LAKE-DELAGE | Éric Duhaime failed yesterday in his attempt to enter the National Assembly. Late in the evening, however, two Conservative candidates in Beauce-Nord and Beauce-Sud led fierce battles to try to win one or two seats for the Conservative Party of Quebec (PCQ).
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Visibly disappointed, the leader of the PCQ spoke to his militants last night a little before 10 p.m. “We are taken with the democratic distortion of the century”, he lamented, referring to the 13.4% of votes obtained by his party.
“We finished second in several regions and several constituencies. We have been sowing hope for several months in the hearts and minds of many Quebecers,” he added.
Duhaime said he found grounds for hope in yesterday’s results. He claimed he led “the fastest growing party (while) the other three opposition parties declined.”
He also referred to the fact that the party will be better armed financially in the coming years thanks to the public funding it will obtain following its electoral results. “We did not have a fraction of the resources of our opponents, he dropped. We are going to fight a lot more on equal terms.”
Back in 2026
When he took over as leader of the Conservative Party of Quebec in April 2021, Éric Duhaime said he would stay in politics for ten years regardless of the election result. Yesterday he confirmed to his supporters that he will lead the Conservative troops in the 2026 election.
Throughout the evening, conservative activists had long faces and seemed surprised by the turn of events. They only had rare moments of rejoicing when preliminary results showed that one of their candidates was ahead. But this joy was short-lived.