The Parti Québécois (PQ) lost the Quebec election this past April largely because Philippe Couillard cast his Liberals in the role of blocking PQ plans for another referendum on Quebec sovereignty.

Yet, inspired by the referendum in September on Scotland’s independence, contenders for the PQ leadership saw a door opening to revive support for their goal, which might allow them to win a third referendum on independence.

A sounding by the CROP polling agency in September saw support for sovereignty in Quebec jump to 41% during the run-up to the Scottish referendum, then settle back to 32% in October.

Still, Pierre Karl Péladeau and the other contenders to succeed Pauline Marois as PQ leader all went to Scotland to see how Scotland’s First Minister Alex Salmond increased support for Scottish independence to 45% on voting day from 30% two years earlier.

That is better than the PQ’s first referendum in 1980, when René Lévesque could manage only a 40% “yes” vote.

Jean-François Lisée, the PQ’s intellectual leader, wants to emulate Scotland’s Future, the Salmond government’s 650-page white paper that spells out a vision to recast Scotland as a Nordic social democracy.

There are major differences, however, between Salmond’s inclusive approach and the PQ’s proposed Charter of Quebec Values, which called for a ban on the hijab, the Islamic head covering. In Scotland, by contrast, women wearing hijabs were handing out “yes” campaign literature. And Salmond’s cabinet includes a minister of Muslim origin.

Support for the “yes” side in Scotland was fuelled by civic nationalism, as well as by discontent with governments in London, from Tories Margaret Thatcher and David Cameron to New Labour’s Tony Blair.

Salmond said he did not intend to call a second referendum, calling this year’s a “once in a generation” event. But he is stepping down as discontent in Scotland grows over London’s waffling on commitments to grant more powers to Scotland.

Cameron plans a referendum on Britain leaving the European Union (EU) – out of tune with Scotland’s goal to remain in the EU. He could be setting the scene for a second, perhaps decisive, Scottish referendum.

By contrast, Quebecers have lived through two divisive referendums, and the polls still show they do not want a third.

Making his political début in Quebec’s spring election, Péladeau, the PQ’s star recruit and still the controlling shareholder of Quebecor Inc., made a clenched fist salute to stress the point he is in politics to give his children an independent Quebec.

Meanwhile, Lisée, who also is a PQ leadership contender, has joined the ruling Liberals in calling upon Péladeau to choose between owning Quebec’s leading television empire or pursuing the PQ leadership. The PQ caucus seems satisfied with Péladeau’s pledge to put his shares into a blind trust; Lisée, formerly an advisor to PQ premiers Jacques Parizeau and Lucien Bouchard, now is a pariah within the PQ.

Still, the latest CROP poll says that while Péladeau is a shoo-in for the PQ leadership, that likelihood actually is good news for Couillard and his Liberals.

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