French-English Relations Timeline - Hasan Siddiqui

By hasan.siddiqui

  • WWI - 1914

    -English Canadians did not believe that French Canadians were doing their part in the war
    -French Canadians did not feel and connection or tie to Britain or France

  • Conscription Crisis - 1917

    • French Canadians did not like the idea of conscription because did not feel any relation between themselves and Great Britain
    • English Canadians thought that French Canadians were acting disloyal to Canada and the two groups did not like each other

  • Quebec and the Duplessis Era - 1930s & 1940s

    -Duplessis wanted more provincial power for Quebec
    - Duplessi gave the Catholic Church power
    - An ere of corruption
    - Duplessis's era was known as "La Grande Noirceur"

  • Richard Riots - 1955

    • The Richard Riots triggered the start of French nationalism.
    • Richard's suspension was the last straw for Quebeckers.
    • No more did they want English Canada ruling Quebec.
    • French nationalism sparked the quiet revolution.

  • The Quiet Revolution - 1960

    • A significant change took place when Jean Lesage became Quebec's leader.
    • His three main focuses were; improving the economy, improving social status and he removed the power that the catholic church once had.

  • FLQ - 1963 -1970

    • A terrorist group which formed in the name of free Quebec, Le Quebec Libre
    • Between 1963 and 1970, the FLQ had set a number of bombs off, mainly in Montreal, killing 6 people and wounding many others

  • The Official Language Act - 1969

    • Pierre Trudeau declared bilingualism the most important issue in French-English relations .
    • The act guaranteed the both languages could communicate with the government in their own languages.

  • Rene and the Parti Quebeqois - 1970

    • Rene formed a party called The Parti Quebeqois
    • This party's main focus was on the separation of Quebec
    • Once elected the party failed to have Quebec separate in the 1980 referendum

  • Referendum - 1980

    • This referendum was to determine if the province of Quebec would separate from Canada or not.
    • Quebec was 60% against separation and 40% for separation.

  • Meech Lake Accord - 1987

    • Mulroney promised the end of the French-English conflict
    • He proposed that the Quebec would be seen as their own separate society in Canada -By 1990, the agreement was dead

  • Referendum - 1995

    • Public opinion across Canada was deeply divided
    • 50.6% said "No" and 49.4% said "Yes"
    • Canadians were alarmed at how close Quebec came to separating from Canada