The Three Periods is a Quebec sovereigntist strategy. Before the 1993 federal election in Canada, Parti Québécois (PQ) leader Jacques Parizeau evoked a strategy for attainment of Quebec independence called the Three Periods. The strategy is partly inspired by the three periods of play in ice hockey (the most popular sport in Quebec). It is seen as a typical Parizeau concept: dedicated and straightforward, especially compared to some sovereigntist attitudes like a few (not all) of René Lévesque's (specifically in the last years of his government) or to the ''étapisme'' or "step-by-step" strategy.

The Three Periods Strategy

First period

* The election of a great number of candidates from the recently founded

Bloc Québécois The Bloc Québécois (BQ; , "Québécois people, Quebecer Voting bloc, Bloc") is a list of federal political parties in Canada, federal political party in Canada devoted to Quebec nationalism and the promotion of Quebec sovereignty movement, Que ...

in Ottawa for 1993 federal election. ** ''It was achieved: the Bloc sent 54 Member of Parliament (MPs) to the

House of Commons of Canada The House of Commons of Canada (french: Chambre des communes du Canada) is the lower house of the Parliament of Canada. Together with the Crown and the Senate of Canada, they comprise the bicameral legislature of Canada. The House of Common ...

and became the

Official Opposition Parliamentary opposition is a form of political opposition to a designated government, particularly in a Westminster-based parliamentary system. This article uses the term ''government'' as it is used in Parliamentary systems, i.e. meaning ''th ...

. Parizeau and the PQ publicly supported the Bloc campaign.''

Second period

* The election of a Parti Québécois government in Quebec for the 1994 Quebec election. ** ''It was achieved: 77 PQ Members of the National Assembly (MNAa) were elected to the National Assembly of Quebec, won a

majority government A majority government is a government by one or more governing parties that hold an absolute majority of seats in a legislature. This is as opposed to a minority government, where the largest party in a legislature only has a plurality of seats. ...

and received a plurality (although slimmer than expected) in popular vote.''

Third period

* The calling and victory of a second referendum on sovereignty for Quebec. ** ''It failed: the referendum was indeed called in

1995 File:1995 Events Collage V2.png, From left, clockwise: O.J. Simpson is O. J. Simpson murder case, acquitted of the murders of Nicole Brown Simpson and Ronald Goldman from the 1994, year prior in "The Trial of the Century" in the United States; The ...

with 49.42% in favour. Controversy over the nature of the referendum led to the Clarity Act of 2000.''

Resurgence

After the plummeting popularity of the newly elected federalist Quebec government in 2003-2004, the sponsorship scandal, the Bloc's renewed popularity for the 2004 federal elections and the rise in support for sovereignty (49% in April 2004), some evoked the return of a new three part plan. Pauline Marois even wrote an article for the '' Saison des idées'' in 2004 in favour of establishing a four period plan.

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