Politics·PODCAST

The Pollcast: What happened in Quebec and what happens next

On the latest episode of the Pollcast, former national director of the NDP Karl Bélanger breaks down the election results in Quebec, and the CBC's Catherine Cullen and Katie Simpson talk free trade and marijuana legalization.

What we're talking about this week: Quebec, NAFTA and cannabis

François Legault broke the old Liberal-PQ duopoly when his Coalition Avenir Québec was elected with a majority in Monday's provincial election. (Paul Chiasson/Canadian Press)

After the decisive victory of François Legault's Coalition Avenir Québec in Monday's provincial election, is Quebec on track for a major political realignment?

Not only did Quebecers elect a government that was neither Liberal nor Parti Québécois for the first time since 1966, they gave the two traditional governing parties their worst election results ever.

And Québec Solidaire finally broke out of its downtown Montreal enclave to replace the PQ as the standard bearer of the sovereignist, progressive vote in the province. 

On this week's episode of the Pollcast podcast, host and CBC polls analyst Éric Grenier is joined by Karl Bélanger, president of the Douglas-Coldwell Foundation and former national director of the NDP, to break down the results of the Quebec election and to speculate about what it means for politics in the province ahead of next year's federal election.

Then, the CBC's Catherine Cullen and Katie Simpson discuss what they're watching on Parliament Hill: the fallout from the free trade negotiations with the United States, the upcoming legalization of marijuana and the deteriorating tone in the House of Commons.

Listen to the full discussion above — or subscribe to the CBC Pollcast and listen to past episodes of the show.

Follow Éric Grenier, Karl BélangerCatherine Cullen and Katie Simpson on Twitter.