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View candidates' main stances organized by topic
Aboriginal Affairs
Create a forum with representatives of the Government of Quebec, First Nations and the Inuit nation, with the objective of predicting where Indigenous peoples would fit in a Québec Constitution in the event of independence.[5]
Recognize the contribution of immigrants and aboriginals to Québec's society.[1]
This party has no position on this issue.
Ensure the right to self-determination for Indigenous peoples. Québec Solidaire would allow greater governmental and territorial autonomy for Indigenous peoples.[6]
Implement the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples as well as the recommendations of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada.[3][4]
Support the self-determination of Indigenous peoples, including the management of their territories and the control of their social services.[7]
Establish respect, fairness and reciprocity relationships with First Nations and Inuit.[2]
Cannabis
Put in place a tight framework for cannabis. The Parti Quebecois wants the legal age to be 18, have distribution controlled by the SAQ and zero tolerance while driving.[11]
Legalize and regulate cannabis and its derivatives.[6]
Allow more individuals and businesses to participate in the production and sale of cannabis.[14]
A strict framework for the legalization of cannabis[12][13]
Consumption of marijuana in all public spaces will be prohibited, and the legal consumption age will be raised to 21.[9][10]
No official stance has been taken on this topic.
Prevent, reduce and treat the consequences of using psychoactive substances.[8]
Culture and Identity
Abolish Bill 62 and open a consultation to update the recommendations of the Bouchard-Taylor Commission. The NPDQ wants to establish a policy of religious neutrality of the state based on this consultation.[2]
Significantly increase the budget for the Ministry of Culture and Communications.[15]
More funding for Québec arts and culture.[17]
Provide greater access to knowledge, information, ideas and works of art.[6]
Religious signs will be prohibited for all individuals in positions of authority, including teachers.[10][4]
Review funding to better target the promotion of culture. The CPQ would encourage the emergence of young talent, the creation of new artistic projects, as well as facilitate access to culture for the general population and the creation of strong private sponsorship.[16][13]
Make the cultural sector an engine of Québec's economic growth.[1]
Education
Invest to improve the education system and focus professional training on the needs of the labor market.[18]
Junior kindergarten for 4-year olds will be universal and free (but not mandatory).[10][19]
Eliminate public subsidies to private schools in the next 10 years.[17]
Ensure free access to education from preschool to university.[6]
French school boards will be abolished.[13][21]
Reduce state subsidies to private schools and invest that money in the public system.[2]
■Create better funding for public schools to improve quality as well as the working conditions of teachers. In return, the Parti Québécois wants to reduce private school funding.[20]
Economy
Help the development of cooperatives and the social economy. The NPDQ wants to collaborate with stakeholders in the cooperative and social economy sectors.[2]
Accelerate the digitization of Québec's economy through a 28-measure plan based on five major phases of intervention: stimulate innovation through new digital technologies; accelerate the digitization of businesses and promote e-commerce; strengthen the ICT sector; provide Quebec with digital technology know-how; ensure an attractive and favorable business environment for the digital sector.[22]
Reduce the normal work week to 32 hours by 2022.[25]
Promote economic nationalism by encouraging Quebecers to purchase Quebec goods, particularly by promoting local produce.[23]
Limit tax and rate increases for government services to the rate of inflation.[10]
Strengthen the public economy, such as public services and Crown corporations, and nationalize large corporations in certain strategic sectors.[6]
Balance the Québec budget.[24][13]
Environment
Reduce automobile use by encouraging public transit.[30]
Promote the establishment of an International Tribunal for Climate and Environmental Justice.[6]
Make it a priority to increase Québec's energy exports.[10][27]
Explore and exploit natural resources while minimizing the impact on the environment.[13][29]
Reduce the industry's use of fuel products for energy purposes and eliminate the use of these products for building heating.[2]
Repeal the Hydrocarbons Act and terminate gas consumption and exploitation in Québec.[28]
Enhance energy efficiency with an increase in the Eco-Performance program.[26]
Governance and Tranparency
Make the UPAC independent from political power. The chief will be appointed after approval by two thirds of the National Assembly.[9][10]
Study the possibility of implementing Internet voting in Québec.[33][13]
Support a reform of the voting system to establish a mixed regional compensatory electoral system (one vote for a constituency MLA and one for a political party of your choice).[34]
Change the voting system to a mixed system that introduces proportional representation, where 60% of MNAs would be elected through the current system (First Past the Post) and 40% through proportional voting.[6]
