Election season is upon us, both at school and around the province. Here’s most of what you need to know to participate in the SLCSA’s elections and to make an educated decision on who to vote for in this electoral campaign.
SLCSA Elections
The SLCSA, or the St-Lawrence College Student Association, is St-Lawrence’s student government. Their goal is to make sure that every student gets the most out of their college experience here at St-Lawrence by making our school welcoming and fun to attend. They act as a bridge between the students and the school board, making sure that the students’ voices can be heard and respected. Every year, in September, they hold elections to welcome new members into the association. This could be you!
If you are a first year student who loves to be involved and has original ideas to bring to the school, there are four posts that you could apply for: Vice-President, Assistant Internal Officer, Assistant Social Officer, and Secretary General. They are looking for people who will be devoted to their roles, who have pertinent opinions about what happens in the school, and who love being around people. To know what each role requires follow this link: Roles and Responsibilities, or head to the MIO sent earlier this semester by the SLCSA called “The Elections are Here…!”. You can also find explanatory videos on their Instagram and TikTok accounts (@slcsa).
To sign up for a role, follow this link: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSc3FvwrcAORJhT9GI18rUKZmwHdnQFIbpLMXa4BshlfEW7w3w/viewform?usp=header.
Don’t forget to prepare your campaign! They will start on September 7th. You have until September 15th, the day of the speeches, to submit your candidacy and finalize your campaign. The electoral speeches, followed by voting, will be held on September 15th at the Atrium during lunch. The SLCSA will also be offering some food to those who attend the speeches, so make sure to be there.
It will be important to vote for the person you believe is the most fit for the role, not your friend, unless you truly believe they will do a good job. The candidates selected will be representing the whole student body to the school board.
After the official elections, the SLCSA will also be recruiting two final members to complete their team during their member at large selections. These positions are open to all students, both first years and second years. The selection process will consist of internal interviews led by current SLCSA members. More information will come to you after the elections.
Québec Provincial Elections
When you exercise your right to vote, it is important to know exactly what you are voting for. In Québec, there are currently 21 authorized parties, for a total of 392 candidates you can vote for. You can find most of the basic information of each party at Élections Québec (Political parties – Élections Québec) and on their individual website. Most of the different parties are presented below in moderate detail:
Coalition avenir Québec (CAQ): Lead by Christine Fréchette, 92 candidates, coalitionavenirquebec.org
| Housing: Finance infrastructure work for projects developing in specific neighborhoods, establish tax credits on family houses who adapt their residence to welcome an elderly family member. Add 1000 supplements to housing (PSL) with support for people in a situation of homelessness. Cost of living: Invest 1000$ in every REEE for the children born starting fall 2027, increase the supplement for handicapped children to 50$ per month, and the help for special care to 100$ per month. Economy: Diversify the export market of Quebec. Under certain circumstances, workers over 65 years old could earn up to 35 000$ non-taxable income. Public finances: Return to a balanced budget in 2029-2030. Abolish 2900 posts for public servants without touching education and healthcare. Create a team for the effectiveness of the State. No tax reductions for citizens until a balanced budget is obtained. Health and social services: Reducing wait times for orthopedic and plastic surgeries. Use of private clinics to increase the amount of medical imaging exams by 100 000, paid by the state. Doctors would be allowed to practice in both the private and public sector. New nurse status for the care of elderly people, creation of a professional order for paramedics, and training of 200 family doctors for the regions. Construction of 2000 affordable housing units for elderly people. Additional investment over 4 years for home support. Education: Opposed to having assessments and reports on education. Energy and natural resources: Conclude the Churchill Falls treaty signed between Quebec and Terre-Neuve-and-Labrador. Double the amount of revenue-sharing from royalties on natural resources allocated to resource regions. Culture: Bill to renew the parliamentary sovereignty provision of Bill 96 and to increase the application of Bill 101. Adopt a Quebecois constitution including the Gérin-Lajoie doctrine. Revive their bill project which would modify the section for Quebec of the constitutional law of 1867 of Canada. Invest almost 610 million dollars into the “Stratégie québécoise de l’audiovisuel 2026-2031.” Immigration: Keep the current threshold on immigration until 2029. Infrastructures: Modernize the Route 132 corridor in Saint-Constant, Sainte-Catherine, and Delson. Security: Invest in adding a resource in each of the state’s 164 houses of aid and shelter for women who are victims of domestic violence. Build 8 houses offering emergency service to support and house victims of domestic violence short term. |
Parti Québécois (PQ): Lead by Paul St-Pierre Plamondon, 87 candidates, https://pq.org/
