Parti Québécois takes riding of Chicoutimi, continuing byelection win streak

By Canadian Press on February 23, 2026.

SAGUENAY — The Parti Québécois has won a byelection in the riding of Chicoutimi, less than eight months before Quebec’s next general election.

Preliminary results showed PQ candidate Marie-Karlynn Laflamme ahead of the Conservatives’ Catherine Morissette by nearly 3,000 votes, while the Coalition Avenir Québec, Liberals and Québec solidaire trailed.

It was the party’s fourth straight byelection victory, following wins in recent years in Jean-Talon, Terrebonne and Arthabaska.

The latest victory gives the PQ seven seats in the National Assembly, up from just three after the 2022 general election.

The riding had been a stronghold for the party before Andrée Laforest captured it twice for the CAQ, first in 2018 and again in 2022.

The seat became vacant after Laforest resigned in a bid to enter municipal politics.

The Parti Québécois is high in the polls ahead of the provincial election in the fall, and leader Paul St-Pierre Plamondon has promised a sovereignty referendum by 2030 if he becomes premier.

The byelection took place with a leadership race underway for the CAQ, as Premier François Legault has announced he’s stepping down.

Meanwhile, the Quebec Liberals announced their new leader, Charles Milliard, on Feb. 13.