1962 Quebec general election

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The 1962 Quebec general election was held on November 14 to choose 95 members of the province’s Legislative Assembly. The Liberal Party, led by Jean Lesage, was re-elected with a stronger majority. The Liberals won 63 seats (up from 51) and about 56% of the popular vote. The Union Nationale, led by Daniel Johnson Sr., won 31 seats (down from 43) with about 42% of the vote. Lesage remained premier.

The Liberals campaigned on the plan to nationalize the electric power industry, using the slogan “Maîtres chez nous” (Masters in our own home) and treating this as the defining issue of the election. A few days before voting, the Union Nationale organizer André Lagarde was arrested for fraud. The Liberals argued this showed lingering corruption from the old era, while the Union Nationale denied the charge. Lagarde was later acquitted after the election.

With a larger majority, Lesage could push ahead with electricity nationalization. René Lévesque, who would later found the Parti Québécois, was a cabinet minister in the Lesage government and led the nationalization effort.

A new party, Action provinciale, ran 11 candidates but won little support. The Union Nationale chose not to form a coalition with it. Social Credit remained a talking point, and Johnson used some of its vocabulary in his campaign.