The Mouvement socialiste emerged from discussions among six prominent Quebec academics and unionists: Yvon Charbonneau, Marcel Pepin, Raymond Laliberté, Albert Dubuc, Jacques Dofny, and Lucie Dagenais.
[2] The Mouvement socialiste was committed to feminism and ecology and supported Quebec sovereignty as a means of promoting socialism.
[6] In 1984, Mouvement socialist president Marcel Pépin joined a coalition of Quebec nationalists in a bid to renew the sovereigntist movement.
Provincial NDP leader Jean-Paul Harney dismissed the Mouvement's electoral prospects, saying that it "barely exist[ed] as an organization.
[10] The Mouvement socialiste fielded ten candidates again in the 1989 provincial election, but was unable to move beyond marginal status.