The Parti libéral du Québec (Liberal Party of Quebec, although it refers to itself in English as the Quebec Liberal Party), or PLQ, is a liberal political party in the Canadian province of Quebec. It has not been affiliated with the Liberal Party of Canada since 1955.
It has traditionally supported Quebec federalism, i.e., Quebec remaining within the Canadian confederation. It has also supported an adequate role for the government in the economy, although in recent years, due to public financial debt its economic policies have moved towards more free entreprise. It remains, however, a socially liberal party, which is in line with the Quebec mainstream.
The Liberal Party is descended from:
1. the Parti Canadien, or Parti Patriote who supported the 1837 Lower Canada Rebellion, and
2. the Parti rouge, who fought for responsible government and against the authority of the Roman Catholic Church in Lower Canada.
The most notable figure of this period was Louis-Joseph Papineau.
The Liberal Party has faced different opposing parties in different eras of its history. Its main opposition from the time of Confederation (1867) to the 1930s was the Quebec Conservative Party. That party's successor, the Union Nationale, was the main opposition to the Liberals until the 1970s. Since then the Liberals have alternated in power with the Parti Québécois, a social democratic party that is based on the idea of independence of Quebec from Canada. The Liberals have always been associated with the colour red; each of their three main opponents in different eras have been associated with the colour blue.
