-
WW1 Conscription Crisis
The Conscription Crisis of 1917 was a political and military crisis caused by the disagreement on whether men should be conscripted to fight in the war. It also accentuated many issues regarding relations between French Canadians and English Canadians and motivated many revolutionary acts. -
The Duplesiss Era / The great darkness 1936 - 1939 & 1944 - 1959
After the Great Depression, Canada was moving more to centralisation. Quebec however being a conservative province didn’t support this shifting. To ensure that Quebec remains conservative, it elected Maurice Duplessis as their new leader. Duplessis was in power from 1936 to 1939, and then into power in 1944 till his death in 1959. -
Creation of the Union Nationale Party
The Union Nationale was a conservative and nationalist political provincial party in Quebec that pushed Québécois autonomism. Created during the Great Depression and held power in Quebec from 1936 to 1939, and from 1944 to 1960 and from 1966 to 1970. The party was founded by Maurice Duplessis -
WW2 Conscription Crisis
The Conscription Crisis of 1944 was a political and military crisis following the introduction of forced military service of all able men in Canada during World War II. It was similar to the Conscription Crisis of 1917 in that is raised tensions between English and French Canadians. -
Quiet Revolution Begins 1960 / 1962 Maitre Chez Nous (Jean Lesage, Liberal Party Campaign Slogan)
The Quiet Revolution was a period of time where Quebec experienced Social and Political change as it was turned into a welfare state. A primary change was an effort by the provincial government to take more direct control over the fields of healthcare and education and made massive investments in the public education system and provincial infrastructure. -
Front de Liberation du Quebec LQ party is formed
Front de Liberation du Quebec was a separatist and Marxist-Leninist paramilitary group in Quebec that was founded in 1960. They orchestrated the militant part of the Quebec sovereignty movement where they conducted a number of attacks between 1963 and 1970. -
1960’s Separatist Movement
The movement was built of the belief that that the economic difficulties of Quebec were caused by English Canadians domination of the confederation and could only be ended by altering or terminating the ties with the other provinces and the central government. -
Canada’s Immigration Policy becomes “Colour Blind”
The Canadian points system, which set criteria for both skilled and unskilled labour entry into the country including the “third world” giving opportunities from non-European countries more equitable access for the first time. Canada also stopped rejecting immigrants purely off ethnic background. -
Bi & Bi commision (Royal Commission on Bilingualism and Biculturalism) Investigation by Lester B Pearson
The Royal Commission on Bilingualism and Biculturalism brought changes to federal and provincial language policy. The commission was a response to the growing unrest among French Canadians who called for the protection of their language and culture. Lester B Pearson recommend that English and French become the official languages of Canada. -
Canada’s New Flag 1965
In 1958, an extensive poll was taken of the attitudes that adult Canadians held toward the flag. Of those who expressed opinions, over 80% wanted a national flag entirely different from that of any other nation this prompted Prime Minister Lester B. Pearson in 1965 to propose his plans for a new flag in the House of Commons. -
Trudeau Becomes Prime Minister
Pierre Trudeau served as the 15th Prime Minister of Canada (1968–1979). He is the third longest serving Prime Minister in Canadian history. -
Official Language Act Passed, 1969
Trudeau's first major legislative push was implementing the Official Language Act by recommendations of Pearson's Royal Commission on Bilingualism and Biculturalism. The act made French and English the official languages of the federal government. -
The War Measures Act 1970
The War Measures Act of 1970 suspended certain civil liberties and personal freedoms during a state of emergency. This includes giving the government the power of arrest and detention without trial. -
FLQ Crisis (Oct 5 ,1970) aka October Crisis
Front de libération du Québec kidnapped British Trade Consul James Cross at his residence on October 5th. Five days later Quebec Labour Minister Pierre Laporte was also kidnapped. Trudeau responded by invoking the War Measures Act which gave the government sweeping powers of arrest and detention without trial. Although this response is still controversial it was met with only limited objections from the public. -
Policy of Multiculturalism 1971
On 8 October 1971,Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau announced multiculturalism as an official government policy. Multiculturalism was intended to preserve the cultural freedom of all individuals and provide recognition of the cultural contributions of diverse ethnic groups to Canadian society. -
1974 Bill 22 introduced by Robert Bourassa
Bill 22 was introduced by Quebecs Liberal government headed by Robert Bourassa made French the language of civic administration and services, and of the workplace. -
1976 Immigration policy moves to “sponsorship program”
The PSR Program, which arose out of the 1976 Immigration Act and was implemented in 1978, introduced private sponsorship as a new vehicle for Canadians to become involved in resettling refugees. A sponsor committed to providing care, lodging, settlement assistance and financial support to their refugee -
1976 Parti Quebecois wins provincial elections on Quebec
The 1976 general election in Quebec was perhaps one of the most famous elections in the province’s history. After defeating the scandal plagued Quebec Liberal Party, the Parti Quebecois promised proper governance. However, the victory upsetted the rest of Canada as the party held strong separatist beliefs. The party also upsetted the english majority by implementing several policies such as making French the sole official language in the province. -
