The Three Periods


The Three Periods is a Quebec sovereigntist strategy. Before the 1993 federal election in Canada, Parti Québécois 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. It is seen as a typical Parizeau concept: dedicated and straightforward, especially compared to some sovereigntist attitudes like a few of René Lévesque's or to the étapisme or "step-by-step" strategy.

The Three Periods Strategy

First period

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, 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.