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Union Nationale
Premier Maurice Duplessis and the Union Nationale hold office in Quebec -
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John Diefenbaker is PM
PC Party -
Maurice Duplessis Dies
Many believe that his death marked the beginning of the Quiet Revolution, a period of progressiveness. He and his party, the Union Nationale controlled the party for decades, rejecting progressive ideas and worked to support the Catholic Church, the French language, and Quebec's rural culture. -
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Union Nationale
Premier Paul Sauve and the Union National forms the Quebec Government -
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Union Nationale
Premier Antonio Barrette and the Union Nationale hold office in Quebec -
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Liberal Party
Premier Jean Lesage and the Liberals hold office. -
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Lester B. Pearson is PM
Liberal Party -
The Royal Commission on Bilingualism and Biculturalism is formed
Lester B. Pearson establishes the B and B Commission, whose purpose was to examine the state of the French and English languages in Canada. They recommended that:
- Both English and French be declared official languages
- Ontario and NB should be officially bilingual
- Regions with at least 10% should be bilingual
- Parents should have the option between French and English
education if enough demand -
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Union Nationale
Premier Daniel Johnson, Sr. and the Union Nationale wins the election. -
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Pierre Trudeau is PM (1/2)
-
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Union Nationale
Premier Jean-Jacques Bertrand and the Union Nationale holds office. -
Official Languages Act is passed
The OLA decreed that both English and French were to be equally considered as Canada's official languages. The act also said that gov't services must be provided in both official languages, legislature must be published in both official languages, and a Commissioner of Official Langages be appointed. Civil servants were encouraged to become bilingual, and Francophones were actively hired to fill gov't jobs. The gov't also developed programs to help provinces improve eng and french services. -
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Liberal Party
Robert Bourassa is Premier. -
James Cross is kidnapped
the Front Liberation de Quebec (FLQ) kidnapped James Cross, the British Trade commissioner in Montreal. They issued a release demanding the release of imprisoned FLQ members, a payment of $500k, a publication of the FLQ manifesto, as well as a flight to Cuba or Algeria for FLQ members. A fed-prov team was formed to deal with the crisis, and refused to give in to their demands. -
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October Crisis
The October Crisis was when members of the FLQ kidnaps minister of labour Pierre Laporte and trade commissioner James Cross. Trudeau's invoking of the Wartime Measures Act is the only time it has been invoked in peacetime. -
Pierre Laporte kidnapped
Quebec's minister of labour and a key member of the gov't team is kidnapped by the FLQ. The crisis divided Canadians, with some saying that the gov't should not give in to the FLQ's demands, while others suggested that Canada should give in to their demands. -
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Parti Québécois
Rene Levesque is Premier. -
Bill 101 (Charter of the French Language) is passed
Introduced by the PQ, under Rene Levesque. The law restricted English-language education, required all advertising and ad signs to be in French, required offices with 50+ people use French in the workplace, and required gov't agencies to use French only. These measures enraged Anglophones and caused many of them to move out of Quebec, as well as 42 major companies. Within 5 years, the number of English speakers in Quebec dropped to 94,000. -
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Joe Clark is PM
PC Party -
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Pierre Trudeau is PM (2/2)
Liberal Party -
Referendum on Sovereignty-Association
PQ's plan for sovereignty involved Quebec operating as an independent state with its own laws, policies and taxes. However, Quebec would still maintain economic ties to Canada and use CAD as currency. Trudeau, Bourassa and the Liberals were opposed to this idea, thus leading to the referendum, with Trudeau promising to patriate the constitution if Quebec voted "no". The outcome of the referendum was 59.56% against sovereignty, and 40.44% for. -
Trudeau calls first ministers' conference
Trudeau begins negotiation and discussion in order to patriate the Constitution. The premiers of Quebec, Alberta, Manitoba, PEI, Newfoundland, Saskatchewan, Nova Scotia and BC quickly band up against anything that Trudeau proposed, and campaigned against the patriation of the Constitution. -
The Kitchen Accord is Agreed Upon
During Trudeau's first minister's conference, nothing was agreed upon. However, behind the scenes at the Government Conference Center, Minister of Justice Jean Chretien met with the AGs of Saskatchewan and Ontario and worked out a proposal for the Constitution. The premiers of all provinces except Quebec were called into a meeting and they all agreed upon the proposal as well. Upon discovery, Levesque was furious and walked out of the meeting, and refused to sign the Constitution. -
Trudeau patriates the Constitution
As he promised during the referendum, Trudeau patriates the Constitution. The final drafts of the constitution and the act was approved by British Parliament and signed into law by Pierre Trudeau and Queen Elizabeth II on this day. -
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John Turner is PM
Liberal Party -
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Brian Mulroney is PM
PC Party -
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Parti Québécois
Pierre-Marc Johnson is Premier -
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Liberal Party
Robert Bourassa is Premier again. -
Meech Lake Conference begins
Mulroney calls a first ministers' conference in order to meet Quebec's 5 conditions to sign the Constitution that Bourassa had outlined. The conditions agreed upon at Meech Lake were essentially the same as the ones that Bourassa outlined but applied to all provinces. The reaction to the accord was overwhelmingly negative, with Trudeau saying it was the end to the dream of a united Canada. The accord was not ratified, as MLA Elijah Harper voted no. -
Charlottetown Accord fails
Despite holding 5 nationwide conferences and negotiating with both premiers and Aboriginal leaders, the country decided to not ratify the accord, with 54.3% voting against and 45.7% voting for. The failure of the accord eventually led to the election of another PQ gov't and a second referendum on Quebec sovereignty. -
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Kim Campbell is PM
PC Party -
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Jean Chrétien is PM
Liberal Party -
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Liberal Party
Daniel Johnson Jr. is Premier. -
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Parti Québécois
Jacques Parizeau is Premier. -
Referendum on Sovereignty
After the failure of the Charlottetown Accord, a large divide formed between Quebec and Canada, thus paving the way for a new referendum on sovereignty, this time complete separation from Canada. The referendum was solely initiated by Parizeau's PQ, and opposed by the Liberal gov't. The "no" side beat the "yes" side by a tiny margin, winning 50.58% to 40.42%. After the separatists are beaten once again, Parizeau resigns as premier. -
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Parti Quebecois
Lucien Bouchard is Premier. -
Clarity Act signed into law
After the tiny margin of the 1995 Referendum, many believed that the question asked for the referendum and the consequences of the referendum passing were too unclear, so Chretien's Liberal gov't drafted and passed the Clarity Act, which would ensure future separation referendums are clear. -
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Parti Québécois
Bernard Landry is Premier.