Pre-Confederation The Liberal Party is descended from the
Parti canadien (or Parti Patriote), who supported the 1837
Lower Canada Rebellion, and the
Parti rouge, which fought for
responsible government and against the authority of the
Roman Catholic Church in
Lower Canada. The most notable figure of this period was
Louis-Joseph Papineau.
Post-Confederation 's government of 1897. The Liberals were in opposition to the ruling Conservatives for most of the first 20 years after
Canadian Confederation, except for 18 months of Liberal
minority government in 1878–1879. However, the situation changed in 1885 when the federal
Conservative government refused to commute the death sentence of
Louis Riel, the leader of the French-speaking
Métis people of western Canada. This decision was unpopular in Quebec.
Honoré Mercier rode this wave of discontent to power in 1887, but was brought down by a scandal in 1891. He was later cleared of all charges. The Conservatives returned to power until 1897. The Liberals won the
1897 election, and held power without interruption for the next 39 years; the Conservatives never held power in Quebec again. This mirrored the situation in Ottawa, where the arrival of
Wilfrid Laurier in the
1896 federal election marked the beginning of
Liberal Party of Canada dominance at the federal level. Notable long-serving
Premiers of Quebec in this era were
Lomer Gouin and
Louis-Alexandre Taschereau. By 1935, the Conservatives had an ambitious new leader,
Maurice Duplessis. Duplessis merged his party with dissident ex-Liberals who had formed the
Action libérale nationale. Duplessis led the new party, the
Union Nationale (UN), to power in the
1936 election. The Liberals returned to power in the
1939 election, but lost it again in the
1944 election. They remained in opposition to the Union Nationale until one year after Duplessis's death in 1959. In 1955, the QLP severed its affiliation with the
Liberal Party of Canada.
Modern history The Quebec Liberal Party has faced various opposing parties in its history. Its main opponent from the time of the Confederation (1867) to the 1930s was the
Parti conservateur du Québec. That party's successor, the
Union Nationale, was the main opposition to the Liberals until the 1970s. Since then the Liberals have alternated in power with the
Parti Québécois, a
Quebec sovereigntist, self-described
social-democratic party and very recently with the
Coalition Avenir Québec, a
Quebec autonomist and
conservative party. The contemporary Quebec Liberal Party is a
broad-based federalist and multiculturalist coalition, including among its members supporters of the federal
Liberals,
New Democratic Party,
Bloc Québécois,
Greens, and
Conservatives. Under
Jean Lesage, the party won an
historic election victory in 1960, ending sixteen years of rule by the national-conservative
Union Nationale. This marked the beginning of the
Quiet Revolution, which dramatically changed Quebec society. During the 1960s a
social-democratic faction within the party was especially prominent and the party was seen as being on the
centre-left. Under the slogans ''C'est l'temps qu'ça change'' (it's time for change) in 1960 and
maîtres chez nous (masters in our own house) in 1962, the Quebec government undertook several major initiatives, including: full
nationalization of the electricity industry through merger of 11 private companies with the government-owned
Hydro-Québec — this major initiative of the government was led by the minister of natural resources,
René Lévesque, in 1963, the creation of a public
pension plan, the
Régie des rentes du Québec (QPP/RRQ), separate from the
Canada Pension Plan that exists in all other provinces of Canada, and creation of
Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec (CDPQ), the elimination of tuition fees for public elementary & secondary schools and creation of the ''Ministère de l'éducation du Québec
, secularisation of schools and hospitals, creation of the Société générale de financement (SGF), creation of the first incarnation of the Office québécois de la langue française (OQLF, originally OLF), mandatory call for bids for all public works contracts above $25,000 (René Lévesque, 1960), creation of Obligations d'épargne du Québec'' (Quebec savings bonds) in 1963, right to strike in public service (1964), and the creation of an office in Paris, introduction of the Gérin-Lajoie doctrine (meaning that Quebec has rights to its own international presence matching its domestic range of jurisdiction). Under Lesage, the Liberals developed a
Quebec nationalist wing. In July 1964, the Quebec Liberal Federation led by Lesage formally disaffiliated from the federal
Liberal Party of Canada, making the Quebec Liberal Party a distinct organization from its federal counterpart. In October 1967, former cabinet minister René Lévesque proposed that the party endorse his plan for
sovereignty-association. The proposal was rejected and, as a result, some Liberals, including Lévesque, left the Liberals to join the
sovereignty movement, participating in the founding of the
Parti Québécois (PQ) under Lévesque's leadership. However, the party regained a majority in the
2008 election, which saw the collapse of ADQ support and the return of the Parti Québécois as the main opposition party. Election turnout was the lowest in Quebec since the
Quiet Revolution. Since its most recent election, the Liberal government has faced a number of scandals, including historic losses at the
Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec, the attribution of highly sought-after subsidized daycare spaces to Liberal Party donors, as well as allegations of systemic construction industry corruption which arose notably during the
2009 Montreal municipal election. After public pressure, the Liberal government eventually called for a public commission of inquiry. Jean Charest's personal approval ratings have at times been lower than those of other premiers. In 2012, the Liberal government announced it was going to raise university tuition from $2,168 to $3,793 in increments between 2012 and 2017. This move proved controversial, leading to a
significant portion of Quebec post-secondary students striking against the measures. In response to the discord the Quebec Liberal government introduced controversial emergency legislation via
Bill 78 that restricted student protest activities, attacking students' right to strike and to demonstrate peacefully, and dealt with the administrative issues resulting from so many students missing classes. After almost a decade in power, the Liberal government of Jean Charest was defeated in the
2012 provincial election by the
Parti Québécois led by
Pauline Marois. Charest was also personally defeated in his constituency and resigned as party leader. They came back into power during the
2014 election under
Philippe Couillard. In the
2018 election, they became the official opposition, losing power to the
Coalition Avenir Quebec. The first Black leader of the party,
Dominique Anglade, led the party into the
2022 election, coming fourth in vote share behind the CAQ,
Quebec solidaire, and the PQ, but forming official opposition. The Liberals dropped to their lowest raw seat count since
1956, their lowest percentage of seats won since
1948 and their lowest share of the popular vote in their history. In
June 2025, former federal Cabinet minister
Pablo Rodriguez was elected party leader. In November, he removed parliamentary leader
Marwah Rizqy from her post, citing that she fired her chief of staff without informing him beforehand. That same month, his leadership campaign was accused of allegedly financially rewarding voters for voting for him in the leadership race, accusations that Rodriguez denied. Amid these political crises, he resigned as party leader in December 2025, becoming the shortest-serving leader in QLP history. 2025 leadership election runner-up
Charles Milliard was acclaimed to succeed Rodriguez on February 13, 2026. == Party leaders ==