The or '''PQ''' is a
Political Party that advocates
National Sovereignty for
Quebec from
Canada , as well as social democratic policies and has traditionally had support from the
Labour Movement though unlike other social democratic parties it has no formal ties with labour. Members and supporters of the PQ are sometimes called '''Péquistes''' (pronounced -- a word derived from the French pronunciation of the party's initials).
The PQ is the result of the
1968 merger between
René Lévesque 's
Mouvement Souveraineté-association and the
Ralliement National . Following the creation of the PQ, the
Rassemblement Pour L'indépendance Nationale held a general assembly that voted to dissolve the RIN. Its former members were invited to join the new Parti Québécois.
The PQ's primary goals were and still are to obtain the political, economic and social independence for the province of Quebec. In the
1976 Provincial Election , the Parti Québécois was elected to form the government of Quebec. The party's leader, René Lévesque, became the
Premier Of Quebec . This was cause for celebration among many French-speaking
Quebecers , but resulted in an acceleration of the migration of the province's anglophone population and related economic activity towards Toronto.
The first PQ government was known as the "republic of teachers" because of the large number of PQ Members of the
National Assembly Of Quebec (MNAs) who taught at the university level. The PQ was the first government to recognize the rights of
Aboriginal Peoples to self-determination, insofar as this self-determination did not affect the territorial integrity of Quebec. The PQ passed laws on public consultations and the financing of political parties, which insured equal financing of political parties and limited contributions by individuals to $3000. However, the most prominent legacy of the PQ is the
Charter Of The French Language (the so-called Bill 101), a framework law which defines the linguistic primacy of French and seeks to make French the common public language of Quebec. It allowed the advancement of francophones towards management roles, until then largely out of their reach--despite the fact that 85% of the population spoke French and most of them did not understand English, the language of management was English in most medium and large businesses. Critics, both francophone and anglophone, have however criticized the charter for restraining citizens' linguistic school choice, as it forbids immigrants and Quebecers of French descent from attending English-language schools. The party was re-elected in the
1981 Election , but defeated by the Liberals in the
1985 Election .
The Parti Québécois initiated the
1980 Quebec Referendum seeking a mandate to begin
Negotiation for
Independence . It was rejected by 60 per cent of voters. With the failure of the
Charlottetown Accord and the
Meech Lake Accord , two packages of proposed amendments to the
Canadian Constitution , the question of Quebec's status remained unresolved, and the PQ called the
1995 Quebec Referendum proposing negotiations on sovereignty. After leading all night, the final count showed sovereignty was supported by 49.6% of voters. On the night of the defeat, an emotionally drained Premier
Jacques Parizeau stated that the loss was caused by "
Money And The Ethnic Vote " as well as by the divided votes amongst francophones. Parizeau resigned the next day (as he is alleged to have planned beforehand in case of a defeat).
Lucien Bouchard , a former member of
Prime Minister Brian Mulroney 's
Cabinet and later founder of the
Bloc Québécois , a sovereigntist party at the federal level, succeeded Parizeau as PQ leader, but chose not to call another referendum due to the absence of "winning conditions". Bouchard's government then balanced the provincial budget, a feat achieved in Canada by only by the federal government and a couple of the ten Canadian provinces at that point, by reducing government spending, including social programs. The PQ won another term in the
1998 Election . Bouchard resigned in 2001, and was succeeded as PQ leader and Quebec Premier by
Bernard Landry , a former PQ Finance minister. Under Landry's leadership, the party lost the
2003 Election to
Jean Charest 's
Quebec Liberal Party .
Summer and fall 2004 were difficult for Bernard Landry's leadership which was being contested. A vote was held during the party's June 2005 convention to determine whether Landry continues to have the confidence of the party membership. Landry said he wanted at least 80% of approval and after gaining 76,2% approval on the confidence vote from party membership on
June 4 ,
2005 , Bernard Landry announced his intention to resign.
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Louise Harel had been chosen to replace him until a new leader,
André Boisclair , was elected
November 15 ,
2005 , through the party's
2005 Leadership Election .
The and
Social Democracy . The two parties frequently share political candidates, and support each other during election campaigns.
They have a similar membership and voter base. Prominent members of either party often attend and speak at both organizations' public events. The current Bloc leader,
Gilles Duceppe , is also the son of
Jean Duceppe , a famous Quebec actor who helped found the PQ. Jean Duceppe also helped found the
New Democratic Party Branch In Quebec , which later separated from the federal NDP and merged into the
Union Des Forces Progressistes (UFP), which gathered 1.0% of the vote during the 2004 election, twice the number of the closest fifth party (the
Bloc Pot , with 0.5% of vote turnout in 2004).
The distinctive party symbol was designed in only, an idiosyncratic design choice. The letter Q, relatively rare and therefore often used in Quebec acronyms and designs (see the
Hydro-Québec logo, also an example of a second letter design), sends back of course to the first letter of Quebec and the word "Québécois" from the party's name.
Compared to organisations like the ). When placed upon a blue background instead of a white one, the circle is commonly turned to white, the single main design variation currently observed.
- 1970 : ''OUI'' - Yes
- 1973 : ''J'ai le goût du Québec'' - I have the taste for Quebec
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- 1985 : ''Le Québec avec Johnson'' - Quebec with Johnson
- 1989 : ''Je prends le parti du Québec'' - I'm taking the party of Quebec / I'm choosing Quebec (double meaning)
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- 2003 : ''Restons forts'' - Let us remain strong
- Godin, Pierre. ''René Lévesque, Héros malgré lui'', Éditions Boréal, 1997. ISBN 2-89052-8333-2
