In a surprise move, Françoi Legault, the premier of Quebec, Canada, has announced his resignation from his post, leaving the governing Coalition Avenir Québec (CAQ) party in disarray and facing an uncertain future. Legault, a polarizing figure whose embattled government has faced a series of scandals and controversies, made the announcement during a hastily arranged press conference in Quebec City on Wednesday.
Legault, who founded the CAQ party and led it to consecutive majority government victories in 2018 and 2022, said serving as premier had been the “greatest honour” of his life. However, the past months have seen a significant upheaval within the party, with key ministers and allies stepping down and polls suggesting the CAQ faces long odds of re-election in the upcoming provincial elections later this year.
The resignation follows a tumultuous period for the Legault government, which has been embroiled in a series of controversies. This includes a law changing how doctors in the province are paid, leading to the resignation of the health minister, and a snowballing scandal over cost overruns in the hundreds of millions of dollars related to the modernisation of an online portal for licence renewal and vehicle registration.
More broadly, the CAQ government has courted controversy by pursuing secularism as a key legislative priority. This includes a move to ban public prayer, which civil rights groups have described as “alarming” and targeting religious minority groups. The government has also faced backlash over its aggressive stance on protecting the French language, passing sweeping legislation that has reshaped key aspects of public life in the province.
Legault’s departure is the second in many months, following the resignation of the Quebec Liberal leader, Pablo Rodriguez, who stepped down only half a year into the job amid allegations of vote-buying by party members during his leadership race.
With both the CAQ and the Liberals in search of new leaders, the nationalist Parti Québécois currently leads the province’s polling. The party’s leader, Paul St-Pierre Plamondon, has pledged to bring a third referendum on separation from Canada if the party wins the upcoming provincial elections, which must be held no later than October 2026.
The resignation of Legault, a dominant figure in Quebec politics, has left the province in a state of flux, with the future of the CAQ and the broader political landscape in the region hanging in the balance.
