Option Nationale votes in favour of joining Qubec Solidaire, finalizing merger

The merger between Quebec's two small sovereignistparties is now official: OptionNationalemembers approved a motion Sunday afternoon to join forceswithQubecSolidaire.

The motion was backed by 90.7 per cent of the 200 ON members who voted at aparty congress in Sainte-Foy, near Quebec City.QubecSolidaireOK'dthe parties' amalgamation in a vote earlier this month.

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Some of the ON members opposing the merger left the room in protest of the vote.

QubecSolidairereceived 7.6 per cent of the vote in the 2014 provincial election and has three seats in the National Assembly.Optional Nationale, founded in 2011,only collected 0.7 per cent of the vote in that election.

QubecSolidaire'sGabrielNadeau-Duboisreacted to ON's vote on Twitter, saying "it's a big day for the people who want to change Quebec."

"It's a bigstep forward for independence," Nadeau-Duboissaid when the merger plans were announced in October.

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