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What began with an awkward fist-pump has ended, two years later, with choked-back tears. This was probably not the political career Pierre Karl Peladeau was hoping for.

Peladeau resigned on Monday, not just as leader of the Parti Quebecois, but as a member of Quebec’s legislature. It was a sudden and total reversal of his move into public life, one that came without warning. The visibly emotional Peladeau said that he had been forced to choose between his family and “our project” — separation for Quebec — and that he had, with a heavy heart, chosen his family. He thanked Quebecers, his constituents, his caucus and all his staff. And then, poof, he was gone. He left the podium, taking no questions. It was dramatic, in its own way, but also somehow sad.

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That was true of his entire time in office, really. Peladeau left a comfortable life as one of Quebec’s richest and most influential men — he controlled the province’s Quebecor media conglomerate — to run under the PQ banner for then-premier Pauline Marois. He’d long kept his personal political views private, but just weeks before selling off Quebecor’s English-Canada assets (to National Post-owner Postmedia) he felt comfortable declaring what had long been an open secret: he was a separatist. At a media event announcing his candidacy, Peladeau gave a little speech in company with Marois and added at the end (in French, of course), “Let’s make Quebec a country.” He punctuated that comment with a little fist-pump into the air.