it difficult to hold together.

The increasingly divided electorate and crowded party system in Quebec reflect divisions within the province and a polarization also seen elsewhere in the world, said Concordia University political scientist Daniel Salée.

“Democratic populations tend to be quite divided, and it’s hard to get people together and rally behind just one approach,” he said.

In the Quebec election in particular, “none of the parties have a leadership that is really able to rally people,” Salée said.

After eight years of Coalition Avenir Québec governments, “there is a strong desire for change,” added Valérie-Anne Mahéo, a political scientist at Université Laval.