Quebec separatist party's win raises renewed independence question

Quebec's separatist Parti Quebecois has won power in the Canadian province, reviving questions about a possible third referendum on independence from Canada, according to the BBC.

The party has promised to hold the province's third vote on independence since the movement's modern history began, following earlier referendums that resulted in the province remaining part of Canada. However, party leadership has said it will not hold the new vote until US President Donald Trump is out of office, the report said.

The BBC's report does not detail the Parti Quebecois's specific reasoning for tying the referendum's timing to the end of Trump's presidency, though the connection suggests concern about how a period of political instability or unpredictability in US-Canada relations might affect the outcome or international reception of an independence vote.

Quebec held independence referendums in 1980 and 1995, with the 1995 vote coming especially close, as sovereignty was rejected by a narrow margin. The province's politics have long featured a divide between federalist parties favouring continued union with Canada and sovereigntist parties advocating for Quebec's independence.

The scale of the Parti Quebecois's recent electoral win and its implications for the province's legislature were not detailed in the available report, nor was a specific timeline offered for when a referendum campaign might formally begin.