{"id":923302,"date":"2026-10-06T22:54:13","date_gmt":"2026-10-06T22:54:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/923302\/"},"modified":"2026-10-06T22:54:13","modified_gmt":"2026-10-06T22:54:13","slug":"christine-frechette-stepping-down-as-caq-leader-after-searing-election-defeat","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/923302\/","title":{"rendered":"Christine Fr\u00e9chette stepping down as CAQ leader after searing election defeat"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Christine Fr\u00e9chette, Quebec\u2019s outgoing premier, announced Tuesday that she will be stepping down as leader of the Coalition Avenir Qu\u00e9bec party.\u00a0<\/p>\n

She walked out in the foyer of the National Assembly and was greeted by applause, but got straight to the point in her address to Quebecers.<\/p>\n

\u201cLast night, you made your position clear,\u201d she said in French. \u201cYou chose to\u00a0entrust the government to another team. I accept that choice, and as leader, I take responsibility for it.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cSo today, I have submitted my resignation as leader of the Coalition Avenir Qu\u00e9bec.\u201d<\/p>\n

The announcement comes one day after the party\u2019s crushing defeat in the provincial election that saw it go from a massive majority just four years ago to being wiped off the electoral map.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The party failed to win a single seat on Monday.<\/p>\n

WATCH | The moment Fr\u00e9chette announced her resignation:\"\"<\/p>\n

Christine Fr\u00e9chette resigns as CAQ leader after party\u2019s crushing election loss<\/p>\n

Fr\u00e9chette\u2019s announcement comes one day after the Coalition Avenir Qu\u00e9bec failed to win a single seat in the general election on Monday. Despite this, she says she believes in the party\u2019s future.<\/p>\n

Just a few days ago, Fr\u00e9chette said she would stay on as leader<\/a> even if she didn\u2019t win in her hometown riding of Trois-Rivi\u00e8res.<\/p>\n

She took over as premier following Fran\u00e7ois Legault\u2019s resignation earlier this year, after winning the party’s leadership race against Bernard Drainville.\u00a0<\/p>\n

After winning her seat in the Sanguinet riding south of Montreal in 2022, Fr\u00e9chette was appointed minister of immigration. Two years later, she became economy minister \u2014 a post she held until she stepped down to run for the leadership.\u00a0 <\/p>\n

Fr\u00e9chette said she was proud of all she accomplished in those four years, including contributing to closing Roxham Road<\/a> and reinstating a popular immigration program known as the PEQ.<\/p>\n

“As premier, I am proud to have initiated a genuine transformation of Quebec\u2019s economy \u2014 a transformation that is essential in the current context,” she said. <\/p>\n

Fr\u00e9chette launched her campaign coming off the back of two major announcements alongside Prime Minister Mark Carney, including a new Churchill Falls deal worth an estimated $70 billion<\/a> and a new shipbuilding contract<\/a> for Chantier Davie shipyard, in L\u00e9vis, Que. <\/p>\n

Ultimately, her party was unable to quench a thirst for change after eight years of a CAQ government that included scandals like SAAQclic<\/a> and the failed development of the Northvolt battery plant.<\/a><\/p>\n

Legault commends Fr\u00e9chette<\/p>\n

Former premier Legault, who co-founded the CAQ in 2011, stayed quiet throughout the campaign.<\/p>\n

But he took to social media Tuesday shortly after Fr\u00e9chette’s resignation to thank her for her political commitment.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cChristine was a capable minister. Her speech last night was dignified and exemplary,\u201d he wrote in French.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cShe showed great courage during this election campaign.\u201d<\/p>\n

He also added she wasn\u2019t responsible for the “wear and tear of power” that “affects all governments.\u201d<\/p>\n

He signed off by wishing her the best of luck in her future endeavours.\u00a0<\/p>\n

WATCH | Fr\u00e9chette shoulders blame for defeat in concession speech:\"\"<\/p>\n

CAQ Leader Christine Fr\u00e9chette takes ownership of party\u2019s fall in concession speech<\/p>\n

At party headquarters in Trois-Rivi\u00e8res, Que., Fr\u00e9chette thanked her National Assembly colleagues. She said the party\u2019s fall was her responsibility alone, and that being premier was the greatest honour of her life.<\/p>\n

Fr\u00e9chette will remain premier until the Parti Qu\u00e9b\u00e9cois’s Paul St-Pierre Plamondon is sworn in. <\/p>\n

She said it will be up to the party’s governing body to determine next steps in the wake of her resignation.<\/p>\n

“The coalition needs someone right now who can rally the troops \u2014 leading up to the next election and well beyond,” she said stressing the importance of doing so in the context of a minority government. <\/p>\n

She said she’s confident the party will know how to choose the right person for the job and expressed confidence in the party’s future.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Listen to this article Estimated 3 minutes The audio version of this article is generated by AI-based technology.…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":923303,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[49,48,44],"class_list":["post-923302","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-canada","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/923302","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=923302"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/923302\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/923303"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=923302"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=923302"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=923302"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}