The green movement in Quebec began with the founding of the Parti vert du Québec (PVQ) in the 1980s, which enjoyed 5 per cent electoral support at its height. In an effort to cross ideological boundaries and centre the party solely on environmental issues, the PVQ leadership declared itself “beyond left and right.” It subsequently fell apart in 1998 after left-leaning members became disenchanted and left; the situation was further complicated by competition with the Green Party of Canada in Quebec (GPCQ). The current version of the PVQ was subsequently formed in 2001 by members of the GPCQ. The PVQ now runs a more explicitly left-wing platform, promoting green values and participatory democracy. Its support is mostly in anglophone areas of Montreal, where left-leaning anglophones who don’t wish to vote for sovereigntist, francophone parties are left with little other choice besides the PVQ. Alex Tyrrell, the current leader, is 25 years old, the youngest party leader in Quebec politics.
Option nationale (ON) was founded in 2011 by Jean-Martin Aussant, previously a Member of the National Assembly for the Parti Québécois, in order to bolster the salience of the sovereignty question in provincial politics. Considered a centre-left party, ON has not shown a clear opinion on the proposed Charter of Values and has instead called for unity among sovereigntists. The party argues for free education and for the nationalization of Quebec’s natural resources. ON placed fifth in the last election, earning nearly 2 per cent of the vote. ON is formally open to an alliance with any party that shares its stance on sovereignty, which has not happened as of yet. In a surprising move, Aussant abruptly left politics in 2013. The current leader of the party is Sol Zanetti.
Not to be confused with the other Conservative Party of Quebec, which folded into Union nationale in 1935, the current Conservative Party of Quebec (PCQ) was revived in late 2009. Support for the party has been extremely low – the party received only 0.18 per cent of the vote in the 2012 provincial elections. Under the leadership of industrialist Adrien D. Pouliot, the PCQ began describing itself as a socially liberal and fiscally conservative party. Pouliot has taken a firm stance against the proposed Charter of Values, and has described it as trying to solve a problem that does not exist.
The PCQ’s platform is based on the liberalization of public services. While they believe that the French language should be promoted in the federal level under Bill 101, the PCQ also believes that a working knowledge of English should be a minimum standard for a high school diploma.