Fr\u00e9chette is the second woman in history to become premier of Quebec. The first was Pauline Marois, who headed a minority government as leader of the Parti Qu\u00e9b\u00e9cois from 2012 to 2014.<\/p>\n
Taking to the stage in a room where not everyone was cheering for her, following a campaign marked by animosity, Fr\u00e9chette described her win as the start of a new era for the slumping CAQ.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s spring,\u201d she said. \u201cIt\u2019s that time when we open the windows, when we let in the fresh air.\u201d<\/p>\n
She reached out to her opponent, who sat in the crowd off to the right of the stage. His applause was subdued.<\/p>\n
\u201cBernard, we are going to need you,\u201d Fr\u00e9chette said. \u201cParty unity is crucial.\u201d<\/p>\n
Drainville did not linger after his defeat, leaving the hall after Fr\u00e9chette\u2019s speech without talking to the media. Most of his supporters also slipped out quietly.<\/p>\n
This is the second time Drainville has failed to obtain the leadership of a party. He ran in the 2015 Parti Qu\u00e9b\u00e9cois leadership race<\/a>, but pulled out when it became clear Pierre Karl P\u00e9ladeau would win.<\/p>\n Fr\u00e9chette vowed to continue parts of Legault\u2019s agenda on the economy and on identity issues, but with fresh eyes. She repeated plans to extend requirements of the Charter of the French Language to adult education and vocational training.<\/p>\n She did not include any English in the speech, or specifically reach out to the English-speaking community.<\/p>\n The loudest ovations came when she blasted her two main opponents in the looming election: Liberal Leader Charles Milliard and PQ Leader Paul St-Pierre Plamondon.<\/p>\n \u201cIn an unstable world, the last thing Quebec needs is more divisions,\u201d Fr\u00e9chette said. \u201cYet with the Liberals and the PQ, it is still the Yes (to independence) people versus the No.<\/p>\n \u201cI want to address Paul St-Pierre Plamondon and Charles Milliard directly: Quebecers don\u2019t want to go back in time. It\u2019s not time to erect new borders or see fling-flangs with UPAC (the province\u2019s anti-corruption unit, which has examined the allegations of irregular financing in last year\u2019s Liberal leadership campaign that led to Pablo Rodriguez\u2019s resignation).<\/p>\n \u201cGentlemen, I am telling you this right now: I won\u2019t let you drag Quebec back in time 10 years. You will find me on your path.\u201d<\/p>\n Milliard and St-Pierre Plamondon nevertheless congratulated Fr\u00e9chette.<\/p>\n Je tiens \u00e0 f\u00e9liciter @CFrechette<\/a> pour son \u00e9lection \u00e0 la t\u00eate de la Coalition Avenir Qu\u00e9bec ainsi que pour son accession au poste de 33e premi\u00e8re ministre du Qu\u00e9bec. Avoir l\u2019occasion de servir les Qu\u00e9b\u00e9coises et les Qu\u00e9b\u00e9cois \u00e0 ce niveau est le privil\u00e8ge d\u2019une vie et je lui\u2026<\/p>\n \u2014 Charles Milliard (@CharlesMilliard) April 12, 2026<\/a><\/p>\n Je tiens \u00e0 f\u00e9liciter madame @CFrechette<\/a> pour sa victoire \u00e0 la chefferie de la CAQ et pour son nouveau poste de premi\u00e8re ministre. Les prochaines semaines lui r\u00e9serveront une t\u00e2che colossale et je lui souhaite la meilleure des chances dans l’exercice de ses nouvelles fonctions.\u2026<\/p>\n \u2014 Paul St-Pierre Plamondon (@PaulPlamondon) April 12, 2026<\/a><\/p>\n With limited time before the October election, Fr\u00e9chette is expected to act swiftly in putting her new government in place, including appointing a chief of staff and key advisers.<\/p>\n After meeting with supporters in her hometown of Trois-Rivi\u00e8res Monday morning, Fr\u00e9chette will hold a news conference in the afternoon in Quebec City to outline the road ahead.<\/p>\n She is expected to immediately act on one of her campaign promises and announce the government will remove tax from certain consumer items to ease the bills of Quebecers.<\/p>\n In his last budget in March, Finance Minister Eric Girard made provisions for $250 million<\/a> a year for the new CAQ leader to implement some of their promises.<\/p>\n To officially become premier, Fr\u00e9chette will have to be sworn in by Quebec\u2019s lieutenant-governor. She will then form a new cabinet. <\/p>\n Fr\u00e9chette has said she wants a smaller cabinet. There are 26 ministers now, including the premier.<\/p>\n She has promised Drainville a prominent place in her government, but has not been more specific.<\/p>\n She will also have to prepare an inaugural speech for the resumption of work at the National Assembly on May 5. And in the long term, she has to decide the fate of the dozen or so bills that died on the order paper when the legislature was prorogued last week.<\/p>\n One of the most controversial is Bill 1, establishing a Quebec constitution<\/a>. While Drainville would not rule out the use of closure to force the bill into law, Fr\u00e9chette has said it would be better to get the support of the opposition parties in adopting such a foundational document.<\/p>\n There are only five weeks of legislative session left before the house recesses June 12 for the summer and the start of the election campaign.<\/p>\n The new leader faces many hurdles, such as managing the exodus of CAQ MNAs<\/a> who have decided not to run again, and trying to recruit new candidates at a time when the party is trailing badly in the polls.<\/p>\n The CAQ is a coalition of politicians with federalist and pro-independence leanings, so Fr\u00e9chette will have to work to keep all the factions together.