Who would have seen this one coming? Jean Charest's Liberals wins a minority but he loses in his home district of Sherbrooke, while the ADQ of Mario Dumont becomes the official opposition. The results at this writing:
PLQ: 46
ADQ: 42
PQ: 37
Is this just a protest vote? No. I think there has been a very definite shift to the centre-right as people have gotten sick of "Québec Inc." and are very worried about the massive size of the province's debt. This, along with quite a few other broken promises (including not delivering on tax cuts and privatizing some provincial parks) is an indication that progressives must never take any votes for granted and that if people are pushed enough they will vote for anything just to express their frustration.
Expect another election in the province in less than a year, two tops. I think also significant is that the Green Party, with about 4% of the popular vote, actually did better than the ADQ in Montréal even though they didn't win a seat. This is also something to keep an eye on for the future. Any way one cuts it, we -- Canadians all -are in for one hell of a ride.
UPDATE (11:23 PM EDT, 0323 GMT Tuesday): The Chief Electoral Officer says the results in Sherbrooke are "under review." Meanwhile, Charest has, shockingly, taken the lead.
UPDATE #2 (11:37 PM EDT, 0337 GMT Tuesday): Charest wins in Sherbrooke. The numbers are now PLQ 48, ADQ 41, PQ 36.
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