The Parti de la démocratie socialiste (PDS; ) was a provincial political party in Quebec, Canada. Founded as the New Democratic Party of Quebec [Nouveau Parti Démocratique du Québec (NPDQ)], the NPDQ was originally affiliated with the federal New Democratic Party (NDP) but separated from the NDP in 1989 before disaffiliating entirely in 1991. A new section of the federal NDP, called New Democratic Party of Canada - Québec Section was refounded in 1990, and is active only in federal politics. History The PDS' roots can be traced to 1939, with the founding of the Fédération du Commonwealth Coopératif (FCC), later renamed Parti social démocratique du Québec (PSD) in 1955. The FCC/PSD was the Quebec counterpart of Canada's federal Co-operative Commonwealth Federation (CCF) party. After the CCF became the New Democratic Party (NDP) in 1961, the NPDQ was created in 1963 following the concerted efforts of the Quebec Federation of Labour (Fédération des travailleurs du Québec) (FTQ) and of the Quebec section of the Co-operative Commonwealth Federation (CCF), which had been known as the Parti social démocratique du Québec (PSD) since 1955. On the federal level, in its role as the Quebec section of the NDP, the NPDQ contested the Canadian federal elections between 1962 and 1988. Until the end of the 1960s, in conformity with the division of roles that had been decided in 1963, the NPDQ was active exclusively on the federal political level in Quebec. This left the provincial political level to the pro-independence Parti socialiste du Québec, PSQ) led by former PSD leader Michel Chartrand. After the disappearance of the PSQ around 1968, the NPDQ continued to concentrate most of its attention on the federal level during the 1970s and the early 1980s. It made a few incursions on the provincial level, running a few candidates, first in the Quebec general election of 1970, and later in the general election of 1976, the second time as part of a coalition with the Regroupement des militants syndicaux (RMS). The provincial party became defunct following leader Henri-François Gautrin's resignation in 1979. In the mid-1980s, the federal NDP's Quebec section determined that there was a new political vacuum in Quebec politics and that, in addition to its role in federal politics, the time had come for the NPDQ to return to the provincial scene. The NPDQ registered as a political party in Quebec in 1985 and selected Jean-Paul Harney