Pierre Karl Peladeau is putting his money where his mouth is.
The leader of the Parti Quebecois confirmed Thursday he has hired a headhunter to find a director for his Sovereignty Study Institute.
He also reiterated that the institute will be separate from the Parti Quebecois.
"On the other side, completely independent of the party, there is the institute that will work on many aspects of sovereignty not only in Quebec but internationally also," said Peladeau.
"As you know this concept is far from obsolete. This concept had a significant presence for the last few years in Catalonia and in Scotland."
Peladeau first proposed his research group last summer, and has not provided a timeline as to when it would begin operating.
The proposed Institute to study and teach arguments for an independent Quebec has come under fire, with critics wondering just how separate it would be from the Parti Quebecois.
Liberal house leader Jean-Marc Fournier said that the Director General of Elections will have to investigate the Institute.
"It's the head of the PQ that wants an Institute, it's the head of the PQ that is determining the selection criteria. It's going to be somewhat hard to not conclude... that this is linked," he said.
Francois Legault, the head of the Coalition Avenir Quebec, said Peladeau should specify whether he is fully financing the group, or providing a startup loan.
Premier Philippe Couillard predicted that the institute would not be able to show any benefits for an independent Quebec.
"Each time that the PQ have tried to prove that financially, economically, Quebec separation would be beneficial, they have always failed. They will fail again because it doesn't work. One plus one equals two, not eight," said Couillard.
"I want to see the studies. Each time we have a study from the PQ we have a field day."
