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War Measures Act
This had previously only been used during wartime and suspended civil rights so anyone could be arrested. Anyone in the FLQ could be arrested and detained. Federal troops were sent to Ottawa and Montreal. Hundreds of separatists were imprisoned. -
World War One Conscription Crisis
It was implemented during World War , after the Prime Minister promised not to use it. The amount of soldiers that were needed on the battlefield was massive and the Prime Minister needed more soldiers. He called it the Military service act and it made enlistment compulsory except for, the injured, people with necessary jobs, and people that have religious reasons not to. Many French people opposed conscription because they didn’t feel strong ties to Britain or their own government. -
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Creation of the Union Nationale
Duplessis formed the Union Nationale Party with some liberals. The party strongly supported Quebec nationalism. They relied heavily on the support of the Roman Catholic Church. As Prime Minister Duplessis did little to help the Quebec economy. -
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The Duplessis Era/The Great Darkness 1936-1939 & 1944-1959
In this period the government was controlled by Union Nationale, and Maurice Duplessis. Duplessis was a strong Quebec supporter and wanted Quebec to be more independent and its own nation. The first thing he did was implement a new Quebec flag. Duplessis became known for bribery and corruption. -
World War Two Conscription Crisis
In World War II the Prime Minister again promised no conscription, but as the casualties overseas grew larger that changed. Due to heavy pressure from the conservatives to use conscription the PM finally gave in. He held a poll to find out if he should do it. The verdict was yes and it was implemented. The Quebecois were furious and started riots. -
Quiet Revolution Begins
After Duplessis died Lesage became Prime Minister. He started by getting rid of corruption in the government. He created more jobs, and increased wages and pensions for workers, this was called the Quiet Revolution. This changes drastically affected Quebec and its economy. -
Front de liberation du Quebec LQ party is formed
Many people in Quebec were unhappy with how they were being represented in the government. This caused terrorist groups like FLQ to be formed. They would blow up mail boxes and attack symbols of english canadians. -
Bi & Bi Commission (Royal Commission on Bilingualism and Biculturalism)
The Prime Minister Lester B. Pearson investigated how to make French Canadians feel more at home. He found that Canada should not only be bilingual but also attempt to include bilingual options into other provinces. This would include french or english schools in other provinces. -
1960s Separatist Movement
People in Quebec were upset with how they were being treated. They didn’t like being forced to speak english, and how they there were no french speaking schools in other provinces. This lead a cabinet minister named Rene Levesque to make the Parti Quebecois believing the safest way to prevent conflict was have Quebec separate from Canada. -
Canada’s New Flag
There was lots of debate over the national flag. Some believed that it was too similar to Britain. Others liked the traditional ties to Britain. This lead to the production of a new flag. Hundreds of designs were submitted, finally the red maple leaf was picked as our new flag. -
Canada’s Immigration Policy becomes “Colour Blind”
After we got rid of our open door policy Canada was very selective towards who was allowed into the country. British and other Europeans were preferred because it was believed that they would fit in with society well. -
Trudeau Becomes Prime Minister
In 1968 Pierre Trudeau became the Prime Minister of Canada. Trudeau was young and casual, very different from previous Prime Ministers. People loved Trudeau as he was interesting and engaging towards the people. This was called Trudeaumania. -
Official Languages Act passed
This officially made Canada bilingual. This involved the government having both and English and French side. With this more french speaking Canadians were needed and were appointed in the government. Trudeau also tried to bring the two cultures together by bringing the youth together. -
FLQ Crisis aka October Crisis,
In October 1970, separatist group FLQ kidnapped British Diplomat James Cross and held him ransom in return for FLQ prisoners who had been imprisoned and a reading of the FLQ manuscript. When denied they kidnapped Minister Pierre. Trudeau the implemented the War Measures Act. -
Policy of Multiculturalism
It was meant to help and encourage various ethnic groups to share their culture. Across the country multicultural activities were organized. Festivals were held and activities were played. It was meant to help bring the country together and decrease racism in the country. -
Bill 22 introduced by Robert Bourassa
The first provincial legislation passed that was meant to help protect the status of the French language. It made French the solo language of Quebec. This forced many non speaking french people to move out of the province as well as lots of business. -
Immigration policy moves to ‘sponsorship program’
Immigration rules change, to allow citizens to bring family members over. -
Parti Quebecois wins provincial election on Quebec
This was a stunning win; they had only won 7 seats last election. Promised that if they won it would not automatically mean separation. Separationists had no interest in making Canada bilingual. They only wanted to strengthen the french language. -
Bill 101 introduced by Parti Quebecois, Rene Levesque
Sometimes referred to as the “Charter if the French Language” it terms were
-French was the only official language of the province and government employees had to work in french
-Commercial outdoor signs would be in French Only
-Children of immigrants would be required to attend french schools
The Quebecois welcomed the changes, feeling that their language and culture were endangered, everyone else saw this as a symbol of oppression. -
Bill 101 passed
The passing of the bill made many people who spoke english or neither language feel oppressed and left the province. This shaped Quebec to what it is today. -
Referendum on Sovereignty Association (include the results of the referendum)
This offered to make Quebec politically independent from Canada but economically close. It would include
-Free trade between Quebec and Canada
-A common currency for both nations
-Common tariffs against imported goods.
It did not pass, only 40% of voters voted yes. -
Patriation of the Constitution.
Canada’s constitution was under Britain jurisdiction and Trudeau wanted to change it. It was known as the British North America. -
Constitution Act
Trudeau changed the constitution so the Canadian government would have sole authority to change it. He made the federal and provincial governments agree to an amending formula and included the notwithstanding clause. -
Brian Mulroney becomes Prime Minister
When an election was called, Brian Mulroney promised to mend the cracks the constitution had created with Quebec. He then won the elecetion and sought to make good on his promises to Quebec. -
Bloc Quebecois Formed
Quebec spererationism had soared to 64%. One protester, Lucien Bouchard, a powerful member of Mulroney’s cabinet resigned and created the Bloc Quebecois. -
Meech Lake Accord 1987
A new constitution at a conference at Meech lake. Mulroney proposed changes to recognize Quebec as a distinct society. And to give all provinces the power to veto constitutional change. Quebec gave their support. -
Reform Party Created
This party was created as a protest movement and eventually evolved to a conservative party motivated with needs for democratic reforms and western Canadian discontent with Mulroney. -
Department of Multiculturalism formed
This was created to provide the legal framework for existing multiculturalism policies across Canada. It aimed to reinforce racial and cultural equality with legal authority. Which helped the strengthen national unity by drawing Canadians together in mutual respect. -
Meech Lake Accord
Manitoba and Newfoundland withheld support and the Meech Lake accord died in 1990. This failure was seen as a rejection of Quebec or even a humiliation. -
Charlottetown Accord
Mulroney still wanted change and offered another pack of amendments. This answered Quebec’s concerns similarly to the Meech Lake accord. Advocated aboriginal self-government and reformed the senate to become an elected body with equal representation from each province. -
Parti Quebecois returned to power
Angered by by the Constitution debates the separatist party Parti Quebecois returned to power. And tried to get Quebec separated from the country. -
2nd Referendum on Sovereignty Association
If this passed Quebec would be seperated from the rest of Canada. The results were 49.4 percent of people voted to separate from Canada. This shocked Canadians and people across the country flooded Quebec to tell the people of Quebec they wanted them to stay. -
Clarity Bill and the Supreme Court decision
Ottawa would only negotiate separatism with Quebec if the majority of people in Quebec voted yes. And insistence on a clear question in any future referendum. After this passed support for sperationism started to die down.
