Despite its name, the PSC had no connection with Canada's social democratic political tradition.
It was established by Jacques Paquette, a former heroin addict who operated drug treatment centres throughout Quebec in the 1980s.
[1] On one occasion, Paquette said that he would establish a leftist dictatorship in a "free Quebec" to remove heroin dealers from the province.
[2] He also promoted the use of handguns by citizen vigilantes to fight organized crime.
[3] Paquette ran in the 1985 election in Hull under the name "Jacob Easter", which was intended as a humorous translation of his real name.