Parizeau regrets quitting after referendum loss

Jacques Parizeau says he now wishes he'd stayed on as premier to lead Quebec to independence after the 1995 sovereignty referendum instead of resigning after the failed vote.

In an interview with Montreal radio station 98.5 FM on Friday, Parizeau said he should have never stepped down as premier after the sovereigntist defeat on Oct. 30, 1995. 

'If I'd known all that on the night of the referendum, I certainly wouldn't have quit.' — Jacques Parizeau, former PQ premier

After the "Yes" camp lost the vote by less than a percentage point, Parizeau gave a bitter speech to Péquiste supporters, blaming the loss on "money and the ethnic vote."

He resigned as Parti Québécois leader and premier the next day.

Today, Parizeau says he would have remained in politics had he known two things he knows now that he didn't know then: that the federalist, or "No," side, had played "dirty tricks"; and that his former colleague Lucien Bouchard would be reticent to force a third referendum.

Parizeau said he didn't immediately realize the extent of the "No" side's scheming ahead of the referendum vote. There have been numerous allegations of illegal campaign spending and ineligible voting on the part of the federalist camp over the years.

The former PQ premier also said he thought Bouchard, his successor and the former leader of the Bloc Québécois, would actively work to lead Quebec to independence. Parizeau says he's now disappointed in Bouchard.

"I was convinced when I left and was replaced by ... Bouchard, who was extraordinarily popular in Quebec, that he would continue the movement," Parizeau said during his interview with Paul Arcand.

"If I'd known all that on the night of the referendum, I certainly wouldn't have quit."

Bouchard has been critical of the PQ's evolution as a party, recently accusing it of becoming too radical.

PQ successors all talk, no action: Parizeau

Bouchard was head of the Bloc in the months leading up to the 1995 referendum, lending his support to then premier Parizeau, who led the "Yes" campaign in its early stages. When support for independence plateaued, Bouchard took over and galvanized support across the province.

But when he took over the reins of the PQ after Parizeau's resignation, Bouchard focused on tackling Quebec's looming deficit and vowed only to hold a referendum when "winning conditions" were achieved.

Successive PQ leaders – Bernard Landry, André Boisclair and current head Pauline Marois – have repeatedly stated the need for Quebec independence but have been vague about the details of executing the so-called national project.

Parizeau has been critical of his party this week as Saturday's 15th anniversary of the referendum approaches.

He says his PQ heirs talk a lot about independence but haven't done anything to achieve it.

Parizeau also called current Bloc leader Gilles Duceppe the best spokesperson for the sovereignty movement and congratulated him for travelling to Washington, D.C., earlier this month to sell the idea of Quebec independence south of the border.

Parizeau also found some kind words for Marois during his interview, saying he admires her but wants to see some action.

"It's not about talking; it's about doing the preparatory work for Quebec independence," he said.

The PQ should be planning for an eventual referendum win, he said.

"Nothing would make me happier than seeing Madame Marois take this preparation question by the horns, run with it and say, 'This is where we're going'," Parizeau said.

Parizeau, now 80, remains extremely popular among the "purs et durs," or hardliners, who still make up a substantial part of the PQ support base. His wife, Lisette Lapointe, is an elected PQ member of the national assembly.

Just because polls suggest Quebecers don't have an appetite for another referendum doesn't mean the PQ shouldn't work for one, he says. In fact, the party owes it to its voters to do so.

"You can't go into an election saying, 'We're for independence but we'll tell you another day what we intend to do with it'," Parizeau said.

In politics, you never know what will happen, he teased.

"When politics is interesting, people go vote," Parizeau said.