SHERBROOKE, Que. - Quebec Premier Jean Charest says Quebecers passed judgment on Monday and that judgment was a severe one.
Charest's Liberals clung to power in the provincial election but lost their majority. Sitting opposite the Liberals as the official Opposition will be the populist Action democratique du Quebec.
"Quebecers have spoken,'' Charest told supporters gathered at a hotel convention centre in his home riding of Sherbrooke, southeast of Montreal, on Monday night. "We accept their decision.''
Charest called the election a historic event that will change the dynamic of the province's political scene.
Earlier in the day, Charest joked with reporters and seemed at ease after casting his vote -- but that was before Quebecers handed the Liberals a skin-of-their teeth victory.
"Today Quebecers rendered their judgement,'' Charest said. "It must be recognized that they rendered a severe judgement.''
As the incumbent, Charest spent much of the campaign on the defensive about decisions he made during his mandate.
Students were among those who protested outside his rallies over the Liberal decision to end the province's 15-year tuition freeze.
The province's health-care system was another issue facing Charest. Despite millions of dollars in investment, the system is cracking under the weight of an aging population and an ongoing dispute with physicians and surgeons exacerbated the problem.
The Liberals also raised the cost of subsidized day-care spots to $7 a day from $5 and legislated striking public sector workers back to work, imposing a contract settlement.
But the biggest lightning rod for voter fury was Charest's failure to meet the keystone promise of his last election campaign to cut personal taxes by $1 billion a year.
"We defended a record that included several difficult decisions, a record of tightening public spending,'' Charest told supporters after the disappointing election results became clear.
In the last week of his campaign, Charest promised part of the province's federal budget windfall to personal tax cuts, but even that fell short. Including $250 million in reductions announced in the last provincial budget, the total tax cuts for next January will be $950 million.
"Tax Cuts, Take Two,'' Le Journal de Montreal declared in a headline.
A cartoon in the Montreal Gazette showed a Charest-esque bunny popping out of a hat with a mouthful of money.
There was a not-so-subtle hint from Prime Minister Stephen Harper that he would negotiate new limits to federal spending power -- but only with a federalist government in Quebec.
In Quebec, close friends in Ottawa are a double-edged sword.
Charest tried to distance himself and continued to sound the alarm about the referendum plans of his PQ adversary, Andre Boisclair.
"It's a choice between unity and separation,'' Charest said repeatedly.
Arguably, the strategy worked: the election results were more disappointing for the PQ than the Liberals, leaving the sovereigntist party in third place.
Charest appeared to issue a challenge to his rivals.
"This new assembly will test our political maturity and also our sense of duty,'' he said. "I expect the political parties will strive to work together, as we have a common responsibility to defend the interests of Quebec.''
