Historic swearing-in for Quebec Conservatives as party wins first seats in 91 years

Conservative MNAs were the last to be sworn in after the provincial election and it is the first time in nearly a century that the Quebec Conservative Party has seats at the National Assembly. Natalia Weichsel is in Quebec City. Natalia, this is a historic moment for the party and Éric Duhaime. Definitely a significant moment for the Quebec Conservatives, Deborah. Let's start with the party leader himself. For Éric Duhaime to be elected in the riding of Bellechasse, Well, this marked the very first time since 1935 that a conservative politician was sworn into the National Assembly directly under a conservative banner. Now, Duhaime himself got quite emotional when he was speaking about this in the National Assembly. He thanked his entire team for being there. And under Duhaime's leadership, the party went from less than 2% of the provincial vote in 2018 to more than 20% of the provincial vote in this most recent election. Now, Debra, this makes them the second official opposition in the National Assembly. But it's important to remember that for nearly the entire Quebec Conservative Caucus that was sworn into the National Assembly, this is the very first time that they're jumping into provincial politics. So for many of them, the number one priority is simply learning the ropes. Absolutely, absolutely. We have to work together as a team. And there will be many challenges, but we are ready for that. What will be a challenge? Everything. I have to learn how this works in relation with the media, like I said before in French, and learn to work with the team, work with the other party. Love that clip. Everything will be a challenge. The Conservative Party has strong representation in the Quebec City region. The PQ didn't win a seat there. So the Premier says he's open to collaborating with an opposition MNA from the area. How does the Conservative Party feel about that? Well, the Quebec Conservative seat distribution really swept through the Quebec City area. This is also known as the 418 battleground. Now, Premier Paul Saint-Pierre Plamondon did name a minister responsible for the Quebec City area. He named Nicolas Girard. But Girard was elected as an MNA in the greater Montreal area. So to ensure that this Quebec City region is properly represented, Saint-Pierre Plamondon says he's considering bringing in a second person to share the role. The Conservatives say they are open to this, but they're still unsure as to what that shared responsibility would look like exactly. Well, it's an idea. We'll see exactly what he means by that, but we'll collaborate for sure. Of course we are going to collaborate, but he just named a minister of the Capitaine National. and what he told us yesterday is that he wanted something else, so that's kind of the désavouement. He's already pushing him to the side. Exactly. Yeah, so, and we're on day one. So, Debra, as these MNAs are familiarizing themselves with the inner workings of the National Assembly, many of them say that they are embracing the fact that the Quebec Conservative voice has made a historic comeback to the National Assembly. Thanks so much, Natalia.