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World War One Conscription Crisis
It was mainly caused by disagreement on whether men should be conscripted to fight in the war, but also brought out many issues regarding relations between French Canadians and English Canadians. -
The Duplessis Era/The Great Darkness
The Great Darkness refers to the regime of conservative policies undertaken by the government of Quebec Premier Maurice Duplessis from 1936 to 1939 and from 1944 to 1959. -
World War Two Conscription Crisis - Part 1
In 1939, Prime Minister King made an election promise that he would not introduce conscription for overseas duty. Through the National Resource Mobilization act in 1940, King required that all men help with the war effort but did not demand help overseas. Because there was a high demand for troops overseas, in 1942 King held a plebiscite, asking for Canadians to release him from his promise of not introducing conscription. -
World War Two Conscription Crisis - Part 2
Even though the majority of English Canadians were in support of conscription the majority of French Canadians were against it. This caused slight tension between the French and the English but was not nearly as bad as the conscription crisis of 1917. -
1960s Separatist Movement
The separatist movement re-emerged as a political force in modern Québec in the late 1950s and the 1960s, a time of great socioeconomic change and nationalist foment in that province. -
Front de liberation du Quebec LQ party is formed
The Front de liberation du Québec French pronunciation was a separatist and Marxist-Leninist terrorist and paramilitary group in Quebec. Founded in the early 1960s, it was a militant part of the Quebec sovereignty movement. It conducted a number of attacks between 1963 and 1970, which totalled over 160 violent incidents and killed eight people and injured many more. -
Bi & Bi Commission (Royal Commission on Bilingualism and Biculturalism) investigation by Lester B. Pearson
The Royal Commission on Bilingualism and Biculturalism was a Canadian royal commission established on 19 July 1963, by the government of Prime Minister Lester B. Pearson to "inquire into and report upon the existing state of bilingualism and biculturalism in Canada and to recommend what steps should be taken to develop the Canadian Confederation on the basis of an equal partnership between the two founding races -
Canada’s New Flag
In 1964, Prime Minister Lester B. Pearson formed a committee to resolve the ongoing issue of the lack of an official Canadian flag, sparking a serious debate about a flag change to replace the Union Flag. In 1965 the new flag was officially created. -
Canada’s Immigration Policy becomes “Colour Blind”
The point system was Canadas first real attempt at ending discrimination from the immigration process. The point system ultimately changed the way that potential immigrants applied to enter Canada and the criteria necessary to do so. Many potential immigrants supported this change as the process becomes based off of skills rather than ethnicity, which to them seemed more fair. -
Trudeau Becomes Prime Minister
Pierre was a Canadian politician who served as the 15th prime minister of Canada (1968–1979 and 1980–1984) and in the 1960s he entered federal politics by joining the Liberal Party of Canada. Pierre was the third longest-serving prime minister in Canadian history, having served for 15 years. -
Official Languages Act Passed
The official languages act (signed by Pierre Trudeau), gave all Canadians the legal right and ability to deal with the government in French or English. This act also made sure that all products sold in stores across the country were labeled in both languages. French Immersion programs were also implemented as a result of this act. -
FLQ Crisis (Start Date)
The FLQ was a Canadian separatist group, who believed in using violence to achieve their goals when necessary. 2 00 political actions were committed by the FLQ between 1963 and 1970. These actions included bank holdups and bombings targeting McGill, English owned business, banks, and homes of prominent English-Canadians. On October 5th, 1970, four men from the FLQ kidnapped the British trade commissioner (James Cross) at gunpoint. -
FLQ Crisis (Laporte Kidnapped)
They held him for a ransom of $500,000, demanded transport to Cuba and that their manifesto is read aloud in public, but most significantly demanded the release of FLQ political prisoners. On October 10th the FLQ kidnapped the Vice-Premier and Minister of Labour of Quebec, Pierre Laporte. The following day the premier of Quebec received a letter from Laporte, begging him to meet their demands and call off the search, stating that if they found him it would essentially be a death sentence. -
War Measures Act (FLQ Crisis)
The War Measures Act was invoked in response to the October Crisis. This Act gave the government the power to revoke certain civil rights. The government conducted thousands of searches, arrested over 400 people, made FLQ membership illegal and banned political rallies. The government was afraid that there was a widespread conspiracy to overthrow the government. Pierre Trudeau, the Prime Minister, showed no sympathy and said: “ There’s a lot of bleeding hearts around--go on and bleed.” -
FLQ Crisis (End Date)
On October 17th, Laporte’s dead body was found in the trunk of a car. Hoping to save Cross’s life the Canadian government agreed to broadcast the FLQ manifesto and transport five FLQ terrorists to Cuba. This was successful and Cross was released. The October Crisis is significant to Canadian history as it was the first Canadian political kidnapping in history. On the 28th of December, the final cell was found and the Crisis was over. -
Policy of Multiculturalism
