Quebec Liberals win in byelection
Posted Dec 6, 2011 02:50:53 AM.
This article is more than 5 years old.
Premier Jean Charest’s Liberals romped to victory in a Quebec byelection Monday night.
Damien Arsenault grabbed nearly half the popular vote in Bonaventure, compared with 37 per cent for Parti Quebecois candidate Sylvain Roy.
The PQ wasn’t expected to win a riding that has been Liberal for all but four of the last 55 years.
Even so, PQ Leader Pauline Marois visited Bonaventure several times during the campaign hoping to bump up Roy’s support.
The byelection on the southern Gaspe Peninsula was held to replace former deputy premier Nathalie Normandeau, who resigned this fall.
The victory gives the Liberals a 65th seat in the 125-seat national assembly, compared with 45 for the PQ.
The Action democratique du Quebec has four, Quebec solidaire has one and there are 10 Independents.
Most of the Independents are PQ members who bolted the party this summer to protest Marois’ go-slow approach to sovereignty.
