QUEBEC CITY — Liberal leader Marc Tanguay makes no secret of it: He picked up his Parti Québécois (PQ) ticket before he was even old enough to vote and supported Quebec’s secession in 1995. Today he claims to have broken the map of his sovereigntist past, while accusing François Legault of continuing to secretly harbor independence aspirations.

The young Marc Tanguay quickly discovered his interest in politics. In sixth grade, he did an assignment about René Lévesque.

In the early 1990s, before he was 18, he called the PQ to find out how he could get involved.

Under the questioning looks of his sister Annie, he happily announces to her that he will become a member of a political party. “I thought I was important! And my activism started from there,” the man who is now interim leader of the Quebec Liberal Party (PLQ) says in an interview with The Canadian Press.

After becoming a member, he became active within the PQ in the Quebec region, even becoming regional president of the party’s National Youth Committee. “Back then, young people primarily had the reflex to be sovereigntists,” he remembers.

Today’s leader of the official opposition, Marc Tanguay, receives La Presse Canadienne in his office in the National Assembly. He wants to tell the story of how he became a sovereigntist, but also how he managed to passionately defend Quebec within Canada.

“I wanted to vote ‘yes'”

In 1995, Marc Tanguay was 22 years old. “The referendum came and it was clear to me that I would vote ‘yes,'” he says, sitting behind his desk, wearing a white shirt, his collar freed from his tie.

The victory of “no” and the unfortunate statement by Jacques Parizeau on the evening of defeat on “money” and “ethnic votes” will make him rethink his political positioning. “Quebec residents said ‘no’ in 1980 and ‘no’ in 1995. Now you say, ‘Okay, what do we do?’”

In the years that followed, he decided to cut ties with his independence past and cancel his PQ and Bloc Québécois membership cards.

“I called and said, ‘Not only do I not want to renew my card, but I also want you to remove my name from the lists.’ I don’t want to know anything more.”

And as if to prove to himself that the divorce was complete, in 2001 – during the Jean Chrétien era – he accepted his Liberal Party of Canada (PLC) card. “I had to tell you that I had made up my mind! ” he said.

He also joined the Quebec Liberal Party (PLQ) in 2006. But Marc Tanguay’s past resurfaced when he sought to become president of the political party in 2009. “My internal opponents had said: ‘Be careful, he is a former PQ member.'” he says. An argument that will obviously have little effect: he wins the presidency with 60% of the vote.

“I am a determined federalist”

The interview with The Canadian Press is also an opportunity for the 50-year-old to renew his commitment to federalism as the issue of independence has returned to the forefront of political news in recent weeks.

“To be honest, I have no longing for this time. (…) I entered politics through this door and made progress. And today I have been a staunch federalist for 25 years,” he says.

There are books on Marc Tanguay’s desk, several of which refer to former Liberal Prime Minister Robert Bourassa.

However, one document stands in contrast to the readings of the interim head of the PLQ: the new budget for the first year, prepared by PQ leader Paul St-Pierre Plamondon. “We read it,” assures Marc Tanguay.

And although he has no hesitation in saying he would now vote “no” to a possible third referendum, the Liberal leader admits it is legitimate for the PQ to want to go down that path. “I am convinced that Quebecers would answer ‘no’ for the third time.”

François Legault: a hidden independence activist

Marc Tanguay’s desire to present his transition from independence to federalism as a break is also a way of attacking his main opponent, François Legault, who, in his opinion, would never have made such a break. “No one can ever deny that there was a breach 25 years ago,” he claims.

This week, the Liberal leader attacked the prime minister, saying he was “in no way credible” as Captain Canada.

“François Legault, everything indicates that he is still a sovereigntist,” says Marc Tanguay in an interview, recalling that before the creation of the Coalition Avenir Québec, the current prime minister was a PQ MP and initiator of another year 1 budget was.