It has been a week of turning pages in Quebec politics, and on Sunday another one turned. The Coalition Avenir Québec has named Mathieu Lévesque as its interim leader, handing the keys of a party that was wiped off the electoral map to one of the people who helped build it in the first place.
The announcement comes as Quebec City gets ready for a busy few days of swearing-in ceremonies, capped by Paul St-Pierre Plamondon taking the oath as premier on Wednesday. Here is what you need to know.
Who is Mathieu Lévesque?
According to CBC News, Lévesque is the former MNA for Chapleau, in the Outaouais, and a lawyer by trade. From April to October 2026 he served as minister responsible for youth and minister delegate for regions in the outgoing government.
He is also a CAQ lifer of sorts: a founding member of the party, he was on François Legault’s campaign bus in 2021 and has written a book about his time with the party. In a press release on Sunday, Lévesque said it was time for the party to engage in self-reflection, adding that he believes the CAQ represents “the true third way.”
Citing Radio-Canada, CBC reports that the interim leader will earn an annual salary of $200,000, paid by the party rather than by taxpayers.
From 90 seats to zero
Lévesque replaces Christine Fréchette, who resigned as party leader the day after the election. The numbers explain why. The CAQ, which won 90 seats in 2022, came away with none on election night this year, despite collecting just over 572,000 votes. The Parti Québécois will form a minority government, ending the CAQ’s run in power.
The fallout has not been limited to the leader’s office. Earlier this month, culture minister Mathieu Lacombe was expelled from the CAQ caucus and stripped of his party membership after attending election-night celebrations at PQ headquarters in Montreal. Fréchette’s office said that decision was incompatible with the party’s values, and Martine Biron took over the culture file for the remaining weeks of the outgoing government.
A packed week at the Assemblée nationale
The new legislature is taking shape quickly. The PQ’s 59-member caucus was sworn in last week (see our coverage of the Parti Québécois MNAs taking their seats). This week, it is everyone else’s turn:
- Quebec Liberal Party: 40 MNAs, now the Official Opposition
- Conservative Party of Quebec: 19 MNAs
- Québec solidaire: 9 MNAs
- Wednesday: Paul St-Pierre Plamondon is sworn in as premier, along with his cabinet ministers
Until that Wednesday ceremony, the outgoing CAQ cabinet technically continues to govern, even without a single seat in the new legislature. It is an unusual in-between moment, one that ends when the new premier names his ministers.
What it means for Montrealers
For the CAQ, the job now is survival and soul-searching. Lévesque’s task as interim leader will be to hold the party together outside the Assemblée nationale while members decide what comes next, including, eventually, who leads it on a permanent basis. No timeline for a leadership race was announced on Sunday.
For everyone else, the more immediate story is the arrival of a PQ government and the cabinet that comes with it. Expect the first big signals on priorities, from the economy and housing to infrastructure files that matter here in the city, like the future of the Mercier Bridge, once ministers are in place later this week. On s’en reparle soon.
Keep up with the latest local stories on our Everyday News page.
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Featured image: Photo: Wilfredor / Wikimedia Commons, CC0. Sources: CBC News, with files from Radio-Canada; CBC News (Lacombe); CBC News (election results).
