CAQ minister apologizes, is booted from caucus after attending PQ election party

Fréchette’s office says someone will be named to succeed to Lacombe until the new PQ government is sworn in.

The PQ will form a minority government after winning 59 seats in Monday’s election, while the Coalition Avenir Québec failed to win any seats.

Lacombe, who announced last June that he would not seek to be re-elected, wrote on social media that he had attended the rival party’s gathering “to celebrate the victory of people I respect and with whom I have forged bonds over the years.”

He acknowledged he shouldn’t have been there given his role as a minister.

“I would like to offer my sincere apologies to all the party supporters, my colleagues, and my friends whom this decision may have hurt or disappointed,” he wrote.

Lacombe raised eyebrows this spring when he expressed pro-sovereignty views, despite his party’s opposition to a referendum.

“I think that right now, the majority of Quebecers don’t want a referendum, so we’d be on the side of those who don’t want one,” he said. “But if, by any chance, there were to be one, I think it’s clear that I’d be on the ‘Yes’ side, as would some of my colleagues.”

The Parti Québécois has promised to hold a referendum by 2030, but not until U.S. President Donald Trump leaves office.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 9, 2026.

Vicky Fragasso-Marquis, The Canadian Press

by The Canadian Press

CAQ minister apologizes, is booted from caucus after attending PQ election party

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