1976 Bill 101 introduced by Parti Quebecois, Rene Levesque.
In the early 1970s, French was spoken by 85% of all Quebecois. However, the english speaking merchant minority controlled the government. Bill 101 was then implemented to make French the main language in the province, requiring all signs to have French, children would have to attend french speaking schools, and helping higher level management to speak more french. -
1977 Bill 101 passed
The aforementioned Bill 101 was passed in 1977 -
1980 Referendum on eSovereignty Association
As part of their policies during their campaign, the Parti Quebecois promised for a referendum which, if passed, would allow for Quebec to succeed from Canada. The result of the referendum was 60% voted no and 40% voted yes. -
1982 Patriation of the Constitution
In 1982, the BNA act was “patriated” from the British Court to the Canadian Federal Government. This meant a breakaway from british colonialism in the country and during the process, many laws were amended and the inclusion of a Charter of Rights became a major source for controversy. When a final copy of the completed act was drafted, Levesque, premiere of Quebec was not informed about it. This further fueled Quebec separatist movements. -
1982 Constitution Act
In 1982, Canada enacted the constitution act, which would allow the Canadian government to amend their own constitution without approval from the British parliament as well as the addition of the Charter of Rights and Freedom. -
Brian Mulroney becomes Prime Minister
Brian Mulroney was the 18th prime minister of Canada. His term in office marked several economic reformations to Canada, signalling a divergence from protectionist policies to more open free market economic models and policies. Mulroney, along with the United States, would form the Canada-United States Free Trade Agreement which would later be replaced by NAFTA, which would be a trilateral free trade agreement between Canada, United States, and Mexico. -
1987 Reform Party Created
The reform party was a right-wing populist party that gained momentum in Western Canada.The party believed in strong conservative policies and opposed (mainly by western Canada) Brian Mulroney’s policies. -
Meech Lake Accord 1987
In 1987, a series of changes were proposed by several provincial and federal leaders to persuade Quebec’s endorsement and approval of the passing of the 1982 constitutional amendments. However, concerns arose when the the lack of citizen participation came into question and several provincial governments quickly changed their stance to disapprovement. Former president Pierre Trudeau, feminists, and aboriginal rights group -
1988 Department of Multiculturalism formed
The multiculturalism act was implemented to protect Canadian heritage and reduce racial discrimination as well as encourage multicultural activities. The act states that all ethnicity and race were equal under the law and that anyone has to right to pursue a career. -
1992 Charlottetown Accord
The Charlottetown Accord was a failed attempt for the federal and 10 other provincial government to receive Quebec’s approval of the 1982 Constitutional amendments. Should the Accord to have been passed, much of the federal government’s power would have been allocated to provincial governments. However the referendum to finally pass the law failed. -
1994 Parti Quebecois returned to power
In 1994, the Parti Quebecois defeated the Quebec Liberal party to obtain seats in the National Assembly of Quebec. This election was very important because it paved way for the Quebec separatist referendum held in 1995. -
30 Oct 1995 2nd Referendum on Sovereignty Association
This was the 2nd referendum facing quebec to whether succeed from Canada. Originally the referendum was very likely to fail. However after a series of successful campaign led by Lucien Bouchard, the vote came really close. 49.4% voted to leave while 50.6% agreed to stay in Canada. The referendum had a 97.5% turnout, being the highest ever in Quebecois history. -
1998 Clarity Bill and the Supreme Court decision
Bill C-20 (AKA the clarity act) “clarified” the conditions and negotiations surrounding the succession of a province of Canada. Though the bill would apply to any province, it was mainly drafted and passed in response to the Quebecois 1995 2nd Referendum. In response to Bill-20, Quebec provincial government passed Bill-99. The bill states that despite the absence of a referendum, only the people of Quebec holds the power to determine the outcome of their government.
