Dogs, dancing, cheese: Social media highlights of Quebec's election campaign

It’s been a long 36 days in the province of Quebec — for political leaders and citizens alike.

The election campaign has come to an end, with the Coalition Avenir Québec forming a majority government for the second time.

Between the serious moments over the course of the campaign — of which there were many — the party leaders occasionally took to social media to share lighthearted content. We decided to round up some memorable highlights from the past month.

Duhaime and his dog

Conservative Party of Quebec Leader Éric Duhaime came off relatable-as-heck over the course of the campaign with several posts about his dog Mia, who accompanied him on the Conservatives’ bus and during interviews.

“After another great morning run, Mia calms me down as I prepare for my last debate of the campaign,” he posted on Instagram on Sept. 22.

Anglade dances her way into first debate

Quebec Liberal Party Leader Dominique Anglade decided to prep for the first leaders’ debate with a last-minute dance party to the Black Eyed Peas’ I Gotta Feeling — in a hot pink blazer, no less.

Holness drives voter to polls

Bloc Montréal’s Balarama Holness made his mark as a man of the people by keeping a promise to give an elderly voter a ride to her polling station.

“I was going to buy some peanuts at the pharmacy, and then I ran into you, and then you said ‘I need you to take me to the polling station’ and here we are,” Holness said in an Instagram video of him walking arm in arm with a voter on election day.

“I really am very impressed,” the woman said.

The corn TikTok

We all remember the day Élections Québec posted a TikTok of someone casting their vote with a literal corn on the cob instead of a ballot (??????). The man behind the campaign — which aimed to convince young people to vote — said he was happy the video generated reaction, positive or negative.

“If people are sharing the video, if people are commenting on it, if people are watching it, that’s already something accomplished,” said Richard Rochette-Villeneuve, creative director of the Quebec City branch of the marketing and advertising agency Cossette. “Many young people in Quebec have had no experience with a voting station. They’ve never touched a ballot box in their life. Our TikTok videos are well branded. You see the ballot box, an important object in our democracy and an object that everyone should have a relationship with.”

Legault’s quest to discover true name of poutine cheese

Back in May, Premier François Legault posted a video of himself eating from a giant bag of cheese curds at a Drummondville fromagerie, asking Quebecers what they call it: “Fromage en grains, fromage en crottes, fromage skouik-skouik?”

He took the question to a “professional” on the campaign trail.

“We’re on the ground to get an answer to our famous cheese question,” the video caption reads as Legault asks what appears to be a casse-croûte employee.

She settled the debate: fromage en grains or fromage skouik-skouik.

Speaking of poutine cheese …

Québec solidaire’s Gabriel Nadeau-Dubois kept count of his electoral poutines on Instagram, when he wasn’t posting pictures of his cute baby.

PSPP a ‘danger to the public’ when it comes to karaoke

According to Parti Québécois Leader Paul St-Pierre Plamondon, he’s “out of control” when karaoke is concerned. For “balcony sessions with Paul St-Pierre Plamondon,” he revealed what kind of songs he likes to belt out.

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