Quebec party leader to resign

QUEBEC CITY – The leader of Quebec’s separatist party said Saturday he will step down and leave politics after deciding he didn’t get enough support at a party conference.

Bernard Landry made the announcement after earning 76.2 percent support at a Provincial Parti Quebecois convention. Landry had said he would stay on as leader if he achieved a score of at least 76 percent. He said his support, only slightly above that threshold, wasn’t good enough for him.

“It breaks my heart to tell you this, but I’m doing it in the national interest,” he said. “I’m sorry to do this.” Landry, 68, said the cause of making Quebec a nation requires a leader widely supported in the separatist party.

Landry took over as premier of Quebec from Lucien Bouchard in 2001, but lost the last provincial election to pro-Canadian federalist Liberal Premier Jean Charest in 2003. It was Landry’s first leadership review since the 2003 election.

In 1996, a disappointed Bouchard threatened to quit when he received 76.4 per cent support in a confidence vote.

It was 25 years ago in May that Quebec held the first of two failed referendums on sovereignty. The demand for sovereignty in Quebec has waned since French was made the official language in 1977 and the province gained significant control of taxes, education and immigration policies.