MONTREAL - The leader of the Coalition for Quebec's Future says his upstart party is here to stay.
Francois Legault told jubilant supporters in his riding east of Montreal that in just nine months they've been able to form a new party and lead a great campaign.
His fledgling party appears poised to end up in the legislature with a seat count in the range of 20, a distant third behind the Parti Quebecois and Liberals.
He says from now on the political landscape in the province will never be the same.
LeGault says he will collaborate with new premier Pauline Marois in good faith and hopes they can finally put behind them the corruption he says has been poisoning political life in the province for so long.
And he says she can count on CAQ support to restore integrity in government and fix other problems including the health care system.
He adds voters have chosen to put the new government on notice with only a minority government and it is the responsibility of opposition parties to hold the PQ accountable.
LeGault, a former PQ cabinet minister, spent the campaign preaching the need to put sovereignty on the back burner to deal with more pressing issues.
