Denis Pronovost

Denis Pronovost, a Progressive Conservative MP from Quebec, left the Conservative caucus in June 1993 as the Mulroney government was in its death throes. Pronovost was part of the broader disintegration of the Mulroney coalition in Quebec — while the more nationalistically-minded Quebec Conservatives had left in 1990-91 to form the Bloc Québécois, Pronovost's departure was more personal, reflecting dissatisfaction with the party's direction under incoming leader Kim Campbell. With the party in freefall in the polls and the 1993 election looming, Pronovost chose to cut ties rather than go down with the ship.

Pronovost did not seek re-election in the October 1993 election, which witnessed the most catastrophic collapse of a governing party in Canadian history. The Conservatives went from 156 seats to just 2, losing official party status. Pronovost's early departure was a measure of how thoroughly the party had disintegrated in Quebec, where the Bloc Québécois swept 54 of 75 seats.