Parti nationaliste du Qubec

The Parti nationaliste du Québec (PNQ) was a Quebec-based federal political party in Canada that advocated for Quebec sovereignty. Founded by supporters of the Parti Québécois (PQ), its primary goal was to represent Quebec's interests at the federal level and serve as a federal wing for the PQ. The PNQ emerged after the collapse of the Ralliement créditiste, the Quebec wing of the Social Credit Party, which had represented Quebec nationalists in Ottawa but was wiped out in the 1980 federal election. The PNQ succeeded the Union Populaire, a party that had little success in the 1979 and 1980 elections. Marcel Léger, a former PQ Member of the Provincial Legislature and Minister of the Environment, became the PNQ's first leader in 1983. However, after the 1982 Patriation of the Constitution, PQ leader René Lévesque endorsed Brian Mulroney's constitutional approach, leaving the PNQ without the PQ's support. Léger resigned as leader in 1984 and was succeeded by Denis Monière, who later founded the Parti indépendantiste in 1985. In the 1984 federal election, the PNQ ran 74 candidates in Quebec but failed to win any seats. The party's modest campaign lacked resources, and most PQ supporters voted for the Progressive Conservative Party, which won 58 of Quebec's 75 seats, making Mulroney Prime Minister. The PNQ declined after the 1984 election as the PQ faced its own crises, including cabinet resignations and electoral defeats. Monière helped found the Parti indépendantiste in 1985, which aimed to attract more radical sovereigntists disillusioned with the PQ's ...