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Quebec Liberal Leader Jean Charest has cast the province's election campaign as a referendum on the economy, arguing that his party is the only one that can steer Quebec through an “economic storm.”

He confirmed Wednesday that Quebeckers will go to the polls on Dec. 8, choosing between the Liberals, the Parti Québécois and the Action Démocratique du Québec.

With the slogan ‘l'économie d'abord OUI (‘Yes, the economy first and foremost'), Mr. Charest draped his party in the nationalist rallying cry that was the trademark of the 1995 pro-sovereignty Yes campaign to argue for a strong mandate, saying his minority government cannot ensure stability and prosperity during these uncertain economic times.

“Quebeckers know that a minority government is an unstable government. They also know that during a storm, there shouldn't be three pairs of hands at the helm. I am profoundly convinced that you need political stability to have economic prosperity,” Mr. Charest told a news conference, using the picturesque shores of the St. Lawrence River in Quebec City to launch his campaign. “I am asking Quebeckers to give the Quebec Liberal party a clear mandate to get through this crisis.”

Action Démocratique du Québec leader Mario Dumont, whose party has been struggling to regain credibility after slumping badly in public opinion polls, contends Quebeckers have been forced into an election most don't want or need. He called on voters to make the Liberals pay the price for calling a snap election under what he calls “false pretences.”

“It will be looked at as the worst move Jean Charest has ever made,” Mr. Dumont predicted. “People must go and vote and make him pay the price for this very cynical gesture.”

Calling her party the only credible alternative to the Liberals, untested Parti Québécois leader Pauline Marois hopes to benefit from the excitement that swept U.S. president-elect Barack Obama to victory in becoming the first woman to lead Quebec.

“We will try to have a small wind of change cross the border, so that on Dec. 8 we will also witness change here in Quebec,” Ms. Marois said yesterday. “We are the alternative. We will form the government. ... I'm sure I will be the first woman premier of Quebec.”

She insisted that the party will not hide its pro-sovereignty views during the campaign, arguing that as an independent nation, Quebec would be better positioned to deal with the economic slowdown. But the PQ will not place sovereignty at the heart of its campaign, she added, because Quebeckers aren't ready to debate the issue at this time.

For the next 33 days, Mr. Charest's quest for a majority government will centre almost exclusively on the economy, seeking to portray the ADQ as a spent force in order to win back the votes lost to Mr. Dumont in 2007. The Liberals were reduced to minority-government status by winning only 48 of the 125 seats in the Quebec National Assembly. The ADQ has 39 seats, the PQ has 36 and two are vacant.

However, the provincial auditor, Renaud Lachance, has cast doubts over Mr. Charest's claim that he has successfully managed Quebec's economy by showing a $484-million surplus during the current fiscal year. The surplus was placed in the province's $2.3-billion contingency fund to be used to help balance the province's budget in this fiscal year and the next.

According to Mr. Lachance, the government's accounting methods are questionable – saying that instead of a surplus, the government has in fact accumulated a $5.8-billion deficit that has been artificially dumped into the province's debt column.

The ADQ and the PQ plan to use the auditor's report, tabled this week, to show that when it comes to the economy, the Liberals have little credibility and they are best able to manage the province's affairs.

Over the past year, Mr. Charest has repositioned himself as the voice of Quebec's nationalist aspirations and the true defender of Quebec's interests in Canada, while focusing his attention on the economy – a formula that proved successful in the past. He is gambling that although Quebeckers may not want an election now, they will ultimately be forced into making a choice, one that he is confident will give him a majority.

Traditionally, Quebeckers do not vote for minority governments in the province, with the last one dating back to the 1870s. The Liberals contend that the 2007 election was a blip, caused by a sudden surge in support for the ADQ, combined with Mr. Charest's own failure to connect with voters.

Since then, the ADQ's support has been steadily declining and Mr. Charest has undertaken a makeover of his image. “Quebeckers wanted me to be more attentive to what they were saying,” he said in explaining the lessons of the 2007 election.

Liberals are convinced that Quebec is on the verge of returning to a two-party system, and Mr. Charest believes that when having to choose between Liberal “stability” and the “uncertainty” of the PQ's sovereignty option, his party will come out a winner. And if voters are simply fed up with election campaigns, having just experienced a federal campaign, it's all the more reason to give the Liberals a majority, according to Mr. Charest.

“The mandate that I am asking for on the economy and with a stable government and a majority government will mean there will not be an election for a long time after the 8th of December,” he noted.