List of leaders of the Official Opposition of Quebec

This is a list of the leaders of the opposition party of Quebec, Canada since Confederation (1867).

Note that the leader of the Opposition is not always the leader of the political party with the second-largest number of seats, in cases where the leader of that party does not have a seat.

There was no Leader of the Opposition until March 1869, when the government's second budget was introduced.

  Name Electoral district
(Region)
Took Office Left Office Party
     Henri-Gustave Joly de Lotbinière Lotbinière
(Chaudière-Appalaches)
1869 1878 Liberal
     Joseph-Adolphe Chapleau Terrebonne
(Lanaudière)
1878 1879 Conservative
     Henri-Gustave Joly de Lotbinière Lotbinière
(Chaudière-Appalaches)
1879 1883 Liberal
     Honoré Mercier Saint-Hyacinthe
(Montérégie)
1883 1887 Liberal[1]
     Louis-Olivier Taillon Montcalm
(Lanaudière)
1887 1890 Conservative
     Jean Blanchet Beauce
(Chaudière-Appalaches)
1890 1891 Conservative
     Félix-Gabriel Marchand Saint-Jean
(Montérégie)
1892 1897 Liberal
     Edmund James Flynn Gaspé
(Gaspésie—Îles-de-la-Madeleine) until 1900
Nicolet
(Centre-du-Québec) after 1900
1897 1904 Conservative
     Pierre-Évariste Leblanc[2] Laval
(Laval)
1905 1908 Conservative
     Joseph-Mathias Tellier Joliette
(Lanaudière)
1909 1915 Conservative
     Philémon Cousineau[3] Jacques-Cartier
(Montreal)
1915 1916 Conservative
     Arthur Sauvé Deux-Montagnes
(Laurentides)
1916 1929 Conservative
     Camillien Houde Montréal-Sainte-Marie
(Montreal)
1929 1931 Conservative
     Charles Ernest Gault[4] Montréal-Saint-Georges
(Montreal)
1931 1932 Conservative
     Maurice Duplessis Trois-Rivières
(Mauricie)
1932 1936 Conservative[5]
     Télesphore-Damien Bouchard[6] Saint-Hyacinthe
(Montérégie)
1936 1939 Liberal
     Maurice Duplessis Trois-Rivières
(Mauricie)
1939 1944 Union Nationale
     Adélard Godbout L'Islet
(Chaudière-Appalaches)
1944 1948 Liberal
     George Carlyle Marler[7] Westmount-Saint-Georges
(Montreal)
1948 1953 Liberal
     Georges-Émile Lapalme[8] Montréal-Outremont
(Montreal)
1953 1960 Liberal
     Yves Prévost[9] Montmorency
(Québec)
1960 1961 Union Nationale
     Antonio Talbot[10] Chicoutimi
(Saguenay—Lac-Saint-Jean)
1961 1961 Union Nationale
     Daniel Johnson, Sr. Bagot
(Montérégie)
1961 1966 Union Nationale
     Jean Lesage Louis-Hébert
(Québec)
1966 1970 Liberal
     Robert Bourassa Mercier
(Montreal)
1970 1970 Liberal
     Jean-Jacques Bertrand Missisquoi
(Eastern Townships)
1970 1971 Union Nationale
     Gabriel Loubier Bellechasse
(Chaudière-Appalaches)
1971 1973 Union Nationale[11]
     Jacques-Yvan Morin[12] Sauvé
(Montreal)
1973 1976 Parti Québécois
     Gérard D. Lévesque[13] Bonaventure
(Gaspésie—Îles-de-la-Madeleine)
1976 1979 Liberal
     Claude Ryan Argenteuil
(Laurentides)
1979 1982 Liberal
     Gérard D. Lévesque[14] Bonaventure
(Gaspésie—Îles-de-la-Madeleine)
1982 1985 Liberal
     Robert Bourassa Bertrand
(Montérégie)
1985 1985 Liberal
     Pierre-Marc Johnson Anjou
(Montreal)
1985 1987 Parti Québécois
     Guy Chevrette[15] Joliette
(Lanaudière)
1987 1989 Parti Québécois
     Jacques Parizeau L'Assomption
(Lanaudière)
1989 1994 Parti Québécois
     Daniel Johnson, Jr. Vaudreuil
(Montérégie)
1994 1998 Liberal
     Monique Gagnon-Tremblay[16] Saint-François
(Eastern Townships)
1998 1998 Liberal
     Jean Charest Sherbrooke
(Eastern Townships)
1998 2003 Liberal
     Bernard Landry Verchères
(Montérégie)
2003 2005 Parti Québécois
     Louise Harel[17] Hochelaga-Maisonneuve
(Montreal)
2005 2006 Parti Québécois
     André Boisclair Pointe-aux-Trembles
(Montreal)
2006 2007 Parti Québécois
     Mario Dumont Rivière-du-Loup
(Bas-Saint-Laurent)
2007 2008 Action démocratique du Québec
     Pauline Marois Charlevoix
(Capitale-Nationale)
2008 present Parti Québécois

