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Duplessis comes to power
Maurice duplessis was the french premier form 1933 to 1939 and from 1944 to 1959. The time he was in power was referred to as the great darkness because of the decisions he made when running the provence. Although a terrible leader the ideas he had and his passion for quebec birthed french nationalism -
The richard Riots
The riot Occurred because NHL president Clarence campbell had suspended Maurice Richard, a montreal canadian hockey player, for the rest of the season including playoffs. Quebecers Felt the punishment was too harsh and that Maurice was only penalised this badly in an attempt to humiliate french canadians. On march 17 1955 the first Montreal canadiens game following Richards suspensions, Clarence campbell showed up. This outraged Montreal fans as they felt he was only there to mock them. -
The quiet revolution
following Duplessis death in 1959 a new Quebec premier was elected, his name was Jean Lesage. Jean Lesage's goal was to put more power in the hands of the French government. He did this by taking away the responsibilities of the catholic church and buying out the hydro electricity companies giving the government control of the power. this was known as the quiet revolution -
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the birth of separatism
In the 60s and 70s French canadians were becoming frustrated with how english focused the rest of canada was and with the fact that Quebecers were expected to speak english. They began to entertain the idea that Quebec shuld separate from canada and become its own county -
The FLQ
Created in 1963 the FLQ (libération du Québec or quebec liberation front) was a terrorist group obsessed with Quebec separation -
the Royal Commission on Bilingualism and Biculturalism
In 1963 prime minister Lester B. pearson established a government organisation called the Royal Commission on Bilingualism and Biculturalism. the goal of the group was to survey people from across canada and determine what needed to be done about the language issue in canada -
A speech from the French president
on April 27 1967 Charles de Gaulle the president of france was in montreal for the world fair. During the time he was in montreal he gave a speech. the speech was meant to express the pride he had for Quebec however english speaking canadians interpreted it another way. Many felt he was comparing the canadian government to the Nazies and the he was supporting the FLQ terrorists organization by saying "Vive le Quebec libre" a well known phrase of the organization. -
The Official Languages Act
In 1969 prime minister pierre trudeau passed The Official Languages Act. This act made Canada officially bilingual and made it so businesses had to offer all services in both french and english -
The october crisis
during october of 1970 the FLQ kidnapped both James Cross (british diplomat) and Pierre laporte (provincial cabinet minister). Because of the kidnappings prime minister Pierre Trudeau enacted the war measures act which was very controversial at the time. In the end Pierre Laporte was found murdered in the trunk of a car, however after lengthy negotiations James Cross was released -
Bill 22
In 1974 Bill 22 was passed in an attempt to preserve french langues rights. Bill 22 stated the french was the official language of public serves in Quebec and that immigrants parents had a right to choose the child's language of education. -
Parti Quebecois Victory
Parti Quebecois was a political party that only ran in quebec and there main focus was separation. They were elected in 1976. The rest of canada was shocked that a separatist party had been elected. -
bill 101
bill 101 was passed by Parti Quebecois in 1977. it was considered a more extreme version of bill 22. It stated that in quebec french was to be used in government, courts and business; business signs and advertisements had to be french and that french was the official language of the workplace. -
The night of the long knives
When Pierre Trudeau was trying to create a new constitutional arrangement 8 of the provincial premiers opposed the idea, Lévesque the Quebec separatist premier being one of them. After lengthy discussions Trudeau proposed the idea that a referendum should be held to determine if the new constitutional arrangement should be established. 7 of the opposing primers were staying at a hotel in ottawa however Lévesque went back the Quebec. the 7 Fearing they would lose sided with Trudeau. -
The first referendum
On May 20 1980 quebec had its first referendum. the referendum was not for full independents but instead for Sovereignty Association. 40% voted yes well 60% voted no. This was partially due to the fact that Pierre trudeau promised a new constitutional arrangement if the referendum failed. -
the second referendum
on october 30th 1995 there was a second referendum this time for canada to become completely independent. this one ended with 50.58% voting "No" and 49.42% voting "Yes" a less then 1% difference
