Opposition parties scramble to woo CAQ’s disgruntled nationalist flank

Hoping to chip away at the Coalition Avenir Québec’s voter base, Parti Québécois and Quebec Conservative leaders offered overtures Thursday to nationalists disappointed by Bernard Drainville’s defeat in the CAQ leadership race.

Drainville, who drew support from the CAQ’s nationalist flank, lost the leadership contest Sunday to Christine Fréchette, who some have described as less focussed on nationalist priorities like secularism and the French language.

Parti Québécois Leader Paul St-Pierre Plamondon holds a press conference at the party’s office in Montreal on Thursday, April 16, 2026, to comment on the election of Christine Fréchette as leader of the Coalition Avenir Québec and premier of Quebec. John Mahoney / Montreal Gazette

Having been anointed CAQ leader Sunday, Fréchette is now Quebec premier and will lead her party into the October provincial election.

“Let’s put an end to our infighting and unite,” PQ Leader Paul St-Pierre Plamondon wrote in an open letter Thursday, quoting 19th century Quebec Premier Honoré Mercier.

“I’m picking up my pen to reach out to you, to reach out to all those who were disappointed by Bernard Drainville’s defeat and who have the future of Quebec nationalism at heart,” St-Pierre Plamondon wrote.

“I don’t think it’s an exaggeration to say that two schools of thought at the CAQ competed” in the leadership race, he told reporters in Montreal. “One blue school of thought (nationalists) and one red (federalists).”

“If you’re blue, our door is open for you,” St-Pierre Plamondon said.

Quebec Liberal Leader Charles Milliard and Fréchette “are both on the same page on most of the issues,” the PQ leader argued, presenting his party as the choice for the CAQ’s disaffected nationalists.

And despite having made a third referendum on independence a central plank of his political pitch, St-Pierre Plamondon said his invitation extends to nationalists who don’t buy into the plan.

“There are people who will say: ‘I’m not yet convinced that a country can be built … I’m not yet convinced in the current context. But I will allow a PQ government to win a majority and I can decide after whether to vote Yes’ ” in a prospective referendum, he said.

Not to be outdone, Conservative Leader Éric Duhaime held his own news conference at the legislature, saying he, too, was hunting for disgruntled CAQ supporters.

While no CAQ MNAs have joined his party in the wake of Fréchette’s victory, Duhaime said some of Drainville’s supporters and organizers have.

He said the fact Drainville got 42 per cent of the CAQ vote in the leadership race after pitching a conservative agenda shows there are many CAQ supporters who believe in that vision and could be ripe for his party’s picking.

“I can tell you that over the last 72 hours, I have been in contact with a large number of organizers and people who worked actively in the Bernard Drainville campaign,” Duhaime told reporters in Quebec City. “There are organizers who accepted, but no MNAs.”

“Our hand is still extended to these people. It’s important to say that if we want to unite the autonomist right in Quebec, it has to happen in the Conservative tent. People who share our ideas and values are always welcome with us.”

On Wednesday, Duhaime went so far as to launch a promotional campaign called “Coupe ta CAQ,” in which his party offered two membership cards for the price of one.

He said the deal resulted in 200 new members Wednesday alone, adding said he would check the names and see how many of those members came over from the CAQ.

As for Drainville himself, Duhaime said they exchanged text messages and he understands and respects Drainville’s decision to seek re-election with the CAQ in his home riding of Lévis.

His campaign to woo nationalists is not over, Duhaime said.

Next week, he plans to launch a new tool in the form of a book on autonomy to show CAQ supporters he is serious in positioning the Conservatives as the party that can take over the third way, an alternative to the traditional nationalism and federalism dichotomy, which the CAQ has sold for 15 years.

Duhaime went further in shoring up his nationalist convictions, saying the Conservatives are ready to support the CAQ government’s Bill 1, which would create a Quebec constitution.

On Monday, Fréchette told reporters she would prefer to have the support of at least one party in the National Assembly in order to adopt the bill.

Duhaime does not sit in the legislature himself, but is represented by Maïté Blanchette Vézina, a former CAQ cabinet minister who crossed the floor to join his party.

“We have always been in favour of the constitution,” Duhaime said. “I think it’s important for Quebec. We would like to work with the government to see this project advance.”

A Pallas Data poll released Wednesday shows Quebec Liberals leading the political pack, coming in at 32 per cent, with the PQ at 29 per cent. Conservatives and the CAQ were tied at 14 per cent, while Québec solidaire ranked fifth with 11 per cent support.

The poll shows Duhaime’s Conservatives leading in the Quebec City region with 34 per cent support.

The survey is the second in a row to show Liberals ahead of the PQ, which had previously led every poll since November 2023.

“Many things can happen in polls,” St-Pierre Plamondon reacted Thursday. “Things are changing, but the issues are not defined yet. The campaign has not started yet.”

“In front of us is a real possibility that a government of the Liberal Party of Quebec returns,” he said, “which rhymes with politics that will aggravate the state of French, aggravate the National Assembly’s loss of power in the federal system, aggravate … corruption.”

“There’s a reconfiguration at this moment,” St-Pierre Plamondon said, as voters size up Fréchette and Milliard, who he said have yet to define many of their stances.

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