List of leaders of the Official Opposition of Quebec explained

This is a list of the leaders of the opposition party of Quebec, Canada since Confederation (1867).

Note that the leader of the Opposition is not always the leader of the political party with the second-largest number of seats, in cases where the leader of that party does not have a seat.

There was no Leader of the Official Opposition until March 1869, when the government's second budget was introduced.

	Name	Electoral district (Region)	Took office	Left office	Party		Lotbinière (Chaudière-Appalaches)	1869	1878	Liberal		Terrebonne (Lanaudière)	1878	1879	Conservative		Lotbinière (Chaudière-Appalaches)	1879	1883	Liberal		Saint-Hyacinthe (Montérégie)	1883	1887	Liberal^[1]		Montcalm (Lanaudière)	1887	1890	Conservative		Beauce (Chaudière-Appalaches)	1890	1891	Conservative		Saint-Jean (Montérégie)	1892	1897	Liberal		Gaspé (Gaspésie—Îles-de-la-Madeleine) until 1900 Nicolet (Centre-du-Québec) after 1900	1897	1904	Conservative	Pierre-Évariste Leblanc^[2]	Laval (Laval)	1905	1908	Conservative		Joliette (Lanaudière)	1908	1915	Conservative	Philémon Cousineau^[3]	Jacques-Cartier (Montreal)	1915	1916	Conservative		Deux-Montagnes (Laurentides)	1916	1929	Conservative		Montréal-Sainte-Marie (Montreal)	1929	1931	Conservative	Charles Ernest Gault^[4]	Montréal-Saint-Georges (Montreal)	1931	1932	Conservative		Trois-Rivières (Mauricie)	1932	1936	Conservative^[5]	Télesphore-Damien Bouchard^[6]	Saint-Hyacinthe (Montérégie)	1936	1939	Liberal		Trois-Rivières (Mauricie)	1939	1944	Union Nationale		L'Islet (Chaudière-Appalaches)	1944	1948	Liberal	George Carlyle Marler^[7]	Westmount-Saint-Georges (Montreal)	1948	1953	Liberal	Georges-Émile Lapalme^[8]	Montréal-Outremont (Montreal)	1953	1960	Liberal	Yves Prévost^[9]	Montmorency (Québec)	1960	1961	Union Nationale	Antonio Talbot^[10]	Chicoutimi (Saguenay–Lac-Saint-Jean)	1961	1961	Union Nationale		Bagot (Montérégie)	1961	1966	Union Nationale		Louis-Hébert (Québec)	1966	1970	Liberal		Mercier (Montreal)	1970	1970	Liberal		Missisquoi (Eastern Townships)	1970	1971	Union Nationale		Bellechasse (Chaudière-Appalaches)	1971	1973	Union Nationale^[11]	Jacques-Yvan Morin^[12]	Sauvé (Montreal)	1973	1976	Parti Québécois	Gérard D. Levesque^[13]	Bonaventure (Gaspésie—Îles-de-la-Madeleine)	1976	1979	Liberal		Argenteuil (Laurentides)	1979	1982	Liberal	Gérard D. Levesque^[14]	Bonaventure (Gaspésie—Îles-de-la-Madeleine)	1982	1985	Liberal		Bertrand (Montérégie)	1985	1985	Liberal		Anjou (Montreal)	1985	1987	Parti Québécois	Guy Chevrette^[15]	Joliette (Lanaudière)	1987	1989	Parti Québécois		L'Assomption (Lanaudière)	1989	1994	Parti Québécois		Vaudreuil (Montérégie)	1994	1998	Liberal	Monique Gagnon-Tremblay^[16]	Saint-François (Eastern Townships)	1998	1998	Liberal		Sherbrooke (Eastern Townships)	1998	2003	Liberal		Verchères (Montérégie)	2003	2005	Parti Québécois	Louise Harel^[17]	Hochelaga-Maisonneuve (Montreal)	2005	2006	Parti Québécois		Pointe-aux-Trembles (Montreal)	2006	2007	Parti Québécois		Rivière-du-Loup (Bas-Saint-Laurent)	2007	2008	Action démocratique du Québec		Charlevoix (Capitale-Nationale)	2008	2012	Parti Québécois		Saint-Laurent (Montreal)	2012	2013	Liberal		Outremont (Montreal)	2013	2014	Liberal	Stéphane Bédard^[18]	Chicoutimi (Saguenay–Lac-Saint-Jean)	2014	2015	Parti Québécois		Saint-Jérôme (Laurentides)	2015	2016	Parti Québécois		Jonquière (Saguenay–Lac-Saint-Jean)	2016	2016	Parti Québécois		Rosemont (Montréal)	2016	2018	Parti Québécois	Pierre Arcand	Mont-Royal–Outremont (Montréal)	2018	2020	Liberal	Dominique Anglade	Saint-Henri–Sainte-Anne (Montréal)	2020	2022	Liberal	Marc Tanguay	LaFontaine (Montréal)	2022	present	Liberal

