History Parti Québécois

1 history

1.1 formation
1.2 lévesque , pq s first government
1.3 1985 defeat
1.4 return power under parizeau
1.5 bouchard government
1.6 return opposition
1.7 splintering on right , left
1.8 third place
1.9 marois minority government
1.10 2014 defeat
1.11 péladeau leadership
1.12 jean-françois lisée leadership

history
formation

the pq result of 1968 merger between former quebec liberal party cabinet minister rené lévesque s mouvement souveraineté-association , ralliement national. following creation of pq, rassemblement pour l indépendance nationale held general assembly voted dissolve rin. former members invited join new parti québécois.

the pq s primary goals obtain political, economic , social autonomy province of quebec. lévesque introduced strategy of referenda in 1970s.

lévesque , pq s first government

in 1976 provincial election, parti québécois elected first time form government of quebec. party s leader, rené lévesque, became premier of quebec. provided cause celebration among many french-speaking quebecers, while resulted in acceleration of migration of province s anglophone population , related economic activity toward toronto.

the first pq government known republic of professors because of large number of scholars served cabinet members. pq first government recognize rights of aboriginal peoples self-determination, insofar self-determination did not affect territorial integrity of quebec. pq passed laws on public consultations , financing of political parties, ensured equal financing of political parties , limited contributions individuals $3000. however, prominent legacy of pq charter of french language (the bill 101), framework law defines linguistic primacy of french , seeks make french common public language of quebec. allowed advancement of francophones towards management roles, until largely out of reach – despite fact 85% of population spoke french , of them did not understand english, language of management english in medium , large businesses. critics, both francophone , anglophone, have criticized charter restraining citizens linguistic school choice, forbids immigrants , quebecers of french descent attending english-language schools funded state (private schools remained option afford tuition). parti québécois initiated 1980 quebec referendum seeking mandate begin negotiation sovereignty-association. rejected 60 per cent of voters.

the party re-elected in 1981 election, in november 1984 experienced severe internal crisis of existence. lévesque wanted focus on governing quebec rather sovereignty, , wanted adopt more conciliatory approach on constitutional issues. angered more ardent sovereigntists, known purs et durs. lévesque forced resign result. in september 1985, party leadership election chose pierre-marc johnson successor.

despite social-democratic past, pq failed gain admission socialist international, after membership application vetoed federal new democratic party.

1985 defeat

the pq led johnson defeated quebec liberal party in 1985 election saw robert bourassa return premier. liberals served in office 2 terms , attempted negotiate constitutional settlement rest of canada failure of meech lake accord , charlottetown accord, 2 packages of proposed amendments canadian constitution, question of quebec s status remained unresolved , quebec sovereignty movement revived.

return power under parizeau

the pq returned power under leadership of hardline sovereigntist jacques parizeau in 1994 quebec election. saw pq win 77 seats , 44% of vote, on promise hold independence referendum within year. following year, parizeau called 1995 quebec referendum proposing negotiations on sovereignty. again, sovereigntists lost vote. final count showed 49.42% of voters supported negotiations lead sovereignty. on night of defeat, emotionally drained premier parizeau stated loss caused money , ethnic votes (which led accusations parizeau racist) divided votes amongst francophones. parizeau resigned next day (as alleged have planned beforehand in case of defeat).

bouchard government

lucien bouchard, former member of prime minister brian mulroney s cabinet , later founder of bloc québécois, federal-level sovereigntist party, succeeded parizeau pq leader, chose not call referendum due absence of winning conditions . bouchard s government balanced provincial budget – feat achieved in canada federal government , few of ten canadian provinces @ point – reducing government spending, including social programs. pq re-elected in 1998 election, despite receiving fewer votes quebec liberal party led former federal deputy prime minister jean charest. bouchard resigned in 2001, , succeeded pq leader , quebec premier bernard landry, former pq finance minister. under landry s leadership, party lost 2003 election jean charest s liberals.

return opposition

mid-late 2004 difficult landry s leadership, being contested. vote held during party s june 2005 convention determine whether landry continued have confidence of party membership. landry said wanted @ least 80% of approval , after gaining 76.2% approval on confidence vote party membership on 4 june 2005, landry announced intention resign.

