Period: 1945–1980
Social phenomenon: The Modernization of Québec and the Quiet Revolution
After years of conservatism, Québec came into its own in the 1960s and subsequent years, while at the same time, an irreversible change was taking place, both in terms of mentality and politics.
Up until the energy crisis of the 1970s, Québec took advantage of an international climate that was favourable to economic development. Trade improved, in North America first, and then abroad. The needs of the United States, Canada’s primary economic partner, increased, notably as a result of the Cold War with the USSR. Montréal lost its financial and commercial supremacy to Toronto, which became home to many English-speaking Quebecers, especially in the 1970s, particularly following the relocation of head offices there.
The influence of the Catholic Church, at its peak in the first decades of the 20th century, was waning; gradually Québec society and its institutions were becoming more secular.
Among the Indigenous peoples, natural population growth also increased as a result of sedentarization, but their culture continued to suffer. In particular, compulsory attendance at residential schools designed to propagate Judeo-Christian culture and assimilate Indigenous peoples into the rest of the Canadian population helped accelerate the decline of certain Indigenous languages and weaken the social fabric in a number of communities. Indigenous ancestral lands were coveted by a state keen to pursue the province’s economic development. The agreements signed with the Cree, Inuit and Naskapi were a reflection of the need for conciliation between the Québec state and the First Nations and Inuit nation, among whom a form of Indigenous nationalism and new leaders were emerging.
Québec’s net migration was positive. Most new arrivals, who were of increasingly diverse origins, settled in the heart of Montréal, while many francophones moved to the suburbs. Montréal became more cosmopolitan and anglicized, as many newcomers adopted English as their language, mainly for socio-economic reasons.
The modernization of Québec went hand in hand with women gaining access to areas usually reserved for men and the devaluing of their traditional responsibilities. The economic independence they had achieved by working outside the home, especially starting in the 1960s, had given women more freedom of choice, and they made some substantial legal and social gains in their quest for equality in areas such as spousal status, contraception, divorce and maternity. They added their voices to the demands of their male counterparts in the workforce as the union movement grew and became both national in scope and secular.
Returned to power in 1944, Duplessis was a proponent of economic liberalism and conservative social policies. For close to 15 years, a period often viewed in the collective consciousness as a time of “Great Darkness,” his actions were driven by regionalism and a desire for provincial autonomy from an interventionist federal government. For the next 20 years, action and debate would be dominated by nationalist issues and language rights, addressed by Bills 63, 22 and 101, with the 1960s marking an important break in Québec’s history.
Québec entered the Quiet Revolution. Buoyed by a broad social consensus, the Québec state became a driving force for modernizing its institutions and promoting Québec’s identity. The principles underlying the welfare state were supported by the creation of government departments and state-owned corporations, and the professionalization of the civil service. The health and social services systems and the education system were reformed, economic intervention tools were created and a foreign policy was put in place, leading to the reopening of Québec government offices abroad, notably in Paris and London.
Socio-economic and political transformations and a change in mentality were at once the impetus for and the result of a neo-nationalist current that rejected a traditional form of nationalism. The term “French Canadian” was replaced by “Québécois”.
By the beginning of the 1970s, when Robert Bourassa was in office at the provincial level and Pierre Elliott Trudeau at the federal level, certain Québec nationalists had become radicalized. The October Crisis, which led to the imposition of the War Measures Act, divided Québec. The assassination of Minister Pierre Laporte may have discredited the Front de libération du Québec (FLQ), but it did not curtail Québec’s quest for equality and independence. Founded following the creation of the sovereignty-association movement, which brought together activists from the Ralliement national and the Rassemblement pour l’indépendance nationale, the Parti Québecois was voted into power in 1976. Four years later, René Lévesque’s government held a referendum on sovereignty-association, in which Quebecers were asked to decide on the province’s continued place in the Canadian federation.
To characterize the period 1945-1980, the students identify and interrelate the distinctive features that describe it. This entails establishing a coherent chronology of the period’s events and using geographical features to facilitate an understanding of these events. The characterization process reveals the perspective and contribution of various actors who influenced the path taken by society. In order to describe how things were in Québec during the post-war period and the Quiet Revolution, the students make connections among various sources of information relating to the different aspects of society.
