Christine Fréchette is the new Quebec premier. Can she turn things around?

Christine Fréchette acknowledges the crowd before taking part in the CAQ leadership debate with Bernard Drainville in Laval near Montreal Saturday, March 28, 2026. Photo by John Kenney /Montreal Gazette

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Last fall, months before he resigned, Quebec Premier François Legault was asked in an interview with Cogeco whether there was someone else who could breathe new life into his party, the Coalition Avenir Québec, which had been dwindling in the polls since 2023.

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“My minister of the economy, Christine Fréchette, has extraordinary potential,” he said.

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Legault said Fréchette didn’t have the same experience he has in crafting business deals but added “she learns very fast.” He, however, fell short of endorsing her as a successor.

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On Sunday, Fréchette became leader of the CAQ and will become de facto Quebec’s new premier.

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In both roles, she comes second. She is the CAQ’s second leader — Legault having served in the role since he founded the party in 2011 — while she will serve as Quebec’s second female premier — after the Parti Québécois’ Pauline Marois who served from 2012 to 2014.

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Fréchette, 56, only has a few months to bask in her new role before she takes on the daunting task of facing an electorate that is determined on turning the page after the CAQ’s two majority governments since 2018 and has now decided it wants to open a new chapter.

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A Léger poll issued before the end of the leadership race showed the CAQ had fallen to 9 per cent in vote intentions province-wide — the worst result for the party since its creation, according to Philippe J. Fournier, founder of the polling aggregator website Qc125.

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“Obviously, the polls are not great. They haven’t been great for a while, and that’s okay,” said Quebec’s Minister of International Relations Christopher Skeete in a recent interview.

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Skeete was one of many CAQ caucus members to support Fréchette in the leadership race. He said he is “very eager” to have her take the reins as premier because he believes she will bring in a different kind of government and a different kind of leadership.

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“Right now, given how crazy the world is, having someone as deliberately thoughtful, I think, is completely the right casting. I think people want stability,” he said.

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“They want someone who’s not going to be fireworks for the sake of fireworks, but that can give off fireworks when it’s necessary, and I think that is exactly the kind of premier we’re going to get,” he added.

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The question remains: is Fréchette doomed to the same destiny as Kim Campbell, who famously took the reins of her party and became prime minister for a few months before electing only two Progressive Conservative MPs after the 1993 federal election? Or worse?

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Thierry Giasson, a professor of political science at Laval University, said the dire situation the CAQ finds itself in, months away from an election, would explain why many prominent women inside the party opted to skip their turn and to not seek the party leadership.

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“I don’t think we’re seen this in the last 30 years in Canada and in Quebec,” he said.

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However, he pointed out that Campbell and Fréchette are two very different people. While Campbell was outspoken, blunt and had a sense for drama, people who know Fréchette say she is studious, thoughtful and considers all avenues before coming to a decision.