[17] The party was formed in 1994 by a group of nationalists, known as les allairistes, that supported the Allaire Report, a document that advocated a decentralized federal system in which the provincial Government of Quebec would have significantly increased powers.

After the failure of the Meech Lake Accord, which made many Québécois feel rejected by the rest of Canada, the Liberals adopted the Allaire Report as their constitutional policy.

The Charlottetown Accord would have recognized Quebec as a "distinct society" within Canada, but consisted of a much milder reform of the Canadian federal system.

After the by-election wins, the ADQ soared in popularity, leading the established parties in public opinion polling for the first time in its existence.

For a brief period, a number of political analysts predicted that the ADQ could gather as much as 42% of the vote and more than 80 seats in the National Assembly, which would have been enough for a strong majority.

The increased popularity of the party provided the ADQ with larger grassroots support, more money and star candidates for the subsequent election.

Dumont, who was able to recruit Beauce businessman Marcel Dutil, chairman of Groupe Canam Inc. as director of the ADQ's fund-raising activities, was considered as a serious candidate for the office of Premier of Quebec for the first time.

Dumont did not make any major mistake during the televised leaders' debate, but did not deliver the outstanding performance he needed to gain momentum.

By contrast, Quebec Liberal leader Jean Charest was able to put Bernard Landry of the Parti Québécois on the defensive.

The ADQ drew enough votes from previous PQ supporters to give the victory to Jean Charest's Liberals, but did not make a significant breakthrough in the National Assembly.

In the months that followed the election, the ADQ benefited from anger over the decision of the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) not to renew the license of Quebec City radio station CHOI-FM.

Radio host Jeff Fillion urged listeners to vote for ADQ candidate Sylvain Légaré in a by-election for the local district of Vanier.

Légaré defended the station's freedom of speech and was elected on September 20, 2004, which raised the number of ADQ seats back to five.

This breakthrough prepared the ground the subsequent growth of the ADQ, which could rely on a number of supporters from the modest Conservatives' organization in Quebec.

When the 2007 election campaign started, the ADQ was running only a few candidates with widespread name recognition and lacked the financial resources its rivals (especially the Liberals) had.

Dumont ran an effective campaign,[23] unveiling one plank from his electoral platform every day and therefore benefiting from sustained attention from his opponents and the media.

(The election of so many legislators without prior parliamentary experience led cartoonist Serge Chapleau to portray the ADQ MNAs as elementary school kids with Dumont as their teacher.

[27] Former PQ Cabinet Member Jean Garon, former Hydro-Québec CEO André Caillé and environmental activist Steven Guilbeault attended the convention.

Tom Pentefountas, a former ADQ candidate in the district of Nelligan in a 2004 by-election, succeeded Gilles Taillon as President of the party.

[28] During the year that followed the 2007 election, a number of ADQ members such as Éric Caire, Gilles Taillon and especially Sébastien Proulx emerged as effective and articulate legislators.

Nonetheless, according to journalist Gilbert Lavoie, the more experienced PQ caucus was better able to position itself as the best alternative to Jean Charest's Liberals.

[32][33][34] Furthermore, MNAs Pierre-Michel Auger and André Riedl, as well as power broker Yvon Picotte, switched political affiliation from ADQ to Liberal in October 2008.

MNAs Pierre Gingras, Ginette Grandmont, Linda Lapointe, Lucie Leblanc and Sébastien Proulx campaigned on behalf of the Conservative Party of Canada's candidates.

[43] The ADQ candidate came in third place in a June 21, 2009 by-election to fill the Rivière-du-Loup seat that Dumont vacated when he resigned from the National Assembly.

Dumont had held the seat for 14 years; he had carried it in the 2008 provincial election with over 50% of the vote, compared to the less than 15% garnered by ADQ candidate Gilberte Côté.

[47] Myriam Taschereau, a former federal Conservative candidate, and director of communications in the Prime Minister's Office, had also declared she would run, but later withdrew and endorsed Caire.

On 14 November 2011, Legault officially launched the movement as a new political party under the slightly modified name of Coalition Avenir Québec (CAQ).

[16][54][55] In mid-December, after the parties had agreed in principle to merge, two former ADQ MNAs who had left to sit as independents joined the CAQ.

The party's popularity also reached other predominantly French-speaking areas of the province, including Mauricie, Bas-Saint-Laurent, Centre-du-Québec and even Montérégie in the 2007 provincial election.