Quebeckers have chosen a slick, smoothly bilingual federalist as premier, tossing out the Parti Québécois government of Bernard Landry and dealing a blow to the province's sovereigntist forces.
Liberal Jean Charest — the former federal Progressive Conservative leader and Mulroney cabinet minster — will form a majority government in the National Assembly. He promised to fix health care, freeze other government spending, and cut taxes during the 33-day campaign.
With much of the vote counted, the Liberals had been declared elected in 64 seats, and were leading in 11 for a total of 75. (In Quebec's 1525-seat legislature, 63 seats are needed for a majority.)
The PQ was declared elected in 38 seats, and leading in eight for a total of 46. The Action Démocratique du Québec of Mario Dumont won four seats.
A jubilant, sweating Mr. Charest told supporters in Sherbrooke — where he narrowly defeated the PQ's Marie Malavoy after a tough fight — that Quebeckers had voted for change.
"Today, the people of Quebec chose a government for the 21st century," he said in French.
While no doubt welcome in Ottawa, Mr. Charest's win could mean changes for the rest of Canada, as the federal government is forced to listen to a federalist's demands in Quebec City in a way it did not have to under the PQ.
Mr. Charest said he would bargain hard with Ottawa, looking out for Quebec's interests with a "firm agenda."
"We want change. We want results," he said, but promised "co-operation not confrontation."
He said Quebec would provide leadership within Canada as it tries to redress the "fiscal imbalance" between the provinces and the federal government.
"It's not only Quebec that started to change tonight — it is also Canada."
While Monday night's defeat is a blow to sovereignty, the PQ was expected to recover — indeed the party thrives in opposition.
A tired-looking Mr. Landry told his supporters that the party would fight on in Opposition. Mr. Landry, 66, said nothing about stepping down. He even used PQ-founder René Lévesque's famous "A la prochaine" (until next time) line at the end of his concession speech.
He won his seat in Verchères, but most observers believe it very unlikely he would lead the PQ in the next election four or five years from now, when he would be 70 years old.
Playing on the PQ's campaign slogan — "Stay Strong" — he told supporters Monday night in French: "We stay relatively strong ... we will form a remarkable and strong opposition."
Mr. Landry promised to hold the new government of Mr. Charest to account, and to keep fighting for soveriegnty.
The ADQ's Mr. Dumont, who had hoped to at least 12 seats, came away with one seat less than he had before the election, but around 20 per cent of the popular vote.
Mr. Dumont won his seat in Rivière-du-Loup, and said he would stay at the helm of his economically conservative party, which slipped in the polls and had a lacklustre campaign.
The Liberals had made gains right across the province, most notably in rural francophone ridings where Mr. Charest struggled to win over voters since becoming leader in 1998.
Prime Minister Jean Chrétien offered a thumbs-up for the cameras as he read the initial results to about 300 guests at a state dinner in the Dominican Republic, where he is taking a working holiday.
"Between [Canadian Masters golf champion] Mike Weir and Quebec we have two good things," Mr. Chrétien said to applause in the national palace.
One of the biggest question marks in the campaign had been whether the ADQ would siphon more support from the Liberals or the PQ.
In the end, the party's strongest support came at the expense of the PQ. In the Quebec City area, for example, the ADQ earned 28 per cent of the vote. While that wasn't enough to earn the party a seat there, those votes helped the Liberals gain seven seats that had been held by the PQ.
In Montreal, the ADQ had little effect on the Liberals, winning only 6 per cent of the vote in 14 west-end ridings.
Standings at dissolution when Mr. Landry called the election March 12 were: PQ, 67; Liberals, 50; ADQ, five; Independent, two; and vacant, one.
Turnout in the election was low. A spokesman for the province's chief electoral officer pegged voter turnout at 42 per cent at 5:30 p.m., three hours before most of the polls closed, compared with 50.5 per cent at the same time on election day in 1998.
About 21 polling stations has to stay open later than the 8:30 p.m. closing time reportedly because of lineups caused by a lack of volunteers.
With a report from Canadian Press
