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Louis Riel Trial
The French Canadians were outraged by the lack of French protestants during the trial. When they asked for mercy for Riel, John A. McDonald said; "Riel will hang though every dog in Quebec shall bark in his favour." This event is significant because it is the first major dispute between the French and English Canadians. -
Conscription crisis
Canada's at the time prime minister Robert Borden enlisted conscription, which was against what the French wanted. The French argued against conscription since they felt they had no ties to Britain and did not believe they should support Britain. This event is significant because it caused a deeper division between the French and the English in Canada. -
La Grande Noirceur
Quebec hit a financial crisis during the Great Depression, so Maurice Duplessis stepped in claiming he would make Quebec completely independent from the English and rise in power, with the help of the Roman Catholic Church. However, he had done corrupt things in order to get money into his own pocket from the Government of Canada. Under Duplessis rule there was no social, political or economical advancements for Quebec. This event is significant because it strengthened Quebec nationalism. -
Conscription WW2
The Conscription issue was revisited when Britain called on Canada's military services to fight in World War 2. William Mckenzie Lyon King tried with the best of his abilities to prevent conscription, but eventually he was forced by the British to send troops so he decided to put it up to a vote. Five out of six provinces said yes to conscription (Quebec said no). The effort Lyon King made into preventing conscription was recognized by the French. -
The Richard Riots
Maurice Richard was a famous hockey player who played for the Montreal Canadians. He got suspended for the rest of the hockey season for hitting a linesman. French people thought this was discrimination, so they rioted outside of a forum which resulted in 100 arrests, 37 injuries and $100,000 in damages. This event is significant because it is the trigger of the Quiet Revolution. -
The Quiet Revolution
After Maurice Duplessis' death, Jean Lesage rose to power and promised Quebeckers two things:
-To improve economic and social standards by getting rid of corruption
-To give French-speaking people better recognition and give them the power to control their own destiny, which started with eliminated the Roman Catholics out of hospitals and schools.
This event is significant because it symbolizes the desire for French Canadians to have more control over Quebec's affairs. -
FLQ
The FLQ were a terrorist group who strongly believed in french nationalism and independence. They had set off some bombs mostly in Montreal which resulted in a death toll of 6 and wounding many.
The French president (Charles de Gaulle) had quoted the FLQ's slogan, "Vive le Quebec Libre!" during the magnificent Expo 67. The significance of this event was that it had created a strained relationship between the French and English Canadians until DeGaulle's death in 1969. -
Bi and Bi Commission and Official Languages Act
Prime Minister Lester B. Pearson wanted to tame the wave of separatism in Quebec, so he established the Royal Commission on Bilingualism and Biculturalism which turned Canada into a bilingual country. When Pierre Trudeau became Prime Minister, he expanded on the Bi and Bi commission with the Official Languages Act. This made Canada officially Bilingual. The significance of this event is that it encouraged Canadians to have a better understanding of the others culture. -
The October Crisis - "Just watch me"
The FLQ had kidnapped provincial cabinet minister Pierre Laporte and British diplomat James Cross. Laporte was killed, and Pierre Trudeau activated the War Measures Act which took away civil rights of Canadians and allowed police to hold suspects without a charge for 1-3 months. The significance of this event was that it alerted Canadians to how serious the Quebec independence movement was. -
Bill 22
Bill 22 was enacted because many immigrants coming into Quebec were english speaking; and this upset French-Canadians. The rules of this bill were that French had to be the official language of all services provided within Quebec and that all children must go to French school unless if they passed an English test. The significance of this event is to inform us of why Quebec has its education systems and services strictly in french. -
Le Parti Quebecois
The Quebecois were a political party. Their main goal was to separate Quebec from Canada. They had won, and it was the first time the French had established a french government. The leader, René Lévesque, held a referendum for Quebec, but it was unsuccessful (20% voted for independence). This event is significant because it shows Quebec residents true feelings toward separation. -
Bill 101
Law enacted by the political party Quebecois stating:
-French must be used in government, the courts and business
-Business must only display signs that were in french
-French must become the official language of the workplace
The significance of this event is to explain how Quebec became primarily French. -
Sovereignty Association (Quebec Referendum)
After a referendum, it was discovered that less (20%) favoured independence and more (84%) just wanted change within Canada. René Lévesque offers the sovereignty to Quebeckers, meaning that Quebec would have its own taxes, citizenship and immigration laws with no law in ottawa binding their own. They would only be associated to Canada by currency and free trade. -
Night of the Long Knives
The Night of the Long knives was when Canada decided to cut of all ties to Britain, initiated by Pierre Trudeau. The other politicians (gang of eight) went against Trudeau, but eventually realized he was right and support him. However, they had all made the decision without the leader of Quebec (René Lévesque). Trudeau had gotten Queen Elizabeths signature, but Quebec was not apart of the process. The significance of this event is that it explains why Quebec is not apart of the Constitution. -
Referendum - Round 2
The Quebecois party and its leader, Lucien Bouchard set up a second Referendum. The results were that 49.4% said yes and 50.6% said no. This caused the creation of the Clarity Act (1999) stating that Quebec could not separate unilaterally and the federal government, nine other provinces, aboriginal nations and other minorities would have to be negotiated with too, in order for Quebec's independence.
