In Quebec politics, le beau risque (French pronunciation: [lə bo ʁisk], the noble risk or the good risk) is a political catch phrase describing the "risk" the Parti Québécois (PQ or "péquistes") took in asking Quebecers to support federal Progressive Conservatives (PCs or "Tories") under Brian Mulroney and accept an amended version of the Constitution Act, 1982, which the péquiste Quebec government under René Lévesque has previously refused to sign.
Mulroney promised Quebec the opportunity to fully enter into the constitution "with honour and enthusiasm" and have its distinctiveness recognized in the document.
In the 1988 Canadian election, fought around the issue of free-trade with the USA (which Mulroney supported), the PCs increased their total in Quebec to 63.
The largest share of seats in Quebec went to the newly created Bloc Québécois, an openly sovereigntist party led by Lucien Bouchard, a former MP and cabinet minister in Mulroney's government.
In 2006, under the Conservative government of Stephen Harper, the Canadian House of Commons passed a motion recognizing "that the Québécois form a nation within a united Canada," but it was without constitutional force.