Pro-sovereignty political parties have represented Quebec at the provincial and federal level, and have held two referendums on sovereignty which were both defeated.
On August 9 of that year, Raoul Roy founded the Action socialiste pour l'indépendance du Québec (ASIQ).
Shortly after the November 1962 Quebec general election, RIN member Marcel Chaput founded the short-lived Parti républicain du Québec.
He set about to unite pro-sovereignty forces, and at a congress in October 1968 the RN and MSA agreed to merge to form the Parti Québécois (PQ).
Numerous activists were influenced by the writings of Frantz Fanon, Albert Memmi, Aimé Césaire, Léopold Sédar Senghor and Karl Marx.
In June 1967, during a state visit for the Canadian Centennial, French president Charles de Gaulle made a speech from the balcony of Montreal City Hall in which he declared Vive le Québec libre!
[2] The phrase was a slogan of Quebec sovereignty, and its delivery by de Gaulle deeply offended the Canadian federal government, which derided him.
Despite having lost the referendum, the PQ was returned to power in the 1981 election with a stronger majority, obtaining 49.2 per cent of the vote and winning 80 seats.
In 1987, Prime Minister Brian Mulroney and the provincial premiers negotiated the accord, which satisfied all of Quebec's demands.
[4] In addition to the Progressive Conservatives' initiative in pledging to reach 'national reconciliation' through constitutional rapprochement and re-establishment of harmonious ties in federal–provincial relations,[5] the Liberals and New Democrats also supported the accord in a House of Commons vote.
[6] Adhering to the procedure to ratify an amendment as outlined in the Constitution Act of 1982, the accord was sent to the ten provincial legislatures for approval.
Several reasons have been attributed to the accord's downfall, including the indirect and elitist manner in which negotiations were handled, the lack of proper recognition concerning minorities' interests, vague discussion about key issues, weak promotion by the federal government, and deliberate manipulation of the media and public by politicians in support and in opposition.
[8] Within Quebec, francophones responded with indignation at the failure of the accord, interpreting it as a rejection of French reality by English Canada.
This was reflective of the commonly perceived notion, held by English-Canadians, that the Meech Lake Accord would bring unevenness and difference to rights and powers, where the intended effect was to introduce equality.
[12] The 1992 Charlottetown Accord was the second attempt by Mulroney's government to bring Quebec into agreement with the constitution through reforms in a national referendum.
The main terms included parliamentary reform, First Nations self-government, a new division of federal–provincial powers, and a distinct society status for Quebec.
[15] Additionally, the equally represented Senate for each province would have suspending veto powers that would cause a joint session with the House of Commons.
[18] The vote reflected not only English Canadians' concern over provincial equality, individual equality, unique status, and the inviolability of the Charter of Rights and Freedoms, but Quebeckers' perception that the accord would only slightly affect Quebec's place within Confederation while not doing enough to ensure Quebec's autonomy within the federal government.
[18] Lucien Bouchard, leader of the Bloc Québécois, declared, "There were two roads before the referendum – profoundly renewed federalism and sovereignty.
[18] One of the major effects that resulted from the failure of multiple attempts at constitutional reform was the massive upheaval of the traditional political party structure in the federal government after the 1993 election.
Another consequence of the failure of Meech Lake was the formation of the pro-sovereigntist Bloc Québécois party (BQ) under former Progressive Conservative federal cabinet minister Lucien Bouchard.
In the 1993 federal election following the collapse of the Progressive Conservative Party, the BQ won enough seats to become Her Majesty's Loyal Opposition in the House of Commons.
Federal Liberal politicians stated that the ambiguous wording of the 1995 referendum question was the primary impetus in the bill's drafting.
In 1999, Parliament passed the Clarity Act, which established the conditions under which the federal government would enter into negotiations for possible secession following a vote by any province to leave Canada.