The Parti Quebecois, trailing regularly behind both the Liberals and CAQ in recent polls and facing strong competition from Quebec Solidaire, is down but not out, according to members and candidates.

At a candidates' meeting in Drummondville, where the party was to unveil its platform over the weekend, members said they are convinced they can still pull of a surprise win on election day. 

Leader Jean-Francois Lisee compared his campaign's inspiration to an unlikely source: Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's 2015 run. 

"People who start the campaign in first, like Thomas Mulcair on the federal level or Denis Coderre or Doug Ford in Ontario, do not finish first," he said. "Sometimes, it's the third who finishes first."

While both the CAQ and Liberals have federalism as part of their platforms, the PQ is arguing independence is more relevant now than ever. 

"I think it's entirely relevant," said Lisee. "We live in a country that wants to impose pipelines for provinces that don't want it. We think we should be able to decide on our own accord... The number of rasons to be independent are as great or greater now than 20 years ago."

Jean-Martin Aussant, the former PQ MNA who left the party to found the Option Nationale but has now returned to run in Pointe-Aux-Trembles, said sovereignty is still on voters' minds. 

"The first question they ask is if you're a sovereignist or now, so it's extremely present in the political landscape in Quebec and it will be until we resolve it," he said. 

While all the details have yet to be released, party officials said a part of its educational platform will focus on retaining English-speaking students, provided they also speak French. 

"We don't want to lose a single English student," said Lisee. "If you give a diploma to an English student who is very good in his field that cannot thrive in the Quebec labour market, you've failed this student. You have failed this student by giving him a diploma and a ticket to Toronto. I don't want that."

The PQ will unveil its election platform as the meeting continues on Sunday.