After retiring as premier, Bouchard avoided making public comments on politics until 2010, when he used a panel event celebrating the 100th anniversary of Montreal newspaper "Le Devoir" to contend that sovereignty was out of reach for Quebec. Although he still considered himself a sovereigntist at heart, Bouchard argued that that sovereignty did not offer any solutions for Quebec. He also accused the PQ of being so fixated on independence that it had no solutions for the province's basic needs, and also accused it of pandering to xenophobic elements by taking a hard line on immigration. In response, several sovereigntists, including PQ leader Pauline Marois, accused Bouchard of becoming one of the party's many "belle mères", or "armchair quarterbacks."