Key issues in Quebec’s provincial election

On October 3, 2022, Quebec voters will be called upon to choose their next government and renew the 125 seats in the National Assembly. What are the key issues in this election? What strategies do the major political parties use to win over voters?

👀 The context

It’s time to have a conversation with your students about elections and the system of voting that defines Quebec’s democracy.

Spend time discussing your district with them and be sure to be descriptive. Discover the name of the place, its population, and the candidates from each party who will be running.

Objectives

At the end of the activities, students will be able to:

Understand how nominal elections work;
Understand the importance of parity in politics;
Differentiate election promises from “party lines”;
Understand where they stand on the Quebec political spectrum

Before you start, you can watch this 9 minutes summary of the key issues in Quebec politics by CBC News.

☝️ ACTIVITY: A campaign of promises

Political parties want to attract votes to be able to win the election. To do this, they must make promises that will convince the population to place their trust in them.

Have students read the article “What are the five major parties taking part in Quebec’s provincial election?” from CTV News Montreal to get to know each of the five parties and some of their promises.

Then, have each student (or group of two students) create a comprehension question from the article with three possible answers, one of which must be the right one.

Use a fun way to discuss these “eternal issues” as a large group by incorporating the questions into a digital quiz tool (we have several right here).

After the quiz, invite the students to discuss their opinions of the promises made by the various political parties in more detail.

Why is it important to make these kinds of promises?
Why do some parties promise things like this?
Do the parties always keep their promises? If not, why do you think they don’t?

☝️ ACTIVITY: Gender parity in Quebec election

Let’s go back a little bit. According to the mainstream media, the 2018 elections were “equal.” This indicates that the number of applications from men and women was equal.

Invite students to discuss the following complex issues after reading the 2018 article, «Gender parity tested in Quebec election campaign» from Canada’s National Observer:

Do parties present women by obligation or by choice?
What explains why women are offered fewer “fortresses” (those constituencies that are said to be “won in advance or almost”)?
What can discourage women from running in politics?
Why is it so important for women to have a strong presence in politics?
Who among the students in the class would be drawn to politics? Why? Are there more boys than girls? What are the barriers preventing them from participating in politics?

Choose one or more questions and organize a debate in class, or ask students to write a blog post in which they express their point of view.

✌️ Go further : Voting 2.0?

Statistics indicate low public interest in elections in Canada and elsewhere. This phenomenon seems to be even more present among young people! Various organizations are trying to encourage them to participate in the elections in greater numbers, but how can they do that?

Ask your students to add their two cents to the question! Invite them to develop new reliable, inclusive and safe options for young people to use current technologies (mobile devices, social networks, etc.) to participate in an election.

🚀 Other ideas to explore

If your students are interested in elections and want to know where they stand on the Quebec scene, invite them to take the test online with the Vote Compass.