Parti Québécois
The Parti Québécois (French for 'Quebec Party', pronounced [paʁti kebekwa]; PQ) is a sovereignist[10] and social democratic[2] provincial political party in Quebec, Canada. The PQ advocates national sovereignty for Quebec involving independence of the province of Quebec from Canada and establishing a sovereign state. The PQ has also promoted the possibility of maintaining a loose political and economic sovereignty-association between Quebec and Canada. The party traditionally has support from the labour movement; however, unlike most other social democratic parties, its ties with organized labour are informal.[11] Members and supporters of the PQ are nicknamed péquistes (/peɪˈkiːst/ pay-KEEST,[12] Quebec French pronunciation: [peˈkɪst] ), a French word derived from the pronunciation of the party's initials.
The party is an associate member of COPPPAL.[13] The party has strong informal ties to the Bloc Québécois (BQ, whose members are known as "Bloquistes"), the federal party that has also advocated for the secession of Quebec from Canada, but the two are not linked organizationally. As with its federal counterpart, the Parti Québécois has been supported by a wide range of voters in Quebec, from large sections of organized labour to more conservative rural voters.[14][15]
History[edit]
Formation[edit]
The PQ is the result of the 1968 merger between former Quebec Liberal Party cabinet minister René Lévesque's Mouvement Souveraineté-Association and the Ralliement national.[16] 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 to obtain political, economic and social autonomy for the province of Quebec. Lévesque introduced the strategy of referendums early in the 1970s.[17]
Lévesque and the PQ's first government[edit]
The PQ faced its first electoral test in the 1970 provincial election, winning seven seats. However, Lévesque was unable to get into the renamed National Assembly. Although it lost one seat in 1973, the decimation of the other parties, particularly the Union Nationale, allowed it to become the official opposition even though Lévesque was still unable to win a seat.
In the 1976 provincial election, the Parti Québécois won government for the first time, taking 71 of the 110 seats available. Lévesque became the Premier of Quebec. This provided cause for celebration among many French-speaking Quebecers, while it resulted in an acceleration of the migration of the province's Anglophone population and related economic activity toward Toronto.
The first PQ government was known as the "republic of professors" because of the large number of scholars in Lévesque's cabinet. 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 ensured 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 (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 funded by the state (private schools remained an option for those who could afford tuition). The Parti Québécois initiated the 1980 Quebec referendum seeking a mandate to begin negotiation for sovereignty-association.[18] It was rejected by 60 per cent of voters.
The party was re-elected in the 1981 election, but in November 1984 it experienced the most severe internal crisis of its existence. Lévesque wanted to focus on governing Quebec rather than sovereignty, and also wanted to adopt a more conciliatory approach on constitutional issues. This angered the more ardent sovereigntists, known as the purs et durs. Lévesque was forced to resign as a result. In September 1985, the party leadership election chose Pierre-Marc Johnson as his successor.
Despite its social-democratic past, the PQ failed to gain admission into the Socialist International, after the membership application was vetoed by the federal New Democratic Party.[19][20]
1985 defeat[edit]
The PQ led by Johnson was defeated by the Quebec Liberal Party in the 1985 election that saw Robert Bourassa return as premier. The Liberals served in office for two terms and attempted to negotiate a constitutional settlement with the rest of Canada but with the failure of the Meech Lake Accord and the Charlottetown Accord, two packages of proposed amendments to the Canadian constitution, the question of Quebec's status remained unresolved and the Quebec sovereignty movement revived.
Return to power under Parizeau[edit]
The PQ returned to power under the leadership of hardline sovereigntist Jacques Parizeau in the 1994 Quebec election. This saw the PQ win 77 seats and 44% of the vote, on a promise to hold an independence referendum within a year.[21] The following year, Parizeau called the 1995 Quebec referendum proposing negotiations on sovereignty. Again, the sovereigntists lost the vote. The final count showed 49.42% of voters supported negotiations that could eventually lead to sovereignty. On the night of the defeat, an emotionally drained Premier Parizeau stated that the loss was caused by "money and ethnic votes" (which led to accusations that Parizeau was racist) 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).
Bouchard government[edit]
Lucien Bouchard, a former member of Prime Minister Brian Mulroney's Cabinet and later founder of the Bloc Québécois, a federal-level sovereigntist party, 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 only by the federal government and a few of the ten Canadian provinces at that point – by reducing government spending, including social programs. The PQ was re-elected in the 1998 election, despite receiving fewer votes than the Quebec Liberal Party led by former federal deputy prime minister Jean Charest. 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 Liberals.
Return to opposition[edit]
Mid-late 2004 was difficult for Landry's leadership, which was being contested. A vote was held during the party's June 2005 convention to determine whether Landry continued 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 4 June 2005, Landry announced his intention to resign.[22]
Louise Harel had been chosen to replace him until a new leader, André Boisclair, was elected 15 November 2005, through the party's 2005 leadership election. At the time of Boisclair's election, the PQ was as much as 20 percent ahead of the Liberals in opinion polls, suggesting that Boisclair would lead them to a landslide majority government in the next election.[23]
Splintering on the right and the left[edit]
Progressives on the left wing of the PQ perceived a rightward move by the party towards neoliberalism under Bouchard, Landry and Boisclair. In 2006, a new left-wing party, Québec solidaire, was formed which included many activists who likely would formerly have been members or supporters of the PQ. Over subsequent elections, the QS attracted increasing support from left-wing sovereigntists disillusioned with the PQ. At the same time on the right, the ADQ and later the Coalition Avenir Québec attracted the votes of right-wing and soft sovereigntists who eventually become Quebec autonomists and Canadian federalists while retaining their Quebec nationalist identities. These political developments resulted in the PQ being squeezed from both sides.
Third place[edit]
The PQ was unable to maintain the momentum it briefly had under Boisclair, and in the 2007 provincial election, the party fell to 36 seats and behind the conservative Action démocratique du Québec (ADQ) in number of seats and the popular vote: this was the first time since 1973 that the party did not form the government or the Official Opposition. Boisclair said that the voters clearly did not support a strategy of a rapid referendum in the first mandate of a PQ government. Instead of a policy convention following the election, the party held a presidents' council. The party caucus in the provincial legislative assembly was said to have supported Boisclair continuing as leader.
On 8 May 2007, Boisclair announced his resignation as leader of the PQ.[24] This was effective immediately, although Boisclair confirmed he would remain within the PQ caucus for the time being. He was replaced by veteran MNA François Gendron, pending a leadership race and convention.
These are the slogans used by the Parti Québécois in general election campaigns throughout its history. They are displayed with an unofficial translation. The elections in which the PQ won or remained in power are in bold.