PQ thanks voters after taking Jean-Talon from CAQ in byelection

Premier sent message in byelection loss Premier Francois Legault said he got the message after his candidate lost to the PQ in Jean-Talon.

It was a short night for newly elected Parti Québécois (PQ) member Pascal Paradis.

By 8 a.m. Tuesday, he was up and about thanking constituents in the provincial riding of Jean-Talon for electing him as their new representative.

Paradis and PQ party leader Paul St-Pierre Plamondon were spotted at the corner of a busy intersection in the riding holding signs reading, "Thank you!"

As The Canadian Press passed by, motorists honked their horns to support the new MNA.

With the arrival of a newly elected member in its ranks, the PQ says it wants to be able to question the government more intensely.

"Given that we are growing, we hope to get more questions in," said St-Pierre Plamondon. "We could now get in one question a day."

The Parti Québécois scored a decisive victory over the Coalition Avenir Québec (CAQ) Monday evening.

The latest figures from Élections Québec show Paradis winning 44 per cent of the vote against 21 per cent for his closest rival, the CAQ's Marie-Anik Shoiry.

"It was a desire, which I fully understand, to send a message to the government, and one we constantly heard on the ground: we think you're doing a good job," St-Pierre Plamondon said.

A PQ candidate has never before been elected in Jean-Talon.

Before the CAQ took it in 2019, the riding had been considered a Liberal stronghold since 1965.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published in French on Oct. 3, 2023.