How will the election of a Parti Quebecois government impact on the economy? Could housing prices be affected? West Island real estate agent Laurie Macdonald, of Royal Lepage Elite, says the concern for the housing market revolves around the likelihood of another sovereignty referendum. Macdonald notes the new party breakdown in the National Assembly, where the incoming government will be in the minority, doesn't give the P.Q. a real opportunity to launch a sovereignty drive.

Meanwhile, the Canadian dollar, generally a reliable barometer of the economy, hardly flinched at all in the wake of the P.Q. victory. The dollar changed hands at 101.19 U.S. at the open, down a quarter-of-a-cent. The markets, generally nervous about a slowing global economy, didn't seem to take much note of the change in the Quebec political landscape.