| Description | Option nationale is a provincial political party in Quebec, Canada. It was founded in 2011 by Jean-Martin Aussant, a member of the National Assembly (MNA) who had quit the Parti Québécois (PQ) earlier that year after being elected in 2008. It is a centre-left party which advocates the sovereignty of Quebec from Canada, and says a vote for Option nationale is an electoral mandate for full-fledged autonomy (de facto sovereignty), before a referendum to adopt the constitution of Quebec as an independent nation-state (de jure sovereignty).
The party originally planned to use the name "Option Québec", as a nod to René Lévesque's 1968 manifesto An Option for Quebec, but it was already taken by another group.
In August 2011, before the party was founded, Aussant was courted by the Parti indépendantiste, with leader Eric Tremblay hoping to have his first Member of the National Assembly. Aussant refused however, saying he disagreed with the party's position on reducing immigration, as well as the view of the party that the 1995 referendum was lost because of "anglophone and ethnic votes". Aussant insists that economic fears propagated by federalists were responsible for the referendary defeat.
Shortly after the creation of Option nationale, Lisette Lapointe, wife of former Quebec Premier Jacques Parizeau, acquired a membership card from the party, but decided to continue sitting as an independent until the end of her term. |