Footnotes

  1. ^ In the aftermath of the execution of Louis Riel, Honoré Mercier founded the Parti National, in order to bring Conservative dissidents to the Liberal Party. From 1885 to 1891, the Liberal Party is also called Parti National.
  2. ^ Pierre-Évariste Leblanc lost his seat to the legislature in 1908. Joseph-Mathias Tellier succeeded him as Conservative Leader.
  3. ^ Philémon Cousineau lost his seat to the legislature in 1916. Arthur Sauvé succeeded him as Conservative Leader.
  4. ^ Conservative Leader Camillien Houde lost his seat to the legislature. Charles Ernest Gault served as acting Leader.
  5. ^ In 1935, the Conservatives formed a coalition with the Action libérale nationale (ALN). The ALN ran 60 candidates and won 26 seats. The Conservatives ran 30 candidates and won 16 seats. However, Maurice Duplessis served as leader of the coalition and therefore remained Leader of the Opposition.
  6. ^ Liberal Leader Adélard Godbout lost his seat to the legislature and could not serve as Leader of the Opposition.
  7. ^ Liberal Leader Adélard Godbout lost his seat to the legislature. His successor, Georges-Émile Lapalme, was defeated in Joliette in 1952. George Marler served as Acting Leader of the Opposition until 1953, when Lapalme won a by-election.
  8. ^ Jean Lesage became Liberal Leader in 1958, but Georges-Émile Lapalme remained Leader of the opposition until Lesage won a seat to the legislature in 1960.
  9. ^ Following the resignation of Union Nationale Leader Antonio Barrette, Yves Prévost served as Acting Leader.
  10. ^ Following the resignation of Yves Prévost, Antonio Talbot served as Acting Leader.
  11. ^ From October 25, 1971 to January 14, 1973 the Union Nationale was called Unité Québec.
  12. ^ Parti Québécois Leader René Lévesque was defeated in Dorion and could not serve as Leader of the Opposition.
  13. ^ Liberal Leader Robert Bourassa lost his seat to the legislature. Gérard D. Lévesque served as Acting Leader until Claude Ryan, who became leader in 1978, won a by-election.
  14. ^ Following the resignation of Claude Ryan, Gérard D. Lévesque served as Acting Leader.
  15. ^ Following the resignation of Pierre Marc Johnson, Guy Chevrette served as Acting Leader and remained Leader of the opposition until new leader Jacques Parizeau won a seat to the legislature in 1989.
  16. ^ Monique Gagnon-Tremblay served as Acting Leader of the Opposition until Jean Charest won a seat to the legislature in 1998.
  17. ^ Following the resignation of Bernard Landry, Louise Harel served as Acting Leader and remained Leader of the opposition until new leader André Boisclair won a by-election.

See also

External links