GATINEAU, Quebec — Voters in Quebec weighed returning a separatist party to power as polls opened Tuesday in the French-speaking province, which could edge toward another referendum to break away from Canada if the Parti Quebecois ends nearly a decade of Liberal rule as expected. Liberal leader Jean Charest, who has headed Quebec for nearly a decade, has consistently trailed in the polls to Pauline Marois' Parti Quebecois since he called an early election on Aug. 1. But most polls indicate Marois — who could become the province's first female premier — will not have enough votes to obtain a majority of the seats in the Quebec Assembly, undermining efforts to quickly hold a referendum on separation. Quebec has held two referendums to split from Canada, in 1980 and 1995, the last narrowly rejecting independence. Polls show there's little appetite for a new referendum and Marois herself has left much uncertainty about if and when one would be held under a PQ government. A recent poll showed support for independence under 30 percent, but analysts say voters are weary of the Liberals after three terms in office. Quebec voters became tired of the Liberal party after corruption allegations surfaced against the party and student protests erupted this spring, said Bruce Hicks, a political science professor at Concordia University in Montreal. “Quebecers tend to tire of the government and throw them out," he said. “It's sort of been the tradition in Quebec politics." Some 5.9 million people were registered to vote in some of the province's 20,000 polling stations, but nearly a million of them had already done so in advance voting. More autonomy for Quebec is high on the agenda for the PQ, which has said it would seek a transfer of powers from the federal government in areas like employment insurance and immigration policy. If those measures are rejected, the party believes it would have a stronger case for independence. The campaign has been a three-way race involving a new party, Coalition Avenir Quebec, headed by former PQ minister Francois Legault, who says the separation issue has paralyzed the province for far too long. Entering his polling station to vote, Legault said he was confident of the day's results. “This is a historic day, a new era is beginning," he said, adding it was time to “put aside disagreements on referendums and begin a new change, a clean-up and relaunch of Quebec." Charest called the election more than a year before he had to, citing unrest in the streets due to this spring's student protests over tuition hikes. The most sustained student protests ever to take place in Canada began in February, resulting in about 2,500 arrests. — AP