The object of interpretation is “The modernization of Québec and the Quiet Revolution”. The interpretation process involves explaining the evolution of mores in Québec at a time when the province’s institutions and the role of the state were undergoing significant change. The social phenomenon evokes change and transformation, highlights the interaction of the various aspects of society and favours the establishment of connections between political history and social history. Using a method of critical analysis helps students to analyze the changes and continuities and the causes and consequences that explain the phenomenon. The study of this social phenomenon leads to the discovery of multiple perspectives, which enables the students to ensure the validity of their interpretation.
Knowledge to be acquired
Canadian federation
Neo-nationalism
Quiet Revolution
Feminism
Self-determination of Indigenous nations
Period: From 1980 to our times
Social phenomenon: Societal choices in contemporary Québec
When the Parti Québécois was elected in 1976, after successive Union Nationale and Liberal governments, it intensified measures designed to affirm Québec’s particular features, including the French language. The adoption of Bill 101 highlighted the cultural and linguistic issues that mobilized Quebecers in the period leading up to the 1980 referendum. In the decades that followed, Quebecers were faced with other complex issues with different repercussions. Analyzing the interplay of cultural, economic, political, social and territorial forces reveals the circumstances attendant upon past, present and future societal choices in contemporary Québec.
On May 20, 1980, almost 60% of Quebecers who voted rejected the government’s request for a mandate to negotiate sovereignty-association. Following up on a commitment made during the referendum campaign, Prime Minister Trudeau invited the provincial governments to participate in constitutional reform. After several months of negotiation, and given the prospect of unilateral patriation, the federal government was able to rally only nine of the ten provinces, Québec’s demands not having been met. When the Constitution Act, 1982, containing the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, was ratified, Queen Elizabeth II was present, but there were no representatives from the Québec government, which had been absent when the agreement was finalized.
The election of Brian Mulroney’s Conservatives at the federal level signalled the possibility of reconciliation. The Québec Liberals, voted back into power in 1985, stipulated five conditions for Québec’s adherence to the Constitution, including recognition of the distinct nature of Québec society. These conditions were discussed at length at the Meech Lake Conference, which led to an accord that would not be ratified by all the provinces, Newfoundland and Manitoba not having complied with the deadline. A final effort in the wake of the 1992 Charlottetown Accord, this time involving public referendums, was also unsuccessful.
The failure of Meech Lake revived nationalist fervour in Québec. The Bélanger-Campeau Commission and the Allaire Report conferred legitimacy on the sovereignist cause. During the 1995 referendum campaign, the Bloc Québécois and the Action démocratique du Québec joined forces with the Parti Québécois to promote the Yes option. The Québec Liberal Party, the Liberal Party of Canada and the Progressive Conservative Party rallied together on the No side to defend Canadian unity. The debate was fuelled by economic and territorial issues, and by suggestions to the effect that the federal government could refuse to negotiate if the sovereignty option prevailed. Quebecers were torn. On October 30, 1995, the Yes side garnered 49.42% of the votes cast, the No side, 50.58%. In the ensuing decades, changing power relations, combined with other issues, resulted in the constitutional question being pushed aside, although it continued to mark the debate over provincial jurisdictions and federal transfers.
The self-determination and land claims movements grew, particularly after 1990, when a territorial dispute triggered a conflict at Oka between the Mohawks and the federal and provincial authorities. Although discrimination and uneasiness with regard to Indigenous peoples have often been intense, certain initiatives such as the establishment of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada have allowed for a better sense of what Indigenous peoples have experienced.
Working to safeguard its autonomy within the Canadian federal system, Québec attempted the difficult task of reconciling economic constraints with society’s expectations.
To characterize the period from 1980 to our times, the students identify and interrelate the distinctive features that describe it. This entails establishing a coherent chronology of the period’s events and using geographical features to facilitate an understanding of these events. The characterization process reveals the perspective and contribution of various actors who influenced the path taken by society. In order to describe how things were in Québec on the eve and in the early years of the new millennium, the students make connections among various sources of information relating to the different aspects of society.
The object of interpretation is “Societal choices in contemporary Québec”. The interpretation process involves explaining the cultural, economic, political, social and territorial circumstances that have led, are leading or will lead the people of Québec to make important demographic, environmental, technological and other choices. The social phenomenon evokes change and transformation, highlights the interaction of the various aspects of society and favours the establishment of connections between political history and social history. Using a method of critical analysis helps students to analyze the changes and continuities and the causes and consequences that explain the phenomenon. The study of this social phenomenon leads to the discovery of multiple perspectives, which enables the students to ensure the validity of their interpretation.
Knowledge to be acquired
Indigenous rights
Québec’s political status
Gender equality
Language issue