page_title: Quebec Liberal Party
section_title: Post-Confederation
hierarchical_section_title: Quebec Liberal Party / History / Post-Confederation
caption_attribution_description: Français&#160;: Gouvernement de Félix-Gabriel Marchand (Québec) en 1897
context_page_description: The Quebec Liberal Party is a federalist provincial political party in Quebec, Canada. It has been independent of the federal Liberal Party of Canada since 1955.
  The party has traditionally supported a form of Quebec federalism that supports Quebec remaining within the Canadian federation while also supporting reforms that would allow Quebec substantial autonomy. While the party has been described as centrist in the context of Canadian politics, the party believes in a strong role for government in the economy and supports socially liberal policies. The party has a social-democratic faction which was especially prominent during the Quiet Revolution.
  The Quebec Liberals have always been associated with the colour red; each of their main opponents in different eras have been generally associated with the colour blue.
context_section_description: The Liberals were in opposition to the ruling Conservatives for most of the first 20 years after Canadian Confederation, except for 18 months of Liberal minority government in 1878-1879.  However, the situation changed in 1885 when the federal Conservative government executed Louis Riel, the leader of the French-speaking Métis people of western Canada.  This decision was unpopular in Quebec. Honoré Mercier rode this wave of discontent to power in 1887, but was brought down by a scandal in 1891. He was later cleared of all charges.  The Conservatives returned to power until 1897.
  The Liberals won the 1897 election, and held power without interruption for the next 39 years; the Conservatives never held power in Québec again.  This mirrored the situation in Ottawa, where the arrival of Wilfrid Laurier in the 1896 federal election marked the beginning of Liberal Party of Canada dominance at the federal level.  Notable long-serving Premiers of Quebec in this era were Lomer Gouin and Louis-Alexandre Taschereau.
  By 1935, however, the Conservatives had an ambitious new leader, Maurice Duplessis. Duplessis merged his party with dissident ex-Liberals who had formed the Action libérale nationale.  Duplessis led the new party, the Union Nationale (UN), to power in the 1936 election.  The Liberals returned to power in the 1939 election, but lost it again in the 1944 election. They remained in opposition to the Union Nationale until one year after Duplessis's death in 1959.
  In 1955, the PLQ severed its affiliation with the Liberal Party of Canada.
caption: Members of the 1897 Marchand government.
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