The CAQ's weekend conference in Sherbrooke saw the party unveil much of its policy platform for next year's provincial election.
Though this will be the third election contested by the CAQ in its current form, it is the first in which it seems to be polling well enough to put leader Francois Legault within striking distance of the Premier's office. Current opinion polls put the CAQ in first place, slightly ahead of the governing Liberals and Premier Philippe Couillard.
So what would a CAQ government look like? We got a slightly better idea of that over the course of its weekend. The biggest changes would come in the realms of education and immigration.
CAQ leader Francois Legault says that a CAQ government would put students in classes starting at 4 years old, and would extend the schoolday of high school students from 9am-5pm. Legault says those may sound like big changes, but that's already what grade school looks like to some extent in Ontario and much of the United States.
"Right now in Quebec, the dropout rate is double of the one in Ontario, and we have to look at what the keys are to this success in Ontario", he explained in a press conference during the party convention.
The party also wants to reduce immigration to the province from 50,000 to 40,000. Legault added that the immigrants that do come to Quebec need to be better-integrated into society than they are under the current system.
In all, many of the CAQ's policies are aimed at families, but are also aimed at the party's more rural base. Very little in terms of spending and other commitments are aimed at Greater Montreal, where the party does not have a strong electoral foothold. Of the 28 ridings on the Island of Montreal, the CAQ does not hold any.
Simon Jolin-Barette, the party's MNA for the riding of Borduas in the Montérégie, says key to the party's success or failure next year will be appealing to Quebecers who live in urban areas.
"Montreal is the economic centre of Quebec, so it's really important to make gains in the Island of Montreal," he said in an interview with CTV. But he added that he thinks Montreal voters may be willing to make a change after generations of voting for the Liberals en masse. "The Liberal Party didn't take care of the people in Montreal, they take them for granted, and that's not okay."