Quebec voters head to the polls today. Follow for live updates

From tax credits for first time homebuyers, to rent caps, to reducing red tape for construction, each of the five parties took different approaches.

McGill University's director of affordable housing program Avid Friedman says that while each party made good suggestions, they don't solve the immediate problem.
"All of them, even the suggestion by the Liberals, is can be called bluntly a drop in the bucket," said Friedman. "What we are living now today is a major crisis that is likely to affect young people's life and economic vitality in the coming years, and if any of these platforms will be executed, will be put to work, it will take about four to five years until you will see the first unit."
Friedman said the province needs to return to a policy of constructing social housing.

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Conservative leader Éric Duhaime feels “calm” and “confident” on the eve of the election, reminding Quebecers one last time of the importance of voting.
Speaking Sunday outside the Videotron Centre in Quebec City before a Remparts game, Duhaime said that the Quebec Conservative Party (PCQ) has “the wind at its back.” He said he hoped this trend would continue at the polls on Monday.
“I am very, very calm, and I am confident. The only thing is, we now need to make sure people go out and vote,” Duhaime said.
The Conservative leader reiterated his goal for the PCQ to become a recognized parliamentary group, either by electing 12 members of the National Assembly or by securing 20 percent of the vote in the election.
Duhaime sent a message to voters who believe the PCQ cannot win in their riding, arguing that every vote for his party counts.
“I say to those people: your vote counts, because it may be the very vote that gives us the status of a recognized parliamentary group in the National Assembly,” said Duhaime. “So make sure, first, to go vote, and second, if you intend to vote Conservative, vote Conservative. Don’t listen to others saying, ‘We have to block this one, we have to block that one.’ The important thing is that we reach at least 20 per cent tomorrow night.”
The leader and members of a parliamentary group enjoy certain benefits. In particular, parliamentary group leaders are allotted more speaking time to debate motions, the opening address, and the budget speech. The Speaker of the National Assembly must also take the status of parliamentary groups into account when allocating questions during question periods and oral responses.
Duhaime also responded on Sunday to remarks made by Quebec solidaire co-spokesperson Ruba Ghazal, who had argued the previous day that the PCQ’s ideas are “dangerous.”
“Our positions are very moderate, very normal. I have never talked about nationalizing grocery stores. When it comes to ideas that are a bit more radical, I don’t think Quebec solidaire is in a position to lecture anyone,” Duhaime argued.

On the eve of the election, Quebec solidaire (QS) issued a final appeal on Sunday to "progressive separatists," while asserting that the election of Liberal members of the National Assembly in Montreal's Southwest would represent a "step backward."
QS co-spokesperson Ruba Ghazal held a news briefing to present her campaign assessment on Sunday afternoon in the Verdun riding in Montreal.
While Parti Québécois (PQ) leader Paul St-Pierre Plamondon was also spending the final day of the election campaign in the city, Ghazal urged “progressive separatists—who are proud of the Quebec model and no longer identify with the austerity measures proposed by the PQ”—to vote for her party.
She also took one last swipe at the Quebec Liberal Party, as a heated race looms—particularly in the ridings of Verdun and Saint-Henri–Sainte-Anne, in Montreal’s Southwest—between Solidaire and Liberal candidates.
“Having Liberal Party members of the National Assembly in Montreal is a step backward,” Ghazal said.
To present the results of her campaign, the QS co-spokesperson was joined by Alejandra Zaga Mendez, candidate in Verdun; Andrés Fontecilla, candidate in Laurier-Dorion; Alexandre Leduc, candidate in Hochelaga-Maisonneuve; and Saïd Kassabie, candidate in Viau.
According to the poll aggregator Qc125, Alejandra Zaga Mendez was polling at 30 per cent of voting intentions on Sunday, trailing Liberal candidate Antoine Dionne Charest—son of former Premier Jean Charest—who was polling at 39 per cent.

During her campaign wrap-up, CAQ leader Christine Fréchette admitted that Quebec’s current electoral system could put her party at a disadvantage on the evening of Oct. 5.
According to the Qc125 poll aggregator, the Coalition Avenir Québec (CAQ) could be wiped off the map despite garnering around 16 per cent of the vote.
“We have an electoral system that, of course, isn’t the most favourable when you’re below a certain threshold. We’ve seen the kind of impact this can have in practically every election, so it poses an additional challenge, but we’re staying active,” she said Sunday during a news briefing in Shawinigan.
Despite this, Fréchette stated a few days ago that she did not want to reform the electoral system to make it proportional, arguing that she did not sense any appetite for it among Quebecers.
Her predecessor, François Legault, had promised to reform the electoral system. However, he reneged on that commitment once in power.
In the 2022 election, Éric Duhaime’s Conservative Party received 13 per cent of the vote but won no seats.
Quebecers will head to the polls on Monday to elect their next government. The Parti Québécois is leading in the polls.

