View source for Pur et dur

{{Short description|Term used for the Quebec independence movement}}
{{more citations needed|date=January 2021}}
{{Wiktionary}}
'''Pur et dur''' ({{IPA|fr|pyʁ ɛ dyʁ|lang}}; a common expression in [[French language|French]] literally meaning "pure and hard") is a term used in [[Politics of Quebec|Quebec politics]] to refer to hardliners of the [[Parti Québécois]] and the [[Quebec sovereignty movement|Quebec independence movement]].<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20170807233556/https://en.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/pur_et_dur Article title]</ref> It is most commonly used in the media, where it was popularized. It is also used to criticize some members of the [[Parti Québécois]]. Some within the party resent the use of the term by the media, but some have embraced it. It is similar to the term "[[SNP fundamentalist]]", used in Scottish politics for a faction of the [[Scottish National Party]], another pro-independence party.

Many of the first "purs et durs" came from the [[Rassemblement pour l'indépendance nationale]] who, through [[entryism]], joined the Parti Québécois in the early days of the 1960s. They are associated with strong opinions about independence (including the need to attain it quickly, the question of an eventual [[supranational union]], or "[[sovereignty-association]]", and the question of the "[[étapisme]]" approach) and language protection {{crossreference|(see: [[Charter of the French Language]])}}. Some also criticize the party for not being [[social democracy|social democratic]] enough.

These militants have famously made the leadership of the Parti Québécois a test and daunting task. The media has tied the resignation of every former PQ leader except [[Jacques Parizeau]] to the disapproval of the "pur et dur",{{citation needed|date=October 2011}} especially in the case of [[Pierre-Marc Johnson]].{{citation needed|date=October 2011}} Parizeau, a former [[Premier of Quebec]], has sometimes been portrayed as "pur et dur."

==Examples==
These are people having been portrayed by some as ''purs et durs'', while this "status" is debatable.
*André Joli-Coeur
*[[Denis Lazure]]
*[[Jacques Parizeau]]
*[[Jean-Claude St-André]]
*[[Josée Legault]]
*[[Patrick Bourgeois]]
*[[Paul Bégin]]
*[[Pierre Bourgault]]
*[[Pierre Falardeau]]
*Robert Laplante
*[[Robin Philpot]]
*[[Yves Michaud (politician)|Yves Michaud]]
{{np}}{{pb}}
Two notable exceptions are [[Guy Bertrand (lawyer)|Guy Bertrand]] and [[Gilles Grégoire]]. Both are founding members of the [[Parti Québécois]], but have (or had) come to be disowned by the ''purs et durs''.

Bertrand was called, by [[René Lévesque]], an "[[ayatollah]] in bedroom slippers," mostly because of his vigorous attempts to get the PQ to declare unilateral independence, but later wrote that an "intolerant, ethnocentric, egocentric" Québécois nationalism has been the bane of Quebec and Canada. A skilled lawyer, he has taken his anti-separatism cause to court several times.

Grégoire was a founding member and elected to the [[National Assembly of Quebec]] twice but was cast out when he was convicted of having sex with minor girls and sentenced to jail. He died in 2006.

==See also==
*[[Pure laine]]
*[[Quebec sovereignty movement]]
*[[Quebec nationalism]]
*[[Québécois (word)]]
*[[SNP fundamentalist]]
*[[Fundi (politics)|Fundi]] - equivalent term in [[Green politics]]

==References==
<references />

{{Quebec sovereignty movement}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Pur Et Dur}}
[[Category:Quebec sovereignty movement]]
[[Category:Quebec political phrases]]
[[Category:Political party factions in Canada]]

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