‘Trump is my main opponent’: Quebec Premier Fréchette presents herself as ‘safe bet’ amid turmoil
Posted August 27, 2026 1:07 pm.
Last Updated August 27, 2026 1:06 pm.
On the first day of the election campaign on Thursday, Christine Fréchette identified her opponent: Donald Trump, not the other party leaders.
At the launch of the Coalition Avenir Québec (CAQ) campaign under a blazing sun in Quebec City, she was asked by reporters to identify her opponent, even though in recent days she had attacked both Parti Québécois (PQ) leader Paul St-Pierre Plamondon and her Conservative rival Éric Duhaime.
“My opponent is Donald Trump; he is the real opponent,” she replied. “He is the one who truly threatens Quebec and Quebecers.”
She was referring to the U.S. president’s threats of new tariffs following Canada’s withdrawal from the negotiating table for the renewal of the current free trade agreement.
Fréchette presented her party as a source of stability amid the trade war between Canada and the United States.
“I am asking you for a mandate to move forward through the storm,” said Fréchette in Quebec City, surrounded by numerous CAQ ministers and candidates ahead of the Oct. 5 election.
Fréchette officially launched her campaign late in the morning, after holding her final cabinet meeting and meeting with Lt. Governor Manon Jeannotte to call an election.
During her speech, she argued that she and her team had the experience and qualifications necessary to confront the provocations of the Trump administration in the United States.
“I think we’re a safe bet. We’re the team that best aligns with Quebecers’ priorities,” she said responding to questions from reporters.
She asserted that the PQ, which is leading in the polls, would only work “part-time” for Quebecers, since it would devote most of its energy to planning a referendum on sovereignty.
Fréchette also took a jab at the Parti conservateur du Quebec, which, she said, “wants nothing less than to take a chainsaw to the government” by seeking to make $47 billion in cuts.
–This report by La Presse Canadienne was translated by CityNews