The Liberals are raising expectations and promising to defy the odds in Beauce-North, a region known for being conservative.
Quebec Liberal Party (PLQ) leader Charles Milliard kicked off his final day of campaigning on Sunday in Saint-Victor, alongside his candidate Nancy Labbé.
Nearly 170 people turned out for a campaign brunch at the Manoir Route 66.
Labbé is the executive director of the La Nouvelle-Beauce RCM; she and Milliard met when she was working at the region’s chamber of commerce.
“If you walk around Beauce-Nord, you’ll have a hard time finding anyone who doesn’t know Nancy Labbé,” Milliard said during a news conference. "Nancy is someone who has all the qualities needed to be an excellent member of the National Assembly."
Milliard said he is convinced that the Liberal vote is currently "underestimated" in several regions, including Montérégie, Mauricie, Capitale-Nationale, and Beauce.
In his view, projection sites place too much weight on the results of the 2022 election in their calculations.
“We’re a world away from where we were in 2022. (...) Tomorrow, some people are going to have little smirks on their faces, and I’ll be one of them,” he predicted.
The Liberal leader spoke in Beauce about the importance of helping small businesses and having an “economically-minded” premier.
He called on disappointed Conservatives and CAQ supporters to vote for his party, the only one—along with the Parti Québécois (PQ)—with a real chance of forming the next government.
In his view, PQ leader Paul St-Pierre Plamondon is anything but “economically minded.”
“Remember,” he said, “Mr. St-Pierre Plamondon didn’t even deign to present his fiscal plan; he sent one of his candidates to do it for him. Then, whenever economic issues are raised, he always shifts the focus to identity and immigration.
“Mr. St-Pierre Plamondon has many qualities, but he has no experience in economics, health care, or education.”
Milliard also addressed the issue of Quebec sovereignty before his supporters in Beauce-Nord.
"Canada is one of the greatest countries in the world, and we’re going to protect it. We’re going to prevent Mr. St-Pierre Plamondon from separating Quebec from Canada," he assured.
He predicted four years of “squabbling” if the PQ were elected on Monday, unless the new government were a minority government, in which case Quebec could quickly face another election, he said.

With less than 24 hours to go before the election, PQ leader Paul St-Pierre Plamondon called on his supporters Sunday to give it their all to encourage voters to cast their ballots for the Parti Québécois.
The latest polls suggest that the PQ will form the next government, but in this five-party race, it is currently impossible to predict whether it will hold a majority or a minority in the National Assembly.
During a speech at the campaign headquarters of his candidate, Maude Brossard-Sabourin, in Hochelaga-Maisonneuve, the PQ leader argued that, thanks to the strength of its supporters, the PQ is the only party that can make a real difference at the last minute.   
St-Pierre Plamondon is set to spend most of the final day of the campaign in Montreal, where the PQ currently holds only one riding—his own, Camille-Laurin.
After Hochelaga-Maisonneuve, he was scheduled to visit Rosemont and Maurice-Richard. These are three ridings that elected Quebec Solidaire (QS) members in 2022.
He will then head to Laval, where polls suggest his party has little chance of making inroads, but this allows the leader to claim that he has visited every region of Quebec during this campaign, unlike his opponents.   
The day before, St-Pierre Plamondon had campaigned in Quebec City and the Mauricie region, two other areas where the results could be close.

Élections Québec will not change its rules about limiting English at polling stations despite having concerns for at least a year that it would restrict participation.
First reported in the Montreal Gazette, a memo from the organization to the provincial government flagged a number of possible issues, including complaints by voters, a loss of confidence in democratic instituttions and legal challenges. 
Élections Québec said all of these factors could compromise the organization's mission.
"Élections Québec’s mission includes, in particular: ensuring that all voters can exercise their right to vote and their right to run for office, which are guaranteed by the charters of rights and freedoms; ensuring compliance with the rules and provisions governing the authorization and financing of authorized political entities," a document obtained by CTV News said. "If Élections Québec uses only French in the context of provincial, municipal, or school board elections, it may compromise the fulfillment of its mission... Since the French Language Charter mandates the exemplary use of French and restricts the use of any other language in our communications to specific exceptions, there is a risk that access to information in English may be more limited or difficult for certain voters."

 
Parti Quebecois Mercier candidate Phoudsady Vanny had some fun at her own expense and took the bite out of a vandal's sting, when she mimicked the moustache and goatee of a vandalized campaign sign and posted a video on Instagram.
Vanny is running against QS leader Ruba Ghazal in the riding, with the QS co-spokesperson expected to win comfortably, according to the poll analysis site Quebec125.com.