Editing Parti Québécois (section)

==Party policy==
{{Update|date=March 2017}}
{{Unbalanced|date=March 2017}}
The Parti Québécois centres on the protection of the Franco-Québécois identity, up to or including the ultimate result of sovereignty-association. Sovereigntism, however, is 'Article 1' in its party program.<ref>{{cite web|last=Fidler |first=Richard |url=http://lifeonleft.blogspot.ca/2011/06/behind-those-resignations-from-parti.html |title=Life on the Left: Behind those resignations from the Parti Québécois |publisher=Lifeonleft.blogspot.ca |date=2011-06-07 |access-date=2014-04-09}}</ref>

After then-French President Nicolas Sarkozy rejected the long-standing "non-interference, non-indifference" stance towards Quebec should it seek sovereignty in 2009, PQ leader and Premier Pauline Marois' visit to France in October 2012 saw her reinstate it with French President François Hollande.<ref>{{cite web |last=Dougherty |first=Kevin |url=https://montrealgazette.com/news/Quebec+sovereignty+France+President+Hollande+returns/7390753/story.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121018053954/http://www.montrealgazette.com/news/Quebec+sovereignty+France+President+Hollande+returns/7390753/story.html |archive-date=18 October 2012 |title=France's president embraces traditional "ni, ni" stance on Quebec's future |publisher=Montrealgazette.com |date=15 October 2012 |access-date=19 October 2012 }}</ref> Also during her visit, Marois commented that "Canada's current foreign policy corresponds to neither our values nor our interests".<ref>{{cite web |url=https://ottawacitizen.com/travel/Parti+Quebecois+Premier+Pauline+Marois+tears+strip+Harpers/7397190/story.html |archive-url=https://archive.today/20130130212748/http://www.ottawacitizen.com/travel/Parti+Quebecois+Premier+Pauline+Marois+tears+strip+Harpers/7397190/story.html |archive-date=30 January 2013 |title=Parti Quebecois Premier Pauline Marois tears a strip off Harper's foreign policy |publisher=Ottawacitizen.com |access-date=19 October 2012 }}</ref>

The PQ delivered a brief to the [[reasonable accommodation]] commission on minorities, which conducted hearings across the province. The commission briefing looked to reformulate the relations between Quebec's [[francophone]] and minority populations. Its task was to be a platform for the PQ's protectionism of French.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/LAC.20071005.MAROIS05/TPStory/National |work=The Globe and Mail|location=Toronto |title=globeandmail.com: National |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090109025911/http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/LAC.20071005.MAROIS05/TPStory/National |archive-date=9 January 2009 }}</ref>

Marois stated there is nothing dogmatic in Francophones wishing to declare their existence even if it includes developing legislation requiring newcomers to have a basic understanding of French before becoming citizens of Quebec.{{Citation needed|date=March 2011}} (Note that there are no official citizens of Quebec; residents of Quebec are citizens of Canada.)

Further to her desire to protect French in Quebec, during Marois' visit to France in October 2012, she recommended that the "French elite" conduct themselves only in French on the international scene.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://montrealgazette.com/life/Letter+Marois+telling+France+what/7403202/story.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121019203129/http://www.montrealgazette.com/life/Letter+Marois+telling+France+what/7403202/story.html |archive-date=19 October 2012 |title=Letter: Marois telling France what to do |publisher=Montrealgazette.com |access-date=19 October 2012 }}</ref> However, some of Marois' international critics scoffed at her pretension that the "French elite" were Québécois.

Marois stated the PQ understands the arrival of newcomers is attractive and they "contribute greatly" to Quebec's growth, but she stated that does not imply that to better assimilate them that "we must erase our own history."<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.canada.com/topics/news/politics/story.html?id=dc07ef77-b74f-4108-80ab-a86729cb5dd2&k=83784 |title=PQ leader defends citizenship plan |publisher=Canada.com |date=21 October 2007 |access-date=20 January 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121104005910/http://www.canada.com/topics/news/politics/story.html?id=dc07ef77-b74f-4108-80ab-a86729cb5dd2&k=83784 |archive-date=4 November 2012}}</ref>

As of 2014, the PQ electoral program describes the party's main commitment: "Aspiring to political liberty, the Parti Québécois has as its first objective to achieve the sovereignty of Quebec after consulting the population by a referendum to be held at the moment that the government judges appropriate."<ref>{{cite web |url=http://fullcomment.nationalpost.com/2014/03/12/william-johnson-hard-truths-for-separatists/ |title=William Johnson: Hard truths for separatists &#124; National Post |publisher=Fullcomment.nationalpost.com |access-date=2014-04-09 |archive-url=https://archive.today/20140318221441/http://fullcomment.nationalpost.com/2014/03/12/william-johnson-hard-truths-for-separatists/ |archive-date=18 March 2014}}</ref>

Other electoral issues were the [[Quebec Charter of Values]], and language.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://montrealgazette.com/news/Drainville%20blames%20referendum%20charter%20fall/9737081/story.html|title=Drainville blames referendum, not charter, for PQ fall|first=Philip|last=Authier|work=montrealgazette.com|access-date=18 October 2016|archive-date=19 October 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161019142841/http://www.montrealgazette.com/news/Drainville%20blames%20referendum%20charter%20fall/9737081/story.html}}</ref>

Like the [[Coalition Avenir Québec]], the PQ supported the [[Quebec ban on face covering]] but also argued the ban is not extensive enough.<ref>[https://www.economist.com/blogs/erasmus/2017/10/quebec-islam-and-face-covering M.D. and Erasmus, "Quebec's ban on face-coverings risks inflaming inter-communal tensions", ''The Economist'', October 20, 2017.]</ref>