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Christine Fréchette faces first provincial election test as CAQ leader
Fréchette is pitching economic steadiness and affordability measures while defending the CAQ’s record and seeking to broaden support beyond its base.
Coalition Avenir Québec Leader Christine Fréchette is campaigning for her first electoral mandate as premier, less than six months after succeeding François Legault at the head of the party he founded.
Inheriting a party in crisis, Fréchette defeated Bernard Drainville in April to become the second leader in CAQ history, with observers describing her ascension as a political "glass cliff."
Positioning herself as an "autonomist," Fréchette focuses her platform on affordability and healthcare while identifying President Donald Trump as her "real opponent" during the campaign launch.
Her campaign stumbled when she urged Prime Minister Mark Carney to discuss alleged American interference supporting the Parti Québécois, though she walked back the comments hours later, admitting no evidence existed.
A 56-year-old Trois-Rivières native, Fréchette brings experience as former economy minister and Chamber of Commerce of Metropolitan Montreal CEO, now seeking election in her hometown riding of Sanguinet.