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‘For decades, our political adversaries have told us that we are not rich enough to be independent… Our objective will be to prove the opposite’

Péladeau, the billionaire former chief executive of media giant Quebecor Inc., announced his plan for the institute last February. It was initially supposed to be up and running by the end of 2015, but it has been delayed. “I’ve been very busy. There are a lot of things that I’m doing right now,” Péladeau told reporters Thursday, adding that an announcement about the institute will be made “in due time.”

Péladeau has said the institute’s researchers will answer, before the next provincial election in 2018, such questions as what currency an independent Quebec should use, how federal assets and debt should be divided and what sort of military an independent Quebec would have. Studies would show how Quebec suffers as part of the federation and identify actions that would lead to independence, he said in his leadership campaign literature.

“For decades, our political adversaries have told us that we are not rich enough to be independent, that we rely on the federal government and its transfer payments,” he said. “Our objective will be to prove the opposite. We, Quebecers, only need our talent, our energy and our land to take advantage of our expertise and to succeed in our country.”

Sol Zanetti, leader of the separatist Option Nationale, said he agrees that research on the benefits of sovereignty is lacking. In 2005, before he left the PQ, Legault prepared a mock budget for an independent Quebec, projecting that it would run a surplus the very first year. PQ and Bloc Québécois advisor Stéphane Gobeil (who this month jumped to the CAQ) published a book in 2012 examining federal and provincial taxation and spending. He calculated that Quebec would have an extra $2 billion to play with if it were independent.