Parti Québécois << pahr TEE kay beh KWAH >> is a political party in Quebec , the largely French-speaking province within mainly English-speaking Canada. The Parti Québécois, often called the PQ, calls for Quebec to separate from Canada and become an independent country.
The Parti Québécois was founded in 1968 with René Lévesque , a member of Quebec’s legislature, as its first leader. The party first gained control of the provincial legislature in the 1976 general election and remained in power until 1985. In 1980, the PQ conducted a referendum on whether to open discussion with the federal government of Canada concerning what was called sovereignty association between Quebec and Canada. Such an association would have given Quebec political independence while maintaining its economic ties to Canada. The referendum was decisively defeated.
The PQ governed Quebec again from 1994 to 2003. In 1995, the people of Quebec voted on another referendum backed by the PQ. The referendum proposed sovereignty for Quebec but suggested the possibility of a special economic and political relationship between an independent Quebec and Canada. It was narrowly defeated. The PQ returned to power for 18 months, from 2012 to 2014, with a minority of seats in the legislature. During that time, party leader Pauline Marois served as Quebec’s first woman premier.
