The Quebec Election: What Consequences for the Federation?

Join MISC and the IRPP for a bilingual roundtable on the Quebec election on Monday, September 28th, 2026, 4 p.m. at the Faculty Club, 3450 McTavish St.

Description:

Quebec heads to the polls and the outcome of the elections, as it often does, will ripple well past its own borders. MISC and the IRPP's Centre of Excellence on the Canadian Federation are partnering to convene a bilingual roundtable, a week before the vote, where experts will discuss what the election means for Quebec and for the Canadian federation as a whole in a particularly uncertain economic and geopolitical context.

Panelists:

Charles Breton, Centre of Excellence on the Canadian Federation

Toula Drimonis, The Gazette

Karine Millaire, Université de Montréal

André Lecours, Université d’Ottawa

Mireille Paquet, Concordia University

Chair and Moderator: Daniel Béland

The discussion will be followed by a Q&A and reception. This event is free and open to the public. Reserve your tickets via Eventbrite.

Charles Breton is the Executive Director of the Centre of Excellence on the Canadian Federation at the Institute for Research on Public Policy. His research focuses on Canadian politics, comparative public policy, and public opinion. His work has been published in leading academic journals including the Canadian Journal of Political Science, the Journal of Politics, and Comparative Political Studies, as well as in applied outlets such as Policy Options and national newspapers. He is a regular media commentator and expert analyst on Canadian politics and public policy. Charles holds a PhD in political science from the University of British Columbia.

Toula Drimonis is a Montreal-based journalist, opinion columnist, and news producer. A former news director for TC Media, her byline has appeared in national and international publications, with a focus on politics, social justice, immigration, and women’s issues. She’s written for the New York Times, the National Post, Maclean’s Magazine, Maisonneuve, Ms Magazine, The Conversationalist, and many more. She writes a weekly opinion column for the Montreal Gazette and Cult MTL, and a monthly column for The Walrus. She’s worked in television, radio, and print and has appeared on TV as both panelist and contributor to English and French-language current-affairs and cultural news shows.

Karine Millaire, Ph.D., is a professor at the Faculty of Law of the University of Montreal and an expert in constitutional law, Aboriginal law and human rights. She is a practicing legal counsel. Her research addresses cultural safety, Indigenous governance and the limitation of human rights. She has developed the first mandatory course for undergraduate law students on First Peoples and the law within a civil-law-only faculty in Quebec, in response to Call to Action 28 of the Truth and Reconciliation Report. She is a board member of the International Commission of Jurists (Canada section), which has successfully challenged Quebec's recent Constitution project before the United Nations, and she represents the Commission before the Supreme Court of Canada in two pending cases on constitutional rights derogation and the notwithstanding clause. Karine is a proud member of the Wendat Nation.

André Lecours is Full Professor in the School of Political Studies at the University of Ottawa where he holds the Forum of Federations and University of Ottawa Research Chair on Comparative Federalism. He is also a former President of the Canadian Political Science Association and a Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada. His main research interests are nationalism and federalism. He is the editor of New Institutionalism: Theory and Analysis; the author of Basque Nationalism and the Spanish State, the co-author of Nationalism and Social Policy, The Politics of Territorial Solidarity and of Fiscal Federalism and Equalization Policy in Canada. His most recent books are Nationalism, Secessionism, and Autonomy and The Forum of Federations Handbook on Digitalization of Public Administration in Federal Countries.

Mireille Paquet is a professor in the Department of Political Science at Concordia University, where she holds the Concordia Research Chair on the Politics of Immigration. An expert in Canadian immigration politics, she is also the author of several books and articles on comparative migration politics, including the recent Immigration in Canada: 16 Questions, co-authored with Jennifer Elrick at McGill-University Press. She is the Concordia lead for the pan-Canadian Bridging Divides project and a lead for the Réseau de recherche Québécois de la recherche sur l’immigration, l’intégration et les relations interculturelles.