Une révolution au Québec?

You have to feel sorry for Jean Charest. First he loses his majority government, then he loses his own seat.

When he announced that Québec voters would be going to the polls, he held a majority of seats in the National Assembly. Undoubtedly, he felt he could take advantage of the Parti Québecois' disarray to win another majority government. The problem, though, is that the voters had something else in mind.

They're still counting the votes, but it looks like Québec will have its first minority goverment in over a hundred years. As of the most recent news report, the Liberals hold or lead in 46 ridings, the Action Démocratique du Québec holds or leads in 41 ridings, and the Parti Québécois controls the remaining 37 seats. The popular vote is also quite close: 32.78% for the Liberals, 31.01% for the ADQ, and 28.93% for the PQ.

So what does this all mean? We are now in a position where there are minority governments at both the national level and in one of the country's largest, and most politically volatile, provinces. I have no idea whether this bodes well for the nation or whether we can expect some turbulence ahead. I do know this, I wouldn't be surprised if the good people of Quebec experience two more elections in the next 12 to 18 months.