Editing Parti Québécois (section)

===Bouchard government===
[[Lucien Bouchard]], a former member of Prime Minister [[Brian Mulroney]]'s [[Canadian Cabinet|Cabinet]] and later founder of the [[Bloc Québécois]], a federal-level sovereigntist party, succeeded Parizeau as PQ leader, but chose not to call another referendum due to the absence of "winning conditions". Bouchard's government then balanced the provincial budget&nbsp;– a feat achieved in Canada only by the federal government and a few of the ten Canadian provinces at that point&nbsp;– by reducing [[government spending]], including social programs. The PQ was re-elected in the [[1998 Quebec general election|1998 election]], despite receiving fewer votes than the Quebec Liberal Party led by former federal deputy prime minister [[Jean Charest]].  Bouchard resigned in 2001, and was succeeded as PQ leader and Quebec Premier by [[Bernard Landry]], a former PQ Finance minister. Under Landry's leadership, the party lost the [[2003 Quebec general election|2003 election]] to Jean Charest's Liberals.