Editing Parti Québécois (section)

===Collapse and brief loss of official party status===
For the [[2018 Quebec general election|2018 provincial election]], the PQ ruled out holding a referendum on sovereignty until 2022 at the earliest.<ref name=GuardianHoldout/> With the sovereignty issue taken off the table for the first time in almost half a century, the 2018 election unfolded in a historic way, being the first time in a half century a party other than the Parti Québécois or Liberals were elected to power, with a [[Coalition Avenir Québec]] majority win. It also marked the first time in 42 years that the Parti Québécois did not win enough seats to maintain [[official party status|official status]] in the legislature. With only 10 seats won, not only did it lose official status, but was relegated to third place (tied with [[Québec solidaire]]). The PQ was reduced to its smallest presence in the National Assembly since its first election in 1970. In this election the Parti Québécois only garnered 17% of the popular vote, the lowest score in party's history at the time.

With few exceptions, its support bled to the CAQ, which took several ridings that had been in PQ hands for 40 years or more, by large margins in many cases. A number of longtime PQ supporters defected to the CAQ because they no longer believed sovereignty was a realistic goal.<ref name=GuardianHoldout>{{cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/sep/30/terrebonne-hold-out-of-quebec-separatism-faces-end-of-the-dream|title=Canada: holdout of Quebec separatism faces end of the dream|author1=Martin Patriquin|work=[[The Guardian]]|date=30 September 2018}}</ref> Notably, the party was completely shut out of Montreal for the first time in memory, including its traditional stronghold in the heavily francophone eastern portion. Historically, when the PQ won government, the eastern half of the Island of Montreal was coated light blue. Many younger sovereigntists defected to Québec Solidaire.

Leader Jean-François Lisée was defeated in his own riding and resigned thereafter, accepting the blame for his party's failure and collapse. After 50 years in the forefront of Quebec politics, the Parti Québécois had been pushed into marginal status. According to ''[[The Globe and Mail]],'' within hours of the results being known, there was speculation that the party's very survival was in doubt; there were concerns that it was no longer capable of attracting enough support "to justify its political usefulness".<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.theglobeandmail.com/canada/article-after-50-years-pq-pushed-to-political-margins-as-lisee-loses-montreal/|title=After 50 years, Parti Québécois pushed to political margins as Lisée loses Montreal seat and resigns}}</ref> Christian Bourque of Montreal-based pollster [[Léger Marketing]] suggested that the PQ was likely finished in its present form, and would have to merge with another sovereigntist party to avoid fading into irrelevance.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/oct/02/quebec-election-results-caq-victory-francois-legault|title=Quebec election: CAQ victory proves separatism is no longer a major issue|author1=Martin Patriquin|newspaper=[[The Guardian]]|date=2 October 2018}}</ref> On 27 November 2018, the CAQ granted both the PQ and Québec Solidaire official status in the legislature, despite the parties being short on seats and percentage of the popular vote in order to qualify.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://montrealgazette.com/news/local-news/pq-and-qs-to-get-official-party-status-in-national-assembly|title=PQ and QS to get official party status in National Assembly|author=Presse Canadienne|work=Montreal Gazette|date=22 November 2018|access-date=6 December 2018}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=https://montrealgazette.com/news/local-news/pq-and-qs-to-get-official-party-status-in-national-assembly|title=Parties reach agreement in principle to give PQ and QS official party status|newspaper=Montreal Gazette|date=22 November 2018|access-date=6 December 2018}}</ref>

However, on 11 March 2019, [[Catherine Fournier (Canadian politician)|Catherine Fournier]], the youngest MNA in the party and the province and the only PQ MNA from Greater Montreal, resigned from the Parti Québécois to sit as an independent, claiming the party had lost its way. At the same time, several members of the PQ's youth wing expressed concern that the party might not have a future.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://montreal.ctvnews.ca/pq-may-have-no-future-youth-wing-members-say-in-open-letter-1.4340352|title=PQ may have no future, youth wing members say in open letter|date=11 March 2019|work=[[The Canadian Press]]|access-date=19 March 2019}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=https://montreal.ctvnews.ca/they-ve-lost-their-way-pq-mna-catherine-fournier-quits-party-1.4330881|title='They've lost their way': PQ MNA Catherine Fournier quits party|date=11 March 2019|work=[[CFCF-DT|CTV News Montreal]]|access-date=19 March 2019}}</ref> Fournier's defection dropped the party into fourth place, losing its standing as second opposition and potentially losing their official party status once again.

The next leadership election occurred on 9 October 2020, with lawyer [[Paul St-Pierre Plamondon]] being elected as the tenth Parti Québécois leader.<ref>{{cite news |title=Paul St-Pierre Plamondon wins PQ leadership, pledges to rebuild party|url=https://montrealgazette.com/news/quebec/paul-st-pierre-plamondon-wins-pq-leadership-pledges-to-rebuild-party |access-date=22 October 2020 |work=Montreal Gazette |agency=Canadian Press |date=10 October 2020}}</ref>