He's a former minister for the Parti Québécois -- a party whose raison d'être is to win independence for Quebec -- but Bernard Drainville says that's not his main goal, nor has it ever been.
Earlier on Tuesday, as he announced he'll run alongside Premier François Legault this summer and fall for the CAQ party, Drainville said that Quebec public opinion has changed and that the support is not there for a new referendum.
He dodged questions about whether he remains a separatist, personally, saying "I don't feel like fighting that battle."
But later, in an interview with CTV News, he added that he himself sides with the Quebec majority he had described.
"I've always been a nationalist first and foremost, and I've taken stock of the fact that Quebecers have moved beyond this debate," he said, adding that the debate has lasted a long 50 years.
When asked if he wasn't a sovereignist first and foremost, in earlier years, Drainville said no.
"A nationalist, always, always," he said.
LISTEN ON CJAD 800 RADIO: Tom Mulcair: no way Drainville is not a sovereignist
While Legault also came from the PQ, the CAQ is a nationalist party that it says seeks to strengthen Quebec within Canada, and Legault has promised the party won't hold a separation referendum.
Drainville added that he thinks there needs to be more unity within Quebec as well, between English- and French-speakers -- and he thinks he can make that happen.
"I'm a little... concerned about what happened with Bill 96. It's moderate," he said. "Some leaders within the English-speaking community kind of fed a fire of rage and discontent against 96, and I don't think the substance justifies that," he said.
"I think it's a moderate bill... and I think most reasonable, rational English-speaking Quebecers that I would sit with, and to whom I would explain the bill the way I undertand it, I think I could convince them this is a perfectly reasonable bill."
Watch the video above to see Drainville's full interview.
