Québec solidaire
Left-wing sovereigntist Quebec party, founded February 4, 2006 from the merger of the Union des forces progressistes (a federation of small left parties) and Option citoyenne (a feminist citizens' movement co-founded by Françoise David). Combines social-democratic, eco-socialist, and Quebec sovereigntist policy. Strong presence in Montreal (especially Plateau-Mont-Royal, Rosemont, Hochelaga) and university ridings (Université Laval area in Quebec City). Holds 11 seats after the 2022 provincial election. Operates a unique co-spokesperson model (currently Ruba Ghazal and Émilise Lessard-Therrien) instead of a single leader. The QS platform is the strongest provincial climate position: 65% emissions reduction by 2030, fossil-fuel investment ban, $1 billion just-transition fund, plus province-built social housing on Crown land.
Leader
Ruba Ghazal
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Positions on Issues
Climate & Environment
Québec solidaire calls for an immediate end to the Canada Carbon Pricing Backstop's transition period for Quebec (Quebec has had its own cap-and-trade system since 2013), nationalisation of Énergie Saguenay LNG project remnants and Bay du Nord offshore-oil approvals, a 65-percent emissions-reduction target below 1990 levels by 2030 (more aggressive than the CAQ's 37.5 percent), expansion of the Réseau express métropolitain (REM) network into the Pointe-de-l'Île and Anjou, and full provincial divestment from fossil-fuel assets in the Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec portfolio.
Source ↗Healthcare
Québec solidaire opposes the CAQ government's Bill 15 (Loi visant à rendre le système de santé et de services sociaux plus efficace, R.S.Q. 2023, c. 34) creating the Santé Quebec mega-agency, which centralizes the 30 prior regional health authorities into one. Calls for reversal of the bill, expanded public spending on Centres locaux de services communautaires (CLSC) primary care, opposition to the Cliniques Lakeshore expansion of private-pay surgeries, and a commitment to no further private-clinic expansion under the public-mixed-system framework that Quebec adopted under Bill 33 (2006).
Source ↗Housing
Québec solidaire calls for the construction of 50,000 new social, public, and cooperative housing units over five years through a publicly capitalized builder, a binding rent registry (registre des loyers) on every Quebec rental unit, a vacancy tax on units sitting empty more than six months, and tighter rent-cap rules with the Tribunal administratif du logement publishing maximum allowable annual increases.
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