The PQ has been defeated. In a majority victory, Liberal Jean Charest became Quebec's new premier last night. Across the country, provincial premiers are seeing the PQ's ousting as a positive sign for Canadian unity. "I think federalism in Canada is stronger today than it was yesterday," says New Brunswick Premier Bernard Lord in this 2003 TV clip. Prime Minister Jean Chrétien calls Charest's win "the cherry on the sundae." But what does this election really mean for Quebec's sovereignty movement?

• The election date was April 14, 2003. Charest's Liberals won 76 of the 125 seats (up from 48). Bernard Landry's PQ won 45 seats (down from 76). Mario Dumont's Action Démocratique du Québec (ADQ) won four seats (up from the one won in 1998).
• Charest's campaign promises included reducing hospital wait times and significantly cutting taxes.

• Bernard Landry had taken over as premier and leader of the PQ in 2001, after Lucien Bouchard retired. Landry announced his resignation as leader of the PQ in June 2005 after he received only a 76.2 per cent approval rationg during a PQ convention.

• According to a cbc.ca story written a month before the 2003 election, the main election issues were "family, health, education and the economy." For the Liberals, improving healthcare was the top priority. The PQ put an emphasis on work/family balance, which included a proposal of a four-day workweek for parents of young children. And the ADQ focused most of its attention on strengthening the economy.

• As this TV clip speculated, the 2003 Liberal win was by no means a sign that the sovereignty movement was dying. A 2005 Economist article declared "the hope of independence is burning strongly again in Quebec. In recent months, more than half of Quebeckers asked have been telling pollsters that they would vote in favour of sovereignty in a new referendum, thus reversing a long decline in support that started after the failed referendum of 1995 and reached its low point in 2003."

• For more stories and information about the 2003 Quebec election, see cbc.ca's "Quebec Votes 2003" web page.

Medium: Television
Program: The National
Broadcast Date: April 15, 2003
Host: Peter Mansbridge, Reporters: Lynda Calvert, Christina Lawand
Guest(s): Jean Charest, Jean Chrétien, Stéphane Dion, Ernie Eves, Bernard Landry, Bernard Lord, Antonia Maioni, Pierre Martin, Daniel Salée
Duration: 4:49