| Housing: Reduce construction costs, favoring PMEs in government construction projects, permit enterprises to put counter-offers on calls for government projects. Build 2000 new affordable housing for elderly people. Reduce in half the amount of people in situations of homelessness by increasing the offer of social housing with community support, modernize the “Loi sur l’assistance sociale” and reinforce the support in health and drug addictions. Cost of living: Prohibit the use of monitoring pricing in grocery stores, abolish the TVQ on used goods. Economy: Create an “équipe Québec” that would intervene during commercial negotiations and relations with the US. Put an end to the phenomenon of discount drivers. Abolish the “Fonds de développement économique” as to lower taxes on enterprises by 2%. Encourage automatisation and robotisation to reduce the need for immigrant workers. Public finances: Reduce the size of the State by 2.5% by reducing bureaucracy and cutting posts (without layoffs). Creation of a secretariat for state efficiency. Lower tax rates on enterprises by almost 20% in 4 years by abolishing the “Fonds de développement économique.” Health and social services: Doubling of financial aid for the transportation of patients living in the regions. Abolish Santé Québec and reinvest the money into direct healthcare for citizens. Bill project for the maintenance of elderly people’s autonomy. Education: Reintroduce singing and music teaching in schools. Establish the minimum of 60 minutes of physical activity everyday in primary and secondary schools and tests to evaluate the evolution of youths’ health. Private schools will have to welcome more students with learning difficulties to obtain their funding. Hold assessments, evaluations, and reports on education. French universities should cease to offer English classes, especially to foreign students. Apply Bill 101 on all CEGEPs. Energy and natural resources: Publish the criteria for distributing megawatts and the studies from the McKinsey Firm on the battery sector. Regions will have a right to 10% of mining royalties given to the government by enterprises. Establish a new forest management program. Remove restrictions on the sale of wine. Culture: Consult the population regarding the sovereignty of Quebec, but no referendum on Quebec sovereignty while Donald Trump is in power. For Quebec independence, but would allow Quebecois to keep their Canadian citizenship and their right to work anywhere in Canada. New Bill for the protection of the French language and apply Bill 101 on all CEGEPs. In an independent Quebec, they would redistribute the assets from Radio-Canada. Environment: Permanent suspension of one of the federal taxes on gas. Immigration: Increase in the French criteria for the renewal of a working permit. Reduce by half the amount of temporary immigration. Tighten the PEQ exigences for immigrant workers and international students to have access to permanent residency. Limit the amount of international students coming in. Infrastructures: Suggest a project for the troisième lien between Quebec and Levis for public transport and a “Passe mobilité” which would allow users to use all public transports of Quebec (metro, bus, and trains). Remove Quebec from the TGV Alto project. Security: Hire 100 new prosecutors. |
Quebec Liberal Party (PLQ): Lead by Charles Milliard, 54 candidates, https://plq.org/
| Housing: Build over 100 000 housing per year, reimbursement of TVQ on new habitation of 500 000$ or less, postpone tax payments on capital gains for developers when they reinvest in new housing projects. Adding 40 000 social and affordable housing in the next 5 years, reduce off-market housing, reserve housing for vulnerable people (homelessness, young adults leaving the DPJ…). Establish ceiling prices on private housing for elderly people. Economy: Enterprises touched by the tariffs would benefit from a temporary break from contributions to the “Fonds des services de santé,” transformation of the indirect help destined to PMEs in direct help, lower Quebecois exportations towards the US. Lower tax rates for PMEs, higher contribution from the manufacturing sector. Health and social services: Bill allowing handicapped people to leave the CHSLDs to live in their homes. Universal access to a walk-in type of telehealth platform. Reach and maintain the pay equality with Ontario in the public healthcare sector. Establish a special commission focused on youth mental health. Education: Hold assessments and reports on education. Maintain the current proportion of francophone and anglophone inscription in CEGEP. Energy and natural resources: Creation of a “Fonds de développement des collectivités minières.” Increase the amount of Quebecois products in public institutions. Culture: Against a referendum about Quebec independence. Investment of 380M$ over 4 years for the French language. No renewal of the clause protecting the law for the laicity of the State. Immigration: Reduce by six weeks the wait for francisation, increase the deadline to two years for new arrivals until the State has to communicate only in French with them. Infrastructures: Devote 75% of the PQI to maintain public infrastructures until 80% of them are in a satisfactory state. Continue the studies for the troisième lien and for the further development of the tramway. Transform the autoroute Laurentienne in an urban boulevard, reconfigure the autoroute Dufferin-Montmorency, and revive the Lebourgneuf overpass project. Accelerate the replacement of the ships crossing Quebec-Levis. Deploy phase 4 of the promenade Samuel de Champlain and create a multifunction stadium on the site of the old Colosseum. |
