As far as (French) Quebecers are concerned, the dust never really settled on that lost battle on the Plains of Abraham in 1759. Throughout the years the relationship between Québec and (the rest of) Canada has been uneasy – at best – ever since the British North America Act formally established the Confederation of Canada in 1867.

Even though the rights of French-speaking Canadians were recognised in theory, English-Canadians had through the years come to form a business and social élite in Montréal.  Hence, French Quebecers increasingly felt like an oppressed minority not just within the scope of Canada - where they were indeed a minority - but in Québec itself, where they formed the vast majority of the population.

In the 1960s, under premier Jean Lesage, Québec underwent one of the most major transformations in its history. The "Quiet Revolution" was a period of great cultural and economic growth for Québec and one in which Quebecers once again formally started questioning their position within Canada.  It was in the spirit of this period that Montréal hosted the world Expo in 1967, inviting the world to witness its achievements.  And it was during this very Expo, that another one of those defining moments in Québec's history took place.  On 24 July 1967, in front of a cheering crowd outside Montréal's city hall, it took Charles de Gaulle only 6 minutes to make history, create controversy and stir up emotions for years to come.  At the end of a speech in which he reminded Quebecers of their historic links to the "vieux pays", marvelled at their achievements and called on them to one day help France herself, he sent the crowd roaring straight to nationalistic heaven by shouting the famous "Vive le Québec libre!".  Even if the crowd on Jacques-Cartier square was ecstatic, Canadian Prime Minister Lester B. Pearson was not amused and two days later de Gaulle was on the plane back to Paris, cutting his trip short and never meeting with Pearson in person as originally planned.

But the seeds of separatism were planted.  In October 1970, the Front de Libération du Québec, a terrorist organisation never endorsed by the majority of the Québec people, kidnaps the British Trade Commissioner and kidnaps and subsequently kills the Québec Minister of Labour.  Canadian Prime Minister Trudeau responds by sending the federal army into the streets of Montréal, sending Canada into its worst peacetime political crisis ever.  Thankfully, the crisis does not last long and does not lead to any further damage, such as civil war like many feared.  However, images of Canadian soldiers in the streets of their city of Montréal are very vivid to the eyes and minds of Quebecers, who view this as an abuse of the federal government's power.  For many it is a defining moment, which lands Québec its first separatist government in 1976, under the newly formed Parti Québécois lead by René Lévesque.

In 1980, Quebecers reject separating from Canada in a referendum but in 1982, when Pierre Trudeau "patriated" Canada's Constitution (meaning Canada no longer required the British Parliament to pass a law in order to change its Constitution) without the consent

of Québec (famously, or perhaps infamously, Trudeau met with all other provincial leaders during the night, when René Lévesque had already retired to his hotel room), he initiated another long period of scepticism for the federal government on behalf of Quebecers.

Five years later, another Canadian Prime Minister, Brian Mulroney, tries to make amends with Québec by carving the Meech Lake Accord, which suggests a "distinct society" clause in the Canadian Constitution with regards to Québec and a constitutional veto right for the province.  However, the agreement collapses as Newfoundland and Manitoba refuse to sign it.

In 1994, the Parti Québécois is voted into power once again in Québec and proposes a draft bill on sovereignty.  A referendum is held in October 1995 with a result so close it raises more questions than answers: Quebecers vote against sovereignty by a mere 53,500 votes out of 4,700,000, or 50.6% share.

Ever since then, Quebecers seem to be tired of the sovereignty debate and the movement seems to lose momentum.  Although the Parti Québécois wins a second term in office in 1998, it does so with only a slight majority and without winning the popular vote.  In the latest provincial elections, on 14 April 2003, the Québec Liberal party under Jean Charest takes the reigns of power and vows to fight for a stronger Québec within a stronger Canada.