n. — Politics, French relations
a federal political party that advocates sovereignty/separatism for Quebec.
Type: 1. Origin — The Bloc Québécois was founded by Lucien Bouchard in 1991 as a federal party after the failure of the Meech Lake Accord. One of the party's main aims is to achieve political sovereignty for the province of Quebec (see Canadian Encyclopedia reference). From 1993-1997 Bloc Québécois was the second largest party in the House of Commons and thus, ironically, "Her Majesty's Loyal Opposition."
See also COD-2, s.v. "Bloc Québécois", "Gage-5, s.v. "Bloc Québécois", which is described as "a Canadian federal political party", ITP Nelson, s.v. "Bloc Québécois", which is described as "of Canada".
See also: Bloquiste Meech Lake Accord
- The term separatism and associated terms like separatist is the dominant term in Anglophone Canada. In much of Francophone Quebec, the preferred term is sovereignty. Note that separatism carries negative connotations (the desire to destroy an existing federation), while sovereignty carries positive connotations (the right to self-determination).