Over the past seven years, when outgoing premier François Legault’s government tabled a contentious bill, he would often justify it by saying it represented the will of the vast majority of Quebecers.
During a time of economic turbulence, Legault ushered several key bills rooted in identity politics — some which have sparked protests and court challenges.
On Wednesday, Legault invoked his recurring argument — Quebecers’ will — to explain his decision to step down as leader of the Coalition Avenir Québec (CAQ), the party he co-founded in 2011.
“I can see that, right now, a lot of Quebecers want change first and foremost, and among other things, a change in premier,” Legault said at a news conference.
“I truly hope the next election focuses on the major challenges facing Quebec, rather than a simple desire for change.”
The latest Pallas Data poll, which surveyed more than 1,100 Quebecers between Jan. 9 and 10, placed the premier and his party at just 10 per cent in voter intentions.
But Quebecers’ disillusionment with Legault may stem from the belief that he valued issues related to Quebec identity over other pressing priorities.
Nearing the end of its second term, the CAQ — which had presented itself initially as a “pragmatic” party and Quebecers’ best option to oversee the province’s economy — seemingly fell short of addressing primary concerns among voters: their wallets, their schools and their health system.
During its two terms, his government introduced legislation that revisited questions of national identity — the same issues central to the 1980 and 1995 sovereignty referendums, where a slim but decisive majority voted “no.”
Whenever Premier Legault, a former Parti Québécois MNA, faced questions about his support for the sovereignty project — he would reply that he is a nationalist.
In his early days as premier, he made health and education rallying issues for the CAQ.
But in a quest to reaffirm the interests of what he referred to as the Quebec nation, he leaves behind several laws that have concretely damaged cultural and linguistic minorities, says Stephen Brown, CEO of the National Council of Canadian Muslims.
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“He’s going to be remembered as a premier who chose to divide Quebecers around false debates rather than address real concerns,” Brown said, referring to the government’s Bill 96 — which caused confusion about minority language rights within the Quebec health network and school system, as well as the secularism law, which disproportionately impacts Muslim women.
The Supreme Court of Canada will hear challenges to the secularism law, also known as Bill 21, on March 23.
Last November, the Legault government tabled Bill 9, banning prayer spaces in public institutions and group prayers in public spaces, such as parks, without municipal authorization. It also expands the requirement to have an uncovered face at all times to anyone present in a public education setting.
“People can’t afford housing. People can’t get a doctor, There aren’t teachers for our kids,” Brown said.
“If we think that we’re going to be able to solve those problems by dividing people against each other, I mean, I’m sorry, it’s just false.”
Legault had also repeatedly denied the existence of systemic racism in Quebec institutions, even after a coroner’s report recommended that the government recognize it following the death of Joyce Echaquan.
According to the government’s most recent data, as of Nov. 10, 2025, Quebec is in need of 898 teachers, 1,135 support staff and 449 professionals, such as psychoeducators and speech-language pathologists.
Mélanie Hubert — president of the teacher’s union Fédération autonome de l’enseignement (FAE) — said despite Legault’s kind words (he said, Wednesday, teachers are “the most important people after parents”), his government’s measures were increasingly coercive toward teachers.
The relationship between teachers and the government was strained in 2023 during negotiations of their collective agreement. With the aim of gaining better working conditions, the union launched an unlimited general strike, which kept around 800 schools closed for over four weeks.
“They didn’t show any trust in us or recognition of our work — quite the opposite,” Hubert said.
“As far as we’re concerned, what’s left in the education sector is a lot of broken pieces that we’ll have to pick up over the coming months, and perhaps even the coming years.”
Many family physicians and medical specialists have raised similar feelings of mistrust in the Legault government as it sought to overhaul doctors’ remuneration with Bill 2.
In 2018, Legault campaigned on a promise to give every Quebecer a family doctor. His government failed to deliver.
In his resignation speech Wednesday, Legault acknowledged that the province has many economic challenges ahead of it, including creating jobs for future generations.
Legault said he is most proud of where he left Quebec’s economy, accelerating ahead of Ontario when it comes to economic growth, by encouraging companies to expand in the province and transforming the province’s energy sector.
But his legacy in the energy sector was not without controversy.
The Legault government lost the $270 million investment it made in Northvolt Batteries North America’s parent company after Northvolt filed for bankruptcy in Sweden in March 2025.
Quebec is also staring down a $12.4 billion deficit for 2025-26, as defined by the Balanced Budget Act.
Then, there’s the CAQ government mishandling the digital transformation of Quebec’s automobile insurance board, which led to the project’s $500-million cost overrun.
At first glance, it would seem that Legault’s exit sets the stage for the Parti Québécois (PQ) forming government, with PQ Leader Paul St-Pierre Plamondon leading the polls.
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However, the Quebec Liberal Party, which is in the middle of its own leadership race, can’t be counted out yet. Even while in the process of electing a new leader, the Quebec Liberals are still polling higher than the CAQ.
With no clear leader to succeed Legault, the premier has said he would stay on until his party finds his replacement.
Longtime politician and current commentator Mario Dumont, who founded the Action Démocratique du Québec — a centre-right party that was the precursor to the CAQ — might be considered, despite him saying he wasn’t interested in replacing Legault.
Another potential candidate is Simon Jolin-Barrette.
The Quebec justice minister was by the premier’s side when the government passed the secularism law and overhauled the French Language Charter with Bill 96.
Last fall, Jolin-Barrette also tabled the Quebec Constitution bill.
Already floundering in the polls at the time, Legault described the proposed constitution as “the law of all laws” in Quebec that encompasses all of his party’s fundamental values and rules pertaining to Quebec identity.
