a prominent sovereigntist was rené lévesque, who helped found the parti québécois (pq) with like-minded separatists. the pq proposed "sovereignty-association", a proposal for quebec to be a sovereign nation-state while also sharing an economic partnership with canada. the pq had originally planned on declaring independence upon forming government, without putting it up for a vote in quebec. instead of doing this, the pq chose to use a referendum so that the international community would be more likely to accept them as a truly independent nation.