The Link wants you to go vote!
On Oct. 5, Quebecers will have the opportunity to cast their vote for a new leader
On Oct. 5, Quebecers will have the opportunity to elect a different party to the seat of power at the National Assembly.
Anglophone community newspapers like The Link are especially important during these periods of election coverage. Especially since, with the passage of Bill 96, all voter information has been sent in French.
Although a recent court order has changed this, English is still being pushed to the margins of civil society. This, alongside the scapegoating of Quebec’s minorities, shows how exclusion has come to define our political culture under the Coalition Avenir du Québec (CAQ).
Since coming to power in 2018, the CAQ has repeatedly reshaped who can access public institutions, services and opportunities in Quebec, often leaving linguistic and minority communities to bear the most bitter consequences.
One of the clearest examples came early in its mandate. Bill 21 expanded Quebec’s secularism policies and barred public servants in positions of authority, such as public school teachers, police officers, judges and prosecutors, from wearing religious signs at work.
The CAQ continued to broaden the scope of these restrictions. In 2025, Bill 94 extended the ban on religious symbols beyond teachers to other school employees and people who regularly provide services to students. The restrictions expanded again with Bill 9, passed in April 2026.
The law extended the religious-symbols ban to workers in subsidized daycares and several other public sectors, while also prohibiting religious practices in many public institutions and spaces under government authority. Bills such as these have drawn heavy criticism for disproportionately affecting Muslim women and other visible religious minorities.
These issues affect not only the broader Montreal community but also the student experience at Concordia University.
As of Sept. 1, designated prayer spaces are no longer permitted on our campus except the Loyola Chapel.
Concordia has also faced significant financial pressure following the CAQ government’s decision to increase out-of-province tuition fees. This has led to our funding as an English university being threatened by the CAQ’s choice.
The CAQ has also grossly misused government funds during its tenure in power, going $500 million over budget in creating the Société de l’assurance automobile du Quebec’s new software system, known as SAAQclic, and losing a $270-million investment in Northvolt Batteries North America's parent company for the construction of a battery plant.
As an advocacy newspaper, The Link has a responsibility to keep these consequences and governmental misdemeanour in the public eye. Our job is to tell the stories that risk being pushed out of the spotlight and to make space for the communities whose voices are too often ignored or silenced by those in power.
The news media has forever been essential to democracy, holding politicians accountable and informing the public about the decisions made in their name.
As the next Quebec election quickly approaches, our job of advocating for the downtrodden and questioning the powerful has become increasingly paramount.
This election is more than just the reshuffling of politicians in the National Assembly. It's an opportunity for Quebecers to decide what direction they want the province to take.
Provincially, our public services have been executed on the altar of austerity, leaving us with failing education, healthcare, infrastructure and an affordability crisis that is pricing people out of a good life.
In this election, the frontrunners are currently the Parti Québécois led by Paul St-Pierre Plamondon, according to a new Segma Research poll.
Throughout his campaign against the CAQ, Plamondon has tied the province's education problems to immigrants, even though this is a multifaceted issue driven by years of underfunding.
Another contending party running against the CAQ, the Quebec Liberal Party, has been plagued by inner-party controversies.
Pablo Rodriguez, elected as the party's leader last summer, resigned in December amid allegations of vote-buying. His replacement, Charles Milliard, has reportedly failed to gain respect from veterans within the party.
Not to mention, in the last Quebec provincial election, only 66 per cent of eligible voters came out to cast a ballot. A third of Quebec stayed home and stayed silent.
The CAQ won around 40 per cent of the vote, meaning that less than a third of Quebec voted for them.
For the people who didn’t vote, they may have thought that their individual voices didn’t matter, that one vote couldn’t do anything. However, if they had all cast their ballots, they might have been able to oust a long-serving politician who takes their wins for granted.
Young Canadians are the most likely to stay at home, with almost half of 18-to-24-year-olds not voting in the 2025 federal election. This needs to change.
We don’t have to continue on this downward spiral. In this nihilistic age, people are paralyzed with fear. But when we recognize that things can change, hope can push us all towards collective action.
It's up to each voter to inform themselves and decide which choice best represents their interests. And work does not have to stand in the way: on Election Day, employers must ensure workers have at least four consecutive hours available to vote, without a reduction in pay or another penalty.
Regardless of who takes power after the next election, or whether a minority government is formed, The Link will continue to report on stories where communities are directly affected by the policies passed in the National Assembly.
Voting is one of the clearest opportunities we have to decide what kind of Quebec we want to build.
Show up, do your part, go vote.
