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World War One Conscription Crisis
Conscription was not mandatory until Prime Minister Borden changed his mind and introduced the Military Service Act (made conscription compulsory). People in Quebec were very opposed to conscription. They felt no patriotic connections to Britain or France and believed that they had no connection to the war. Also many officers overseas did not speak french and quebecois did not want to feel like second class citizens. -
The Creation of the Union Nationale
The Union Nationale was the political party created by Maurice Duplessis. The party heavily relied on the Roman Catholic church and supported Quebec nationalism. -
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The Duplessis Era/The Great Darkness
Maurice Duplessis was the Premier of Quebec from 1936 to 1939. Duplessis had extreme nationalism for Quebec and tried to encouraged people to see Quebec as a Nation rather than another province of Canada. The Duplessis regime is associated with corruption and bribery and is known for many Quebecois as the Great Darkness. -
World War Two Conscription Crisis
Prime Minister King promised that conscription would not be mandatory. In 1940 the National Resources Mobilization Act was implemented which required all men to work towards war efforts though not overseas. However, in 1942 there was a need for more troops overseas so a plebiscite (a vote on conscription) was held and the majority of Canadians voted for conscription while many French Canadians did not. -
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The Duplessis Era/The Great Darkness
Maurice Duplessis was the Premier of Quebec again in 1944 to 1959. Duplessis had extreme nationalism for Quebec and tried to encouraged people to see Quebec as a Nation rather than another province of Canada. The Duplessis regime is associated with corruption and bribery and is known for many Quebecois as the Great Darkness. -
1947 Bill 22 introduced by Robert Bourassa
At the end of a long hot summer, Bill 101 is adopted on Aug. 26, 1977, kicking off the transformation from a traditionally bilingual Quebec into a unilingual French province. Bill 101 is shock therapy for what the PQ describe as a sick society that Quebec has become, reports CBC's David Bazay. The new French language charter is hailed as a master plan to free Quebec from the economic dominance of the province's English minority. -
Front de liberation du Quebec LQ party is formed
In 1960 A Canadian separatist group called the Front de liberation du Quebec party was formed. At first the group was made up of young Canadians who spoke of Marxist ideas and objectives and wanted Quebec to separate from Canada. The party used violence to achieve their goals if necessary and committed over 200 political actions including bombings and bank hold-ups. -
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Quiet Revolution Begins
The quiet revolution was a time of rapid change that modernized Quebec society over the years 1960 to 1966 under the Liberal provincial government of Jean Lesage -
Bi& Bi Commission investigation by Lester B. Pearson
Prime Minister Lester Pearson believed that Canada would face a grave crisis if French Canadians did not feel more at home in Canada. In 1963 he appointed the Royal Commission on Bilingualism and Biculturalism to investigate solutions. The commissioners report called for Canada to become bilingual with French and English as its official languages. -
Canada's New Flag
French Canadians believed the flag was too British to be a symbol of modern Canada and wanted a new flag. However many Canadians opposed a new flag because people thought that Pearson was giving into pressures from Quebec. The debate over the flag split the country. After hundreds of suggestions the red and white maple leaf design was chosen. -
Canada’s Immigration Policy becomes “Colour Blind”
In 1967 immigration in Canada becomes "colour blind". A point system was introduced which gives potential immigrants points in categories such as age, education, fluency in French or English and job opportunities in Canada. This system insures that race, colour and nationality are not taken into consideration. -
Referendum on Sovereignty Association
In the late 1950s and the early 1960s, several organizations were established to promote or achieve Québec independence. On 13 October 1968, a political party was founded that was to continue to have an impact on Québec and Canadian politics for many years to come. After enjoying moderate success on the political scene, the Parti Québécois won the Québec general election of 15 November 1976, defeating the Liberals under Robert Bourassa. -
Parti Quebecois returned to power
The Parti Québécois was founded through the merger of the Mouvement souveraineté-association, led by René Lévesque, and the Ralliement national, led The MSA was founded in November 1967, following a Quebec Liberal Party policy convention where René Lévesque and other party members who were also Québec nationalists tried to gain acceptance for a program entitled Pour un Québec souverain dans une fédération canadienne . -
Official languages act
A Canadian law that came into force on September 9, 1969, which gives french and english equal status in the government of Canada. This makes them "official" languages, having preferred status in law over all other languages. Although the Official Languages Act is not the only piece of federal language law, it is the legislative keystone of Canada’s It was substantially amended in 1988. -
War measures act 1970
In response to the October crisis, war measures act was invoked. This gave the government power to take away some civil rights, this resulted in many searches being conducted and around 4000 arrests. Shortly after, all political protests were banned -
October Crisis
Canadian separatist group founded in the 1960’s and based in Montreal, at the beginning it was unknown to french Canadians. It vowed to use any means necessary, including violence, and carried out almost 200 crimes, including robberies and bombings, from its inception to its last days. It rapidly devolved into the most serious terrorist act carried out on Canadian soil after another official -
Immigration policy moves to 'sponsorship program'
Canada's immigration policy changed to allow family members of Canadian citizens to immigrate to Canada permanently. This policy change allowed for many families to be reunited in Canada and allowed for vast multiculturalism. -
Parti Quebecois wins provincial election in Quebec
The Parti Quebecois beat the Quebec Liberal Party which was previously in power. The Parti Québécois made Canada realize that the threat of separatism was prevalent. -
Bill 101 introduced by Parti Quebecois, Rene Levesque
The Bill 101, or the Charter of the French Language, was introduced by the Parti Quebecois who wanted to strengthen the French language. The charter stated that French was the one and only official language of Quebec, Commercial signs must be in French only, and children of immigrants were required to attend French-speaking schools. -
Bill 101 passed
Bill 101 was passed and allowed for the French language to become stronger in Quebec as it made French the only official language and censored English off of signs and schools. This is significant because many French people felt as if their culture was getting endangered. -
Trudeau becomes prime minister
Trudeau Introduced his multicultural policy, which officially recognized Canada as bilingual and bicultural. Recognized anglophones and francophones as the two dominant cultures of Canada. French Immersion is the product of this Viewing Canada as multicultural did cover certain issues, but overall did not change any important issues -
Referendum on Sovereignty Association
The Parti Quebecois started a province-wide referendum to decide whether Quebec should follow a route to sovereignty. The results were 40.44% for the referendum and 59.56% against. -
Patriation of the constitution
The patriation allowed for Canada to have full sovereignty over itself. This meant that the United Kingdom was not involved in the decisionmaking of changes Canada chose to make. This also meant that Canada