Three political heavyweights quit the Parti Québécois Monday morning, saying the party has lost its way.

Louise Beaudoin, Pierre Curzi and Lisette Lapointe said that despite being proud members of the separatist party for decades, they could no longer participate in what it has become.

"I am leaving the party out of respect for my convictions," said Curzi.

PQ Leader Pauline Marois reluctantly admitted the loss is a big one.

"It's a shock for sure, I can't say to the contrary," Marois said in Montreal. "So today I am very sorry and I am very surprised."

Premier Jean Charest did not waste an opportunity to paint the resignations with a wide brush, stating it was an indictment of how the PQ is operating.

"Their resignation today is related mostly, I'd say, to the way they've been practicing politics over the last two years," Charest said.

Tipping point was arena management bill

The three MNAs said there are several issues that have disgruntled them in recent months, but all three pointed to Bill 204 as being the straw that broke the camel's back and convinced them to sit as independents.

"I have the impression that we are moving away from sovereignty," said Lapointe, whose husband Jacques Parizeau also left the PQ, only to return several years later as party leader.

Bill 204 is the private member's bill sponsored by PQ MNA Agnès Maltais that would prevent anyone from mounting a legal challenge to the arena management contract between the Quebec City municipal government and Quebecor Media.

While the power trio does not question the need for an arena nor the desire for the return of an NHL team to Quebec City, they said they could no longer stand by and watch as the PQ tried to eliminate the right of citizens to challenge the government in court.

Faced with the prospect of being ordered to vote in support of Bill 204, Curzi said, "I could no longer look at myself in the mirror."

Build an arena, but not at all costs

They say that an arena can be built, but not at all costs, and say that the arena management agreement has numerous opponents.

"This bill creates a dangerous precedent," said Beaudoin.

"How can it be acceptable to ban all possible lawsuits about a contract that nobody has seen? As the daughter of a judge, I revolt."

Lapointe waved a stack of documents during the announcement, saying they were letters from people criticizing the deal made with Quebecor without any public tenders or public consultation.

As recently as Friday, Maltais repeatedly stated the party would support the bill in spite of some internal dissent.

To date, the most stringent opposition to the private member's bill has come from independent MNA Eric Caire and Quebec Solidaire's Amir Khadir.

Will continue to work for sovereignty

Beaudoin, Curzi and Lapointe say they informed Marois of their decision at 10:30 a.m. Monday, and say she offered to discuss the matter with them before they left the party.

Regardless of whatever Marois offered, less than an hour later all three announced they had quit.

They say that by leaving the PQ they will continue to lobby for sovereignty, and propose that the PQ no longer has a monopoly on the sovereigntist movement.

They say that in addition, they will now be able to speak their minds without fear of repercussions from party brass, and to honestly represent their constituents.

"I want to find my voice, my free voice to vote and that's why I'm quitting," said Lapointe.

Beaudoin, who left active politics for several years before returning as an MNA, said her time away from Quebec City gave her time to think.

"It was my return in 2008, after a pause of five years that let me think, that allowed me to look with an outside eye," about the language used in politics, she said.

"I have come to the conclusion that feeding this contributes to the cynicism among the public."

Marois says trio was determined to quit

Speaking Monday afternoon after the resignation of the three high-profile members, Marois said that the three MNAs were determined to quit.

"All weekend I tried to reach them, and they never called me back," said Marois.

"I was willing to offer them the chance to leave the room and not vote [on bill 204], and that I would be willing to explain that they did not support it which was why they wouldn't be there."

The PQ leader said that ultimately the resignation of the three MNAs will not help the sovereignty movement.

"The decision made this morning by my colleagues does nothing. It will not help Quebecers. It will not help sovereignty," Marois said.

"I have the impression that if anyone has taken us further away from sovereignty, it's the people who resigned."

However, Marois did not have harsh words for Beaudoin, Lapointe or Curzi, only saying that she did not appreciate the way they described her role as party leader.

"It's an attack against my leadership," said Marois. "My leadership style has led us to where we are right now. We will form the next government of Quebec."

Even Parizeau quit the PQ

For several months, even before Marois was re-confirmed as PQ leader with a 93 percent vote from the party's rank and file, there have been rumblings from within the party about the centralization of power within the leader's office, and an intolerance of the caucus.

This is not the first time that several well-respected MNA's have quit the PQ.

Several cabinet ministers, including Parizeau, walked away in 1984 because of disagreements over how the party was managing itself.

Several years later Parizeau returned as leader of the PQ and led the sovereignty movement to its resurgence