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Christine Fréchette, Quebec’s outgoing premier, announced Tuesday that she will be stepping down as leader of the Coalition Avenir Québec party.
She walked out in the foyer of the National Assembly and was greeted by applause, but got straight to the point in her address to Quebecers.
“Last night, you made your position clear,” she said in French. “You chose to entrust the government to another team. I accept that choice, and as leader, I take responsibility for it.”
“So today, I have submitted my resignation as leader of the Coalition Avenir Québec.”
The announcement comes one day after the party’s crushing defeat in the provincial election that saw it go from a massive majority just four years ago to being wiped off the electoral map.
The party failed to win a single seat on Monday.
Fréchette’s announcement comes one day after the Coalition Avenir Québec failed to win a single seat in the general election on Monday. Despite this, she says she believes in the party’s future.
Just a few days ago, Fréchette said she would stay on as leader even if she didn’t win in her hometown riding of Trois-Rivières.
She took over as premier following François Legault’s resignation earlier this year, after winning the party’s leadership race against Bernard Drainville.
After winning her seat in the Sanguinet riding south of Montreal in 2022, Fréchette was appointed minister of immigration. Two years later, she became economy minister — a post she held until she stepped down to run for the leadership.
Fréchette said she was proud of all she accomplished in those four years, including contributing to closing Roxham Road and reinstating a popular immigration program known as the PEQ.
“As premier, I am proud to have initiated a genuine transformation of Quebec’s economy — a transformation that is essential in the current context,” she said.
Fréchette launched her campaign coming off the back of two major announcements alongside Prime Minister Mark Carney, including a new Churchill Falls deal worth an estimated $70 billion and a new shipbuilding contract for Chantier Davie shipyard, in Lévis, Que.
Ultimately, her party was unable to quench a thirst for change after eight years of a CAQ government that included scandals like SAAQclic and the failed development of the Northvolt battery plant.
Legault commends Fréchette
Former premier Legault, who co-founded the CAQ in 2011, stayed quiet throughout the campaign.
But he took to social media Tuesday shortly after Fréchette’s resignation to thank her for her political commitment.
“Christine was a capable minister. Her speech last night was dignified and exemplary,” he wrote in French.
“She showed great courage during this election campaign.”
He also added she wasn’t responsible for the “wear and tear of power” that “affects all governments.”
He signed off by wishing her the best of luck in her future endeavours.
At party headquarters in Trois-Rivières, Que., Fréchette thanked her National Assembly colleagues. She said the party’s fall was her responsibility alone, and that being premier was the greatest honour of her life.
Fréchette will remain premier until the Parti Québécois’s Paul St-Pierre Plamondon is sworn in.
She said it will be up to the party’s governing body to determine next steps in the wake of her resignation.
“The coalition needs someone right now who can rally the troops — leading up to the next election and well beyond,” she said stressing the importance of doing so in the context of a minority government.
She said she’s confident the party will know how to choose the right person for the job and expressed confidence in the party’s future.
