Quebec’s Quiet Revolution Essay, Research Paper

Quebec’s Quiet Revolution: What Is It? How Has It Changed Quebec’s Society? How

Has It Affected Confederation?

The English-French relations have not always been easy. Each is always

arguing and accusing the other of wrong doings. All this hatred and differences

started in the past, and this Quiet revolution, right after a new Liberal

government led by Jean Lesage came in 1960. Thus was the beginning of the Quiet

Revolution.

Lesage had an excellent team of cabinet ministers which included Rene

Levesque. The Liberals promised to do two things during the Quiet Revolution;

one was to improve economic and social standards for the people of Quebec, and

the other was to win greater respect and recognition for all the French people

of Canada. The Liberals started a program to take control of hydro-electric

power companies. French-Canadian engineers from all over Canada returned to

Quebec to work on the project. Slogans during these times were “we can do it”

and “masters in our own homes”. The government also started to replace programs

the Church previously ran, which included hospital insurance, pension schemes

and the beginning of Medi-Care. For these programs, the Quebec Liberals had to

struggle with Ottawa for a larger share of the tax dollars.

One of the greatest reforms was the modernization of the entire school

system. The Church used to own the schools of Quebec. Most of the teachers

were Priests, Nuns and Brothers. They provided a good education but Quebec

needed more in business and technology. Lesage wanted a government-run school

system that would provide Quebec with people in engineering, science, business

and commerce.

With the new freedom of expression, lots of books, plays and music about

French culture were all developed in Quebec. French contemporary playwrights

were very famous during that time. However, not all was going well in Quebec.

The French-English relation was going bad. Many studies showed that French-

Canadian Quebecers were earning the lowest wage in all of the ethnic groups in

Canada. Other complaints were that the top jobs in Quebec were given to English

speaking Canadians. Canada was going through the worst crisis in its history,

and unless equal partnership was found a break-up would likely happen. Some

Quebecers thought that separation was the only solution. They thought that as

long as Quebec was associated with the rest of Canada, French-Canadians would

never be treated equal.

The FLQ (Front De Lib?ration Du Qu?bec) was founded in 1963. It was a

smaller, more forceful group of separatists. They were a collection of groups

of young people whose idea was to use terrorism to achieve independence for

Quebec. The ALQ (L’Arm?e de Lib?ration de Quebec) was even more of a violent

separatist group. Some of their actions included robbing banks in order to get

money. For their ammunition they had to raid arms depots of the Canadian Armed

Forces.

There were many Federalists that believed that separatism had no future

and that French-Canadians could play a role in a bi-lingual Canada. There were

three Quebec men that believed in Federalism. These men were Liberals and their

names were Pierre Trudeau, Jean Marchand and G?rard Pelletier. The President of

France, General De Gaulle came to Quebec in 1967 and gave speeches to separatist

groups that deemed him an enthusiast of the thoughts of the separatists in the

struggle to fight for the liberation of Quebec. The Prime Minister at the time,

Lester B. Pearson, criticized De Gaulle’s remarks and said that Quebec belonged

to Canada and there was no need for their liberation. In 1970, British Trade

Commissioner James R. Cross was kidnapped by FLQ and wanted in return for Cross,

23 political prisoners. Quebec Labour Minister, Pierre Laporte was also

kidnapped which started a Quebec crisis. After a few months Cross returned when

Laporte was assassinated. The Quebec crisis ended several years of violence in

Quebec. This crisis made many Quebecers upset because Ottawa sent the army into

Quebec. Therefore English-French turmoil did not end.

Rene Levesque was a leader who became very popular in Quebec with his

views on independence. In 1976, Rene Levesque and the Parti Quebecois won the

Provincial election. Now many Quebecers thought he could build up Quebec.

Since many French were lower then English in status, Quebecers thought the Parti

Quebecois could do something about it.

Then the two languages became a major issue. Many businesses had a sign

in French only, and doctors and nurses had to speak French. These were all

effects on Bill 101 by the Parti Quebecois. Immigrants were educated only in

French. Businesses accused the Parti Quebecois of practising economic blackmail.

Quebec Nationalists wanted an independent state so that they could have

full control over their territory. But many top authorities in Canada say it is

not legal for a Province to leave. Levesque said that he wanted a Quebec that

was independent but joined Canada in the market. Levesque wanted to protect

Quebec culture. Many people in Quebec opposed the separation. An organization

called the Positive Action Committee was formed to help fight the separation

dispute.

Quebec was not the only Province that wanted more political power for

themselves. Canada was working an a new Constitution and wanted to replace the

BNA Act of 1867. If a new Constitution was made, Quebec might remain a part of

Canada. The Constitution had to make all the Provinces happy. It would have to

recognize the partnership between the French and the English in the history of

Quebec. The Federal Liberals probably helped tip the balance in favour of the

no vote.

The referendum campaign in the early 80’s was intense. Premier of

Quebec, Rene Levesque and the PQ desperately wanted the vote to be a resounding

“oui”. The referendum was a critical test for the PQ government. The PQ’s

(Parti Quebecois) was elected out of the separatist platform. Their party

represented the bone of forming independence of Quebec. In order for the

independence movement to take greater strides, the Parti Qubecois would have to

encourage an “our” vote in the Referendum. There were intense battles to win

the opinion and admiration of the Quebec population with ads in newspapers,

magazines, on T.V and radio. With a resounding “no vote” in the makings, Prime

Minister Pierre Trudeau was prepared to bring on the Constitution. Trudeau made

a speech on May 14th, which was a sincere commitment to a new Canada. He was

determined that Canada would have a new Federal system of government.