<\/p>\n Sunday\u2019s convention, however, was also steeped in nostalgia, with a long farewell to Legault, who was in attendance.<\/p>\n Legault co-founded the CAQ in 2011 and has been its only leader until now.<\/p>\n \u201cToday I am saying goodbye as leader of the CAQ,\u201d an emotional Legault told the crowd. \u201cI confess it\u2019s hard. But it is to ensure the future.\u201d<\/p>\n He had a parting message for CAQ members before Fr\u00e9chette was announced as their new leader.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s normal that a leadership race creates tensions,\u201d Legault said. \u201cThe winning team will have to be generous and extend a hand. The losing team will have to accept that extended hand.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s my last request to you as leader. Unite yourselves, because united, nothing is impossible. Fight on with pride.\u201d<\/p>\n The party then offered Legault, who enjoys tennis, a gift: a racket signed by F\u00e9lix Auger-Aliassime.<\/p>\n Sunday\u2019s vote brought the curtain down on a campaign that got off to a slow start, but became more intense at the end when Drainville turned up the heat on Fr\u00e9chette<\/a>, who appeared to be the front-runner.<\/p>\n On Friday both sides said their internal polling showed they were ahead. Fr\u00e9chette conceded Drainville had picked up steam following an endorsement by Justice Minister Simon Jolin-Barrette<\/a> in the last week of the campaign.<\/p>\n Part of the mystery of the race was due to the fact the two campaigns only managed to sell about 5,000 new membership cards.<\/p>\n The party did not reveal how many each camp sold, which means it was hard to tell which candidate benefited the most.<\/p>\n Most of the vote thus rested in the hands of the 15,000 pre-existing members of the party, and nobody quite knew what to expect from them.<\/p>\n Polls of people who say they vote CAQ indicated Fr\u00e9chette was the favourite, but there was no way to tell whether those people held valid membership cards and whether they would actually vote.<\/p>\n One L\u00e9ger poll done for the Fr\u00e9chette campaign<\/a> showed the CAQ\u2019s standing among voters would climb with her as leader.<\/p>\n On Saturday, a new L\u00e9ger poll done for Le Journal de Montr\u00e9al<\/a> revealed the CAQ under Fr\u00e9chette would see its support move up to 18 per cent, putting the party in third place, but under Drainville\u2019s leadership it would be in fifth place at eight per cent support.<\/p>\n Fr\u00e9chette ended the campaign with the support of 41 CAQ caucus members, including 17 cabinet ministers. Drainville had the support of 20 caucus members, including four ministers. The value of such endorsements is hard to gauge.<\/p>\n While Fr\u00e9chette had plenty of ministers behind her, Drainville seemed to have more political staffers with experience in the field.<\/p>\n As for political excitement, the two debates \u2014 one in Quebec City and the second in Laval \u2014 stood out.<\/p>\n While Drainville campaigned as the anti-status quo candidate, Fr\u00e9chette sold herself as the steady hand at the helm that Quebec needs in troubled economic times.<\/p>\n They had different visions on identity issues, including immigration and the popular Programme de l\u2019exp\u00e9rience qu\u00e9b\u00e9coise<\/a>.<\/p>\n Drainville claimed Fr\u00e9chette was hiding that her plan to bring the PEQ back for two years would mean 125,000 more new arrivals in Quebec.<\/p>\n He also accused Fr\u00e9chette of being slow to join the chorus of politicians who called for the resignation of Air Canada CEO Michael Rousseau<\/a>, in the wake of Rousseau\u2019s English-only message of condolence following the crash at New York\u2019s LaGuardia Airport that claimed the lives of two pilots last month.<\/p>\n Drainville also accused Fr\u00e9chette of being indecisive.<\/p>\n Meanwhile, Fr\u00e9chette accused Drainville of having flip-flopped many times, including when he ran in 2015 for the PQ leadership.<\/p>\n She also accused him of letting his ego get in the way of his judgment<\/a> about the future of the third link between Quebec City and L\u00e9vis.<\/p>\n pauthier@postmedia.com<\/a><\/p>\n \t\tEditor\u2019s Picks\t<\/p>\n \t\t![\"Christine](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/9999-city-frechette.jpg\")
Christine Fr\u00e9chette waves before speaking to party members at an event where the Coalition Avenir Qu\u00e9bec announced its new leader in Drummondville on Sunday, April 12, 2026. Fr\u00e9chette was competing against Bernard Drainville to become party leader and premier. John Mahoney \/ Montreal Gazette<\/p>\n![\"Fran\u00e7ois](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/0413-city-caq-3.jpg\")
Fran\u00e7ois Legault waves as he takes his seat prior to the naming of his successor as Coalition Avenir Qu\u00e9bec leader and premier in Drummondville on Sunday, April 12, 2026. John Mahoney \/ Montreal Gazette<\/p>\n![\"Bernard](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/0413-city-caq-drainville.jpg\")
Bernard Drainville, flanked by CAQ ministers and campaign supporters Simon Jolin-Barrette and Sonia B\u00e9langer, speaks before the naming of the new leader of the Coalition Avenir Qu\u00e9bec in Drummondville on Sunday April 12, 2026. Drainville was competing against Christine Fr\u00e9chette, who won the race to become party leader and premier. John Mahoney \/ Montreal Gazette<\/p>\n