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 Official 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)
1908 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. Levesque[13] Bonaventure
(Gaspésie—Îles-de-la-Madeleine)
1976 1979 Liberal
  Claude Ryan Argenteuil
(Laurentides)
1979 1982 Liberal
  Gérard D. Levesque[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 2012 Parti Québécois
  Jean-Marc Fournier Saint-Laurent
(Montreal)
2012 2013 Liberal
  Philippe Couillard Outremont
(Montreal)
2013 2014 Liberal
  Stéphane Bédard[18] Chicoutimi
(Saguenay–Lac-Saint-Jean)
2014 2015 Parti Québécois
  Pierre Karl Péladeau Saint-Jérôme
(Laurentides)
2015 2016 Parti Québécois
  Sylvain Gaudreault Jonquière
(Saguenay–Lac-Saint-Jean)
2016 2016 Parti Québécois
  Jean-François Lisée Rosemont
(Montréal)
2016 2018 Parti Québécois
  Pierre Arcand Mont-Royal–Outremont
(Montréal)
2018 2020 Liberal
  Dominique Anglade Saint-Henri–Sainte-Anne
(Montréal)
2020 2022 Liberal
  Marc Tanguay LaFontaine
(Montréal)
2022 present Liberal

Footnotes

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  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. Levesque 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. Levesque 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.
  18. ^ Assumed the position of Leader of the Opposition as a result of party leader Premier Pauline Marois losing her seat in the general election and resigning as party leader. Bédard was interim leader until a new leader was elected in a leadership election in 2015.

See also

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