Québec solidaire (QS): Lead by Carmen Palardy, 47 candidates, https://quebecsolidaire.net/
| Housing: Include 100% of the capital gain in housing into taxable income. Help first buyers by financing part of the value of their property when reselling. Establish tax credits for the construction of intergenerational houses. Bonification of renovation programs. Blind auctions will be prohibited. Add 50 000 social housing (half from the existing market, half new constructions). Have 20% of location properties destined to social housing by 2050. The State would buy and renovate 2000 houses to sell them 25% under market price. Part of the 50 000 social housing will be destined to people in a situation of homelessness or at risk of it; the units will include community support. Suggests that the increase in housing prices follows regular inflation without exceeding 3%, and putting in place a national register of housing. Cost of living: Increase of minimum wage to 20$/hour. Open 15 public grocery stores; prioritize food deserts and hold 75% of Quebecois products. Put a cap on profit margins from big food corporations at 2%. Establish a system to buy in bulk school supplies to redistribute to every parent. Economy: Increase the exportation tariffs of Hydro-Québec for the US. Cancel the forced return of public servants to the office three days per week. Public finances: Put in place a mechanism for popular-initiative referendums. Reform of the voting system. Establish an annual tax of 1% on large fortunes exceeding 25M$ and of 2% for those over 100M$. Health and social services: Free contraceptives, abolish the “pink tax,” and free menstrual products in public spaces. Education: Significant increase in teacher wages during the next negotiation. Reduce by half the amount of school dropouts by hiring 2000 new professionals to support the system. Remove the funding of private schools if they do not abolish their tuition fees and academic selection. Energy and natural resources: Block pipeline projects over Quebecois territory and oppose exploitation of schist gas. Culture: Consult the population regarding Quebec independence. Establish a constituent assembly co-built with the First Nations. Double the support towards creation by the Conseil des Arts et Lettres du Québec, and the Société de développement des entreprises culturelles. Environment: Reduce GES emissions. Immigration: Paid French courses for immigrants by the employer and the government. Increase in the quota of welcoming of permanent immigrants per year. Creation of a PEQ-Régions. Pressure Ottawa to abolish closed working permits. Infrastructures: Supports the TGV project. Revive the tramway project in Gatineau. Invest 23M$ over 10 years to fix and develop public transports in Montreal. Against the troisième lien. Security: Establish a Ministry of Women and Equality. |
Parti conservateur du Québec (PCQ): Lead by Éric Duhaime, 42 candidates, conservateur.quebec
| Housing: Deregulation of the construction sector, simplification of the “Code du bâtiment du Québec.” Ceasing the construction of HLMs, focus on existing programs like “Allocation-logement.” Not in favor of a tightening of the control over housing. Cost of living: Abolish the TVQ on used goods, a 5 months suspension on the provincial tax of 19,2¢/litre on gas. Decrease taxes and add monetary incentives to increase the birth rate. Increase the tax credits for childcare costs. Economy: Remove the interprovincial commercial barriers, and the provincial exigences in public markets. Liberating restrained sectors such as alcohol and alimentation. Important decrease in subventions and tax credits to enterprises. For each new regulation adopted, one will be removed. Cut off 30% of paperwork for PMEs. Reduce the general tax rates on enterprises revenues. Public finances: Cut state spending by removing 20 000 public servant posts and examining every government program. Accelerate the numerization of the state with the help of AI and recommendations from the Gallant commission. Promise of the most important decrease in taxes of particulars and of consommation in the history of Quebec. Return to a balanced budget over 4 years by capping the increase in inflation and population growth spending, and by abolishing the “Fonds vert.” Health and social services: “No debate” on abortion. Citizens could use their medical insurance card to obtain treatment in the private sector without extra fees if they cannot get treated at a public facility in a timely manner. Abolish Santé Québec. Form more healthcare professionals. Create a new program for family medicine suggested by the University of Quebec. Energy and natural resources: Remove the government from the carbon market and liberalize the exploitation and exploration of hydrocarbures. Redistribute to regions the royalties from natural resources and energy resources, lighten the reglementation on the private forest sector, and give priority on private wood supply. Culture:Against a referendum regarding Quebec independence. Tax credits over the cultural sector and media would be exempt from important compressions of public finances. Environment: Eliminate the “Fonds vert” and remove Quebec from the carbon exchange. Immigration: Regionalize immigration. Infrastructures: Prioritize existing infrastructures. Against the TGV Alto project between Toronto and Quebec. Cities should be allowed to remove themselves from a public transport society if they want to. For the troisième lien and suggest a specific project. Stop the tramway project in Quebec. |
Every party has also promised to hold a cap on homelessness in 2027.
