7 candidates will contest in Chicoutimi byelection
Posted February 7, 2026 3:19 pm.
Last Updated February 7, 2026 3:43 pm.
Seven candidates will be competing in the Chicoutimi by-election, which will take place on Feb. 23, according to Élections Québec.
Francis Tremblay, an employee of the Saguenay–Lac-Saint-Jean CIUSSS, will attempt to keep the riding in the Coalition Avenir du Québec (CAQ) fold.
His main opponent will be Marie-Karlynn Laflamme, interim vice-president of administrative affairs and resources at the Université du Québec à Chicoutimi, who will be running for the Parti Québécois.
The former mayor of Saint-David-de-Falardeau, Catherine Morrissette, will be the candidate for the Conservative Party of Quebec. The Quebec Liberals have chosen Tricia Murray, a political attaché for the parliamentary wing.
Jeanne Palardy, who works in the community sector, will be the candidate for Québec Solidaire.
Two other parties are fielding candidates in Chicoutimi: Olivier Dion is running for Climat Québec, while François Sabourin will represent the Parti populaire du Québec.
All are seeking to succeed former minister Andrée Laforest, who left the National Assembly to run unsuccessfully for mayor of Saguenay.
The nomination period ended on Saturday at 2 p.m.
In the 2022 election, Laforest won an easy victory, obtaining a majority of 14,930 votes ahead of PQ candidate Alice Villeneuve. She became a member of the National Assembly when the CAQ came to power in 2018.
Before passing into the hands of the CAQ in 2018, the riding of Chicoutimi had long been a PQ stronghold.
–This report by La Presse Canadienne was translated by CityNews
