Despite criticism from his own MNAs, Quebec Premier Legault intends to stay on as CAQ leader
Posted December 10, 2025 11:16 am.
Last Updated December 10, 2025 2:02 pm.
Quebec Premier François Legault intends to remain in office even though some of his MNAs would like him to resign.
Coalition Avenir Québec (CAQ) MNAs, speaking anonymously to the Journal de Québec, have called on their leader to reconsider his future, less than a year before the election, due to a string of poor poll numbers.
Some CAQ MNAs said that some voters were calling for Legault’s resignation.
During a brief scrum with reporters Wednesday morning before Question Period, the premier reiterated he would stay in office, as he had already stated several times in recent months.
“I went for a walk in the snow this morning and I decided I’m staying,” he said, referring to a historical episode in Canadian political history.
In 1984, federal Liberal Prime Minister Pierre Elliott Trudeau decided to resign after, according to his own account, going for a walk in the snow.
At the entrance to their parliamentary group meeting Wednesday morning, CAQ ministers and MNAs closed ranks and assured their leader of their loyalty.
“He’s the right man for the job,” said both the government’s house leader, Simon Jolin-Barrette, and the minister of the environment, Bernard Drainville.
“We’re making courageous changes, and we have the right leader,” added Drainville.
“The polls will shift in due course” in favour of the CAQ, he concluded.
“Things are going well right now. I’m proud of our leader,” concluded the minister responsible for social services, Sonia Bélanger.
“We’re not giving up, and I’m behind Mr. Legault,” she asserted.
“The entire caucus is united behind him; we’re fortunate to have a premier who understands the economy,” argued caucus chair Yves Montigny, MNA for René-Lévesque, on the North Shore.
“(Legault) is the person who should lead the CAQ in the next election campaign,” declared Blainville MNA Mario Laframboise.
–This report by La Presse Canadienne was translated by CityNews