See also

• List of Quebec general elections
• Timeline of Quebec history
• National Assembly of Quebec
• List of Quebec premiers
• List of third party leaders (Quebec)
• History of Quebec

External links

• Les chefs de l'opposition officielle depuis 1869

Notes and References

1. In the aftermath of the execution of Louis Riel, Honoré Mercier founded the Parti National, in order to bring Conservative dissidents to the Liberal Party. From 1885 to 1891, the Liberal Party is also called Parti National.
2. Pierre-Évariste Leblanc lost his seat to the legislature in 1908. Joseph-Mathias Tellier succeeded him as Conservative Leader.
3. Philémon Cousineau lost his seat to the legislature in 1916. Arthur Sauvé succeeded him as Conservative Leader.
4. Conservative Leader Camillien Houde lost his seat to the legislature. Charles Ernest Gault served as acting Leader.
5. In 1935, the Conservatives formed a coalition with the Action libérale nationale (ALN). The ALN ran 60 candidates and won 26 seats. The Conservatives ran 30 candidates and won 16 seats. However, Maurice Duplessis served as leader of the coalition and therefore remained Leader of the Opposition.
6. Liberal Leader Adélard Godbout lost his seat to the legislature and could not serve as Leader of the Opposition.
7. Liberal Leader Adélard Godbout lost his seat to the legislature. His successor, Georges-Émile Lapalme, was defeated in Joliette in 1952. George Marler served as Acting Leader of the Opposition until 1953, when Lapalme won a by-election.
8. Jean Lesage became Liberal Leader in 1958, but Georges-Émile Lapalme remained Leader of the opposition until Lesage won a seat to the legislature in 1960.
9. Following the resignation of Union Nationale Leader Antonio Barrette, Yves Prévost served as Acting Leader.
10. Following the resignation of Yves Prévost, Antonio Talbot served as Acting Leader.
11. From October 25, 1971 to January 14, 1973 the Union Nationale was called Unité Québec.
12. Parti Québécois Leader René Lévesque was defeated in Dorion and could not serve as Leader of the Opposition.
13. Liberal Leader Robert Bourassa lost his seat to the legislature. Gérard D. Levesque served as Acting Leader until Claude Ryan, who became leader in 1978, won a by-election.
14. Following the resignation of Claude Ryan, Gérard D. Levesque served as Acting Leader.
15. Following the resignation of Pierre Marc Johnson, Guy Chevrette served as Acting Leader and remained Leader of the opposition until new leader Jacques Parizeau won a seat to the legislature in 1989.
16. Monique Gagnon-Tremblay served as Acting Leader of the Opposition until Jean Charest won a seat to the legislature in 1998.
17. Following the resignation of Bernard Landry, Louise Harel served as Acting Leader and remained Leader of the opposition until new leader André Boisclair won a by-election.
18. Assumed the position of Leader of the Opposition as a result of party leader Premier Pauline Marois losing her seat in the general election and resigning as party leader. Bédard was interim leader until a new leader was elected in a leadership election in 2015.