Promote electoral reform incorporating proportional representation. The NPDQ wants each party to have representation in the National Assembly that reflects the popular vote obtained.[2]
Change the current voting system to a regional mixed proportional system.[32]
Put the impartiality of the state at the center of political and administrative life.[31]
Immigration
Accept more refugees in Quebec and Canada.[36]
Propose a comprehensive and coherent policy for immigration, integration support and investment support, at mid and long-term levels.[2]
Inform immigration applicants of the necessary requirements to get their diplomas and qualifications recognized.[32]
Require Ottawa to improve the surveillance of our borders.[13][35]
Give immigrants the means to successfully integrate in Quebec.[22]
Accelerate the assessment of competencies to facilitate the recognition of foreign diplomas.[4][10]
Promote the learning of the French language through access to work and education, openness to cultural differences and social equality.[6]
Justice
Justice must be more accessible for all citizens with only reasonable delays.[10][9]
Create the Québec Charter of Victims’ Rights including the following provisions, among others: 1. The right to adequate legal support (legal aid for victims); 2. The right to fair and equitable compensation; 3. The right to be consulted on judicial decisions concerning them; and 4. The right to be protected before, during and after the judicial process (cases of spousal abuse).[13][38]
Invest over the next five years to fight domestic violence. The Parti Libéral du Québec wants to invest to implement many new measures to combat this problem.[37]
Facilitate access to justice by reducing costs and delays.[32]
Invest more resources in the justice system.[39]
Promote the social reintegration of former detainees.[6]
Strengthen consumers' rights.[2]
Housing
Ensure access to social housing for the most vulnerable citizens. The Quebec Green Party wants to build 50,000 social housing units in Quebec.[39]
Establish supportive housing for people with degenerative diseases (multiple sclerosis, Parkinson, etc.).[32]
Invest in social housing.[40]
Review and make recommendations on how to make cities and regions more attractive.[10][41]
Strengthen the protection of homebuyers by ensuring that all building inspectors meet a number of requirements (eg registering with a government authority).[2]
Invest significantly in quality social housing.[6]
Allow property owners to demand a security deposit at the signing of a lease.[13][42]
Healthcare
Emphasize prevention when dealing with workers' health.
Give more autonomy to the 200,000 health professionals who are not doctors.[32]
Fund hospitals on an activity basis to encourage competitiveness in the medical field.[13][45]
In-depth review of the remuneration of physicians and the organization of health care.[2]
Facilitate access to care and to hospital emergencies.[43]
Provide better access to care without appointments, to healthcare in the evening and on the weekends, which together, will reduce waiting times in hospital emergency rooms.[10][44]
Consider all aspects of a person's health, such as their physical, dental, visual and mental health, but also their environment.[46]
Sovereignty
Hold a referendum on Quebec sovereignty in a second term (in 2022, if the Parti Québécois wins the general election in 2018).[48]
Preserve the characteristics of Quebec society while increasing Québec's participation in the Canadian Federation. The CPQ wants to encourage free trade within Canada.[13][49]
Create, in case of victory, a Constituent Assembly. This universally elected assembly will have to prepare a constitution for an independent Quebec.
Stay within Canada while defending the identity of the Quebec nation.[47]
More autonomy for Québec within Canada.[10][4]
Have Quebec recognized as a nation and have flexibility within the Canadian Federation.[2]
Recognize Quebec as a nation, but stay in the Canadian Federation.[34]
🃏 Joker
Introduce universal income within the next 10 years, with an assessment of its impact on poverty reduction.[2]
Add healthy cooking classes to the school curriculum of Quebec elementary and secondary schools. These courses will include training in vegetarian and vegan cooking.[55]
Implement the St. Lawrence Project, which aims to take advantage of the St. Lawrence River. The CAQ wishes to develop the maritime industry, tourism and establish innovation zones that will promote collaboration and exchange between researchers and entrepreneurs.[27][51][52]
A CPQ government is committed to abolishing Revenu Québec to reduce state spending by four hundred million dollars and to make life easier for taxpayers.[13][54]
Encourage increased citizen participation including deliberative and direct democracy mechanisms at the local and regional levels.[6]
Accelerate the arrival of technology in classrooms: Promote the use of computer programming and coding for educational purposes in the majority of public and private elementary and secondary schools, by the 2020-2021 school year.[50]
The Parti Québécois is committed to undertaking a process of economic and political decentralization in Quebec. To do this, they plan to tour regions in order to draw up a precise and shared diagnosis, with the aim to re-think decentralization and regionalization by 2020 as well as significantly increase the budget envelopes devoted to local and regional development.[53]