Quebec autonomism is a political belief that Quebec should seek to gain more autonomy as a province, while remaining a part of the Canadian federation. Drawing inspiration from René Lévesque's "beau risque", and Robert Bourassa's work on the Meech Lake Accord and Charlottetown Accord, its goals are, in short:
In a speech to delegates of the ADQ, party leader Mario Dumont, on May 8, 2006, Dumont said that Quebec should seek to re-open negotiations with the federal government over Quebec's status in Confederation, and should eventually ratify the Constitution of Canada
The concept was first articulated by Maurice Duplessis and the conservative Union Nationale party which believed in greater provincial autonomy without independence from Canada.