The Parti nationaliste du Québec was a fringe Quebec-based federal political party in Canada, that advocated sovereignty of Quebec and was founded by Parti Québécois (PQ) supporters. Its primary goal was to represent Quebec's interests in Ottawa and serve as a federal wing for the PQ.
Marcel Léger,[1] who had been the PQ Member of the provincial legislature for the district of LaFontaine since 1970 became the party's first leader on September 14, 1983. He was a former Minister of the Environment who had been dropped from the Cabinet in 1982.
The party ran 74 candidates in the 1984 federal election. All of them ran in Quebec districts and were defeated, including interim leader Denis Monière, who ran in the district of Duvernay.
The party conducted a very modest campaign, lacking financial and human resources. Most PQ supporters voted for the Progressive Conservative Party which won 58 out of Quebec's 75 districts and Mulroney became Prime Minister.
Decline
During the months that followed the 1984 defeat, the PQ dealt with the worst crisis of its existence. Five cabinet members, including Minister of Finance Jacques Parizeau, resigned. The PQ lost the 1985 provincial election. The PQ's misfortunes distracted the Parti nationaliste's supporters. It left them with little time available for federal politics.
Monière went on to help found the Parti indépendantiste in 1985. The Parti indépendantiste was a Quebec provincial party that aimed to attract more radical supporters of the PQ who were disappointed with the beau risque approach.
The Parti nationaliste unsuccessfully ran a candidate in the September 29, 1986 by-election in the district of Saint-Maurice. It ceased to exist soon after.
Legacy
The Parti nationaliste may have provided the groundwork for the subsequent success of the sovereigntist Bloc Québécois (BQ) in federal politics. In 1993, 54 out of the BQ's 75 candidates were elected. Three of them, Antoine Dubé, Réal Ménard and Yves Rocheleau, had run under the Parti nationaliste label nine years earlier.