Pablo Rodriguez

But here we are today, and things look very, very different.

Last week, CAQ, under the leadership of Christine Fréchette, were completely wiped out, not even retaining a single seat.

And the PQ's Paul St-Pierre Plamondon, or PSPP as he's often referred to in Quebec, will be the province's next premier.

But the death of CAQ and the return of the separatist government are far from the only unlikely stories that have emerged from this election.

You have the rise of the Conservative Party of Quebec under former shock jock Eric Duhaime, who captured 19 seats, mostly in the Quebec City region.

The Liberal Party of Quebec looked like it might be cooked after their leader, Pablo Rodriguez, had to resign because of allegations of corruption in his leadership race.

Charles Milliard, a relative unknown, took over at the last minute, and somehow he emerged with 40 seats.

And even Québec Solidaire, the leftist sovereigntist party that mostly competes for seats in the downtowns of Montreal and Quebec City, had a good night in some ways.

Mm-hmm.

Uh, looking back on sort of some of the developments prior to the campaign, do you have any sense of whether the outcome might have been different under, under, uh, Pablo Rodriguez as, uh-

[laughs]

... as Liberal leader?

[laughs]

That's, that's a, that's a big hypothetical.

I mean, Pablo Rodriguez did get a boost in the polls when he won the leadership-

Mm-hmm

Holding a referendum after Trump is gone is one thing, but starting the process, that's different

Former Liberal MP and Quebec Liberal leader Pablo Rodriguez says the PQ in power will have means to promote sovereignty

It's in the mandate of the government of Quebec, which gives them a lot of resources, the venues, the international context

That's not lost on the Canadian government

A new PQ government in Quebec is held to a minority but is still promising a referendum on separation once Donald Trump leaves office.

What does that mean for La Belle-France? And for the rest of Canada, we'll bring in a special panel with former Quebec CAQ minister Christopher Skeete and former Quebec Liberal leader Pablo Rodriguez.

Plus, our front bench panel is also set to weigh in.

Dan Moulton, Dimitri Soudas, Kathleen Monk and Jean-Beth Beauchemin are all standing by.

I live with pride and gratitude.

And to women, especially young women, I say take your place.

With me tonight to provide analysis on what the election results signal for both the province and the rest of Canada, former Coalition Avenir Quebec MNA, Christopher Skeete, who was also, of course, the Minister for Relations with English-speaking Quebecers and Minister of International Relations, and Pablo Rodriguez, former leader of the Quebec Liberal Party and former federal minister.

He's now a political analyst with us at CTV News.