louise harel had been chosen replace him until new leader, andré boisclair, elected 15 november 2005, through party s 2005 leadership election. @ time of boisclair s election, pq as 20 percent ahead of liberals in opinion polls, suggesting boisclair lead them landslide majority government in next election.

splintering on right , left

progressives on left wing of pq perceived rightward move party towards neoliberalism under bouchard, landry , boisclair. in 2006, new left-wing party, québec solidaire, formed included many activists have formerly been members or supporters of pq. on subsequent elections, qs attract increasing support left-wing sovereigntists disillusioned pq, while on right, adq , later coalition avenir québec attracted votes of right-wing , soft sovereigntists, resulting in pq being squeezed both sides.

third place

the pq unable maintain momentum briefly had under boisclair, , in 2007 provincial election, party fell 36 seats , behind conservative action démocratique du québec (adq) in number of seats , popular vote: first time since 1973 party did not form government or official opposition. boisclair said voters did not support strategy of rapid referendum in first mandate of pq government. instead of policy convention following election, party held presidents council. party caucus in provincial legislative assembly said have supported boisclair continuing leader.

on may 8, 2007 boisclair announced resignation leader of pq. effective immediately, although boisclair confirmed remain within pq caucus time being. replaced veteran mna françois gendron, pending leadership race , convention.

former pq leader pauline marois greets voters in quebec city on eve of 2012 general election.

former bloc québécois leader gilles duceppe first announce intention run party leadership, on 11 may 2007. followed same day pauline marois. in surprise move, duceppe withdrew on 12th – leaving marois declared candidate. no other candidates came forward, , on 26 june 2007, marois won leadership acclamation.

in june 2011, party shaken when 3 of prominent mnas—popular actor pierre curzi, former cabinet minister louise beaudoin, , lisette lapointe, wife of former premier jacques parizeau, followed next day fourth, jean-martin aussant, quit party sit independents on marois s support bill changing law permit agreement between city of québec , quebecor inc. concerning management of new sports , entertainment complex in quebec city. unrest continued later in month when fifth mna, benoit charette, quit, citing dissatisfaction party s sole focus being sovereignty. beaudoin rejoined pq caucus in 2012.

marois minority government

the party won minority government under marois in 2012 provincial election 54 of 125 seats in national assembly. embarked on program of sovereigntist governance in relations rest of canada, return quebec balanced budgets through higher taxes , debt reduction, increase use of french in public services, , address resource development in northern quebec. pq s new bill 101 did not pass. centrepiece of government s program quebec charter of values have curtailed minority religious identity banning wearing of religious symbols in employ of government, particularly sikh turbans, muslim veils , jewish kippas.

2014 defeat

based on charter s growing popularity among francophones, marois called election 7 april 2014 in attempt win majority government. despite leading in polls when writ dropped, campaign went badly due several mishaps. recruitment of star candidate pierre karl péladeau, comments made sovereignty , prospect of referendum focus of campaign, feminist janette bertrand suggesting wealthy muslim men taking on swimming pools, among other incidents badly hurt pq.[1] marois government defeated liberals, led philippe couillard, in 2014 provincial election resulted in liberal majority government. pq won 25% of vote , 30 seats, worst result in terms of popular vote since 1970. marois announced intention resign pq leader night.

stéphane bédard chosen interim parliamentary leader pq caucus on 10 april 2014.

on 20 october 2014 lévis by-election, pq candidate alexandre bégin came in third place, 8.28% of popular vote, narrowly beating québec solidaire.

péladeau leadership

on november 27, 2014, pierre karl péladeau announced intentions run pq s leadership, joining bernard drainville, martine ouellet, jean-françois lisée, alexandre cloutier, , pierre céré.

despite fiercely contested race, péladeau frontrunner of campaign, causing jean-françois lisée drop out in january 2015, bernard drainville drop out on april 22, 2015, , pierre céré follow drainville 5 days before leadership election.

on may 15, 2015, pierre karl péladeau elected permanent leader.

on may 2, 2016, péladeau announced retiring politics dedicate more time family.

jean-françois lisée leadership

jean-françois lisée elected leader of parti québécois on october 7, 2016.