Other Parties:
Because the following parties have so few candidates, I will only provide you the names of the parties and individual candidates so that you can do your own research. For the parties, there are Présence Québec with 13 candidates, the Green Party of Quebec with 9 candidates, Climat Québec with 9 candidates, and the Canadian Party of Quebec with 8 candidates. There is also the Parti communiste du Québec with 6 candidates, the Parti accès propriété et équité with 4 candidates, Démocratie directe with 3 candidate, the Équipe autonomiste with 3 candidates, the Parti marxiste-léniniste du Québec with 2 candidates, as well as the Parti nul and Québec innovant with two candidates each.
As for independent candidates, you have Christian Collard (in Nicolet-Bécancour), Marina Cabrera (in Verdun), Joe Young (in Saint-Laurent), Vincent Bégin (in Louis-Hébert), and Mario Bellavance (in Viau).
Why is It Important to Vote?
If you are over 18 years old, it means that you are now allowed to vote in the current provincial elections. If you are thinking of not voting because you are unsure of who to vote for, or if you are thinking of voting for one party so that the other does not win, please change your mind. Not only does voting ensure that there is an accurate representation of the population’s opinions in the government, it also ensures that it is not only a single party, or two, that can dictate every political action for the following few years, maximum 5 years. A lot can happen in a year. Here is a metaphor to better understand the importance of voting: eight people are on a bus. Three vote to drive off a cliff, two vote not to, and three do not vote because they like neither option. They all drive off a cliff because only five people voted and the majority voted to drive off the cliff.
Not voting counts as a choice, just not the one you might think it is. Voting supports democracy, especially if you vote for the party you actually believe in. The provincial government is responsible for education, health services, taxes, and more. If you do not vote for what you believe in, there is a bigger chance that you will have to live with government decisions that you do not agree with than if you voted according to your beliefs.
To check if you are registered to vote, head to the Élections Québec website, go to the tab called “vote,” then look for “When and where to vote.” You can also simply follow this link: https://www.electionsquebec.qc.ca/voter/ou-et-quand-voter/. You will have to enter your name and your address, then they will tell you if you are registered to vote. If you aren’t registered and you are over 18 years old, make sure to register so that you can exercise your right. There will be early voting happening at the school’s auditorium on September 25th, and from September 29th to October 1st.
While this article provides you with a general idea of what each party’s mission is, it does not replace personal research. Before going to vote on October 5th, make sure to watch the news and to stay updated on the electoral campaigns. If you do your own research, which is highly recommended, make sure to find objective sources that present all sides of the story. If you still aren’t sure you understand what voting entails, we encourage you to explore the website “Élections Québec” where you will find everything from what voting is to how to vote.
We hope that you found this article helpful and make sure to vote both at the SLCSA, and the provincial elections if you are of age.
Writer: Mia Bouchard; Editor: Arielle Guay; Picture: fluxbranding.com
Sources:
Élections Québec. Political parties. (2026) https://www.electionsquebec.qc.ca/en/parties-and-other-political-entities/political-parties/
Radio-Canada. Comparez les plateformes électorales des partis. (2026) https://ici.radio-canada.ca/info/2026/elections-quebec/comparateur-programmes-plateformes-partis/
As well as all the personal websites of all the political parties discussed in this article.
