Quebec sovereignists took part in marches in cities across the province Sunday afternoon to mark the 20th anniversary of the failure of the Meech Lake Accord, and the 15th anniversary of the last referendum.

The marches took place in Montreal, Quebec City, Gatineau, Chicoutimi, Amos, Sherbrooke, Victoriaville , St. Jerome, Sept Iles and Terrebonne.

A number of nationalist leaders were on hand, including Bloc Quebecois leader Gilles Duceppe, Parti Quebecois leader Pauline Marois, Quebec Solidaire's Francoise David, and former Quebec premier Bernard Landry.

In 1990, Robert Bourassa was Quebec's Premier and Brian Mulroney was Canada's Prime Minister. The two leaders hammered out a deal with other provinces that would have brought Quebec into the Canadian constitution as a distinct society. When the agreement unravelled, it sparked a surge in nationalist sentiment.

Twenty years later, Landry recalls how happy he was the day the Meech Lake Accord died.

"Because a distinct society is not what Quebec is. Quebec is a nation and a nation must be free -- and it was not the case with the Meech agreement," he said.

Duceppe echoed that sentiment.

"I think the best solution (…) is to have our own country just like Canadians have their own country," he said.

Meanwhile, Marois would not talk about a specific time frame for the possibility of another referendum, but said it would come eventually.

"You know we are always sovereignists and we want to have our freedom -- and I work for that."