Important Information on Quebec Political Parties

by Apathy is Boring — December 2, 2008

Important Info on Quebec Political Parties

In order to provide you with quality information about the political parties registered in Quebec, and to help you make sense of some of the confusion around electoral politics, we have prepared this information kit to clarify the 2008 Quebec election.

Things to know

- The Liberal Party of Quebec, the Action Democratique du Quebec party and the Parti Quebecois are the only three official parties in Quebec.  This is because electoral laws require that a party get at least 12 seats or 20% of the popular vote to be considered an official party.

- However, your options are not limited to the three parties listed above; there are about 14 other parties registered with the Director General of Quebec Elections (DGEQ).

- In recent years, the Parti Vert du Quebec and Quebec Solidaire have, though not winning any seats, garnered significant popular electoral support.  They run in most ridings and thus provide alternative choices to voters.

- There are a number of even smaller parties operating in Quebec, registered with the Director General of Elections.  These parties include:

    - Affiliation Quebec
    - Bloc Pot
    - Christan Democratic Party
    - Parti Durable du Quebec
    - Parti des Immigres du Quebec
    - Equality Party
    - Parti Independantiste
    - Marxist-Leninist Party
    - Republican Party
    - Union du Centre
    - Mouvement Equite au Quebec
    - Parti Communiste du Quebec
   

Mouvement Equite

- It appears that Mouvement Equite au Quebec only involves one member, Mostafa Ben Kirane, and he will not be running in the upcoming election.  However, he has previously run as an independent in Laurier-Dorin, as well as running for the Progressive Conservatives in the Federal riding of Saint-Leonard/ Saint-Michel in 2000.  Ben Kirane runs on a platform of educational reform in Quebec and has been active in Montreal School Board elections.  Not much else is known about this party.

The Communist Party

- The Communist Party of Quebec has been active in Quebec politics since 1936.  The party suffered a split in 2005 and does not actually run any candidates in elections anymore, instead opting to support Quebec Solidaire.  The group continues to function more of an advocacy group, rather than a political party.  The reason it is still registered as a party is to prevent breakaway members to adopt the name, which would split the vote for far left parties.  Those candidates that do run do so under Quebec Solidaires’ banner.

Brand-New Parties

- Several parties were founded under a year ago, and are not yet organized enough to be prepared for the 2008 election.  These parties include: Mouvement Equite au Quebec; Union du Centre; Affiliation Quebec; and the Parti Durable.

 

Candidates 2008

Women’s Representation

- For those of you interested in who has the most female representation, Quebec Solidaire is the only party that is fielding more women than men in this electoral race, with 53% of its candidates being female. The figures of female candidates for the three official parties are as follows:

    ADQ:          20%
    Liberals:    32%
    PQ:             31%

Women make up 31% of the candidates, with 200 female candidates running out of a total 651.


Representation of Young People

- The most candidates are found in the 50-59 year old age bracket (25%), with 40-49 in second (23%).

- In third place is the 18-29 age group, with 18% of the total candidates.



Not much else is known about many of these small parties, but we at Apathy is Boring believe that you should have the tools necessary to make an infomed decision on voting day, so you can look at those party kits that we have compiled for more information. 
Below, we provide you with a breakdown of who is running candidates and how many, as well as some links to party websites (where available) and contact info for those of you really interested in a particular party, but unsure how to find out more.

The ADQ, PQ, and Liberals(PLQ) are running candidates in all 125 ridings.

Quebec Solidaire is running in all but 3 ridings: Abitibi-Ouest, Gatineau,  and Notre-Dame-de-Grace.

The Parti Vert is running 80 candidates, and you can find out in which ridings by clicking the link here. http://www.monvote.qc.ca/en/candidat_liste_pp.asp?lg=en&parti=4&circ=0

As for smaller parties and independents, the number of candidates is as follows:

Independent or Non-Affiliated:  30
Marxist Leninist:                    23
Parti Independantiste:                 19
Parti Durable:                 1
Partie Republique du Qc:             1


Too bad for the supporters of these parties, they are not running in the 2008 election, despite being registered parties:

Affiliation Quebec
Bloc Pot
Mouvement Equite
Parti Communiste
Parti Democratie Chretienne du Quebec
Parti des Immigres
Equality Party
Union du Centre

To find out more about the candidates running in your riding, click here.
http://www.monvote.qc.ca/en/candidat_recherche.asp

For contact info for any of these parties click here.
http://www.formulaire.gouv.qc.ca/cgi/affiche_doc.cgi?dossier=4867&table=0





Sources:
                
 Le Directeur General des Elections du Quebec website
             http://www.monvote.qc.ca/

Directeur général des elections Press Release #20 on Quebec General Election 2008
    http://www.communiques.gouv.qc.ca/gouvqc/communiques/GPQE/Novembre2008/22/c3393.html

Wikipedia Quebec Political Parties
    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_political_parties_in_Quebec

QuebecPolitique.com general info
    http://www.quebecpolitique.com/partis-politiques/partis-politiques-actuels/


Ben Kirane, Mostafa. “Ecole de L’equite au Quebec cosmopolite” Maghreb Canada Express Vol. V , N°10 (OCTOBRE 2007) page 19.