Demonstration calling for elections is being organized for Labour Day
Posted August 31, 2025 2:05 pm.
A nationwide demonstration will take place on Monday, Labour Day, to demand that general elections be held in Quebec. Protesters will gather in front of the Quebec National Assembly at 2 p.m.
“We believe that the Legault government, which is currently projected to win zero seats, is completely out of touch and has done considerable damage to the social contract, civil society, and our achievements,” said Matthieu Brien, organizer of the rally.
“If elections were held today, the CAQ would disappear completely,” he continued. “We are calling for immediate elections to end the carnage. I can’t even imagine how much more damage it could do in the next year.”
Brien also condemns the government’s bills aimed at the “partial privatization” of Hydro-Québec, the “reduction of workers’ right to strike,” the “dispossession of First Nations’ ancestral rights and the destruction of our forests,” as well as its handling of the Stablex file.
The demonstration is not intended to be partisan; with people from the right, left, and center expected to join.
The Canadian Union of Public Employees Quebec (CUPE-QUEBEC) fully supports the demonstration. “The sabotage of our public institutions and this government’s constant disregard for the principles of social justice and equity that have been proudly upheld for decades in Quebec must come to an end,” said Danick Soucy, vice-president of the union in the Crown corporations and public agencies sectors, in a press release.
He is optimistic that the FTQ, to which CUPE-Quebec is affiliated, and the CSN will join the movement.
Several speakers will be called upon to address the gathering, including union representatives, Martine Ouellet, leader of Climat Québec, and a representative of the Front de résistance écologique et de défense autochtone (FREDA).
At the end of the event, protesters will surround the National Assembly building, holding hands as they walk around it.
Brien believes that other protests will follow, seeing this one as the beginning of a movement.
“We will do what it takes to be heard. That means we will take the necessary actions to make the government listen and understand that the public’s trust has been broken,” said Soucy in an interview with The Canadian Press.
When asked about the actions that would be taken next, he said they had yet to be determined.
In the version of this text transmitted on Saturday, The Canadian Press misspelled Martine’s name as “Ouellette.” The correct spelling is Martine Ouellet.
–This report by La Presse Canadienne was translated by CityNews
