PQ's Catherine Gentilcore to win Terrebonne riding, CBC News projects

CBC News is projecting Parti Québécois candidate Catherine Gentilcore will win the provincial byelection in Terrebonne this evening.

Gentilcore' closest opponent, the Coalition Avenir Québec's Alex Gagné, conceded the election not long after the polls closed Monday at 8 p.m. in the riding northeast of Montreal.

Gentilcore told her supporters she welcomes the projected victory with pride and humility.

"With pride because the citizens of Terrebonne have regained a free voice in the National Assembly and this time, more motivated than ever to defend their interests, it is the voice of the Parti Québécois," she said.

The atmosphere was electric at Hotel Imperia, where PQ members were celebrating Gentilcore's early lead in the polls. Gentilcore, the party's president, told her cheering supporters that it's "an honour of a lifetime."

She said her campaign focused on the "glaring problems" facing citizens in Terrebonne and the rest of the Lanaudière region. She said voters have mandated her to speak out loud and clear, to fight for all Quebecers who "see clearly that the catastrophic management of the CAQ is not getting us anywhere and that Quebecers deserve better."

PQ Leader Paul St-Pierre Plamondon welcomed what he described as a "decisive" victory.

"I am proud to say that we achieved this victory by being ourselves," he said.

Voters were tasked with choosing who will replace former economy minister Pierre Fitzgibbon. The former high-profile cabinet minister in François Legault's CAQ quit politics in September 2024.

The Terrebonne riding had been held by Fitzgibbon since the CAQ formed government in 2018, but it had previously been a stronghold of the sovereigntist PQ going back to 1976. 

The PQ has been atop the polls in Quebec, and Plamondon has been campaigning hard to reclaim the riding with his candidate and party president, Gentilcore. Her projected win would make her fifth member of the PQ to have a seat in the National Assembly.

Plamondon said he was convinced that Gentilcore would be an excellent MNA for the people of Terrebonne and that "she would never let them down due to a lack of motivation" — a reference to the reason Fitzgibbon gave for leaving politics.

"The message sent by Quebecers can't be more clear, look at the results," Plamondon said. "The loss of confidence in the CAQ is complete. It's time to turn the page."

Gagné, coming in second in the polls, is president of a Quebec organization fighting for student success.