Pierre Trudeau introduced a policy of multiculturalism which recognized Canada as both bicultural and bilingual. It officially recognized the two most dominant Canadian culture. French Immersion programs are a product of this policy. This policy was the first of it's kind worldwide, but it has been criticized for being largely symbolic, by not creating or enforcing change, -
1974 Bill 22 introduced by Robert Bourassa
This bill made Quebec's official language French and strengthened French in the workplace. This bill also required children to pass an English proficiency test before they were allowed to register at English speaking schools in Quebec. Bourassa introduced Bill 22 because the birth rate in Quebec was declining but the immigration to Quebec was increasing, meaning that there was a reason to fear that the French language could disappear in Quebec. -
1976 Immigration policy moves to sponsorship program
This act focused on who was allowed to come into Canada, and who wasn't. It also created more provincial control of immigration. People who could put a burden on resources were also denied. -
Bill 101 introduced
Bill 101 was introduced in 1976 to replace the previous bill concerning the protection of French language in Quebec. It was introduced by the first ever Parti Quebecois provincial government and it amplified many of the regulations of bill 22. -
Parti Quebecois Wins election
In 76' the Parti Quebecois (at the time led by Rene Levesque) won the provincial election over the liberals. They were a peaceful Quebec separatist group whose aim was to gain independence for Quebec by following the Canadian political process legally. -
Bill 101
Rene Levesque proposed Bill 101 to release Bill 22. This bill made French the language used by the government, courts, & business in Quebec and that commercial signs be exclusively in French. This bill also restricted English schools much more than bill 22 did. It required that at least one parent had to have attended an English speaking school in order for their child to. This bill caused extreme backlash not only within Quebec but the entire country, Many English businesses to left Quebec. -
Quebec Referendum
Quebec held its first referendum, concerning association with the rest of Canada and sovereignty. The proposal was if sovereignty was voted in, Quebec would become an independent state and control its own taxes, social policies, citizenship, and immigration but economically Quebec would stay close with Canada. More than 90% of Quebeckers voted and the 60% voted no. Prior to the referendum those who campaigned for "no" promised Quebec a change in the constitutional arrangement, which was upheld. -
1982 Constitution Act
Canada’s original constitution, the British North America Act of 1867, was an act of British Parliament. Prime Minister Trudeau wanted Canada’s constitution to belong to Canada, so he proposed the Constitution Act of 1982.On the final night of talks, all the premiers except Rene Levesque, the premier of Quebec, was not invited to the last minute revisions. All nine Anglophone premieres reached an agreement but Quebec felt betrayed, Levesque did not sign Canada’s new constitution. -
Brian Mulroney becomes Prime Minister
Brian Mulroney served as the 18th prime minister of Canada from September 17, 1984 to June 25, 1993. Brian Mulroney was apart of the Conservative Party. -
Bloc Quebecois Formed
The people of Quebec felt like they were being betrayed. They thought Canadians were rejecting Quebec. The desire to seperate rose to 67% in the late 1990s. Lucien Bouchard resigned from Cabinet to from the Bloc Quebecois -
Meech Lake Accord
Prime Minister Mulroney called upon the premiers to confer at Meech Lake. In this conference he proposed amendments to the constitution. One amendment recognized Quebec as a ‘distinct society’ and gave more power to the provinces. -
Reform Party Created
The Reform Party of Canada was a right-wing populist federal political party in Canada that existed from 1987 to 2000. Reform was founded as a Western Canada-based protest movement and eventually became a populist conservative party, with strong social conservative elements. It was initially motivated by the perceived need for democratic reforms and by profound Western Canadian discontent with the Progressive Conservative (PC) federal government of Brian Mulroney. -
Department of Multiculturalism formed
Prime Minister Mulroney passed the Canadian Multiculturalism Act in 1988. This act declared that all Canadians, regardless of ethnicity, would be treated equally by the government. Furthermore, the government of Canada would recognize diversity as a real and beneficial aspect of Canadian society.
Purpose was to reinforce racial and culture equality with legal authority -
Clarity Bill and the Supreme Court decision
Clarity Bill C-20 also known as the Clarity Act states that any future referendum, Quebec must ask cleat question and win clear majority. This made it impossible for Quebec to gain independence from Canada through referendum. -
Meech Lake Accord
Manitoba, New Brunswick, and Newfoundland did not support the accord. Manitoba led by Elijah Harper opposed Meech because it didn’t recognise aboriginals as a ‘distinct society.’ -
Charlettetown Accord
The Charlottetown Accord of 1992 was a failed joint attempt made by Prime Minister Mulroney and the 10 provincial premiers. It was supposed to amend the Canadian Constitution, specifically to obtain Quebec’s consent to the Constitution Act of 1982 -
Parti Quebecois returned to power
Parti Quebecois is re-elected in Quebec -
Referendum on Quebec Independence
The second referendum left the nation in shock as 50.6% voted no on autonomy and 49.4% voted yes. After a controversial campaign, Quebec was not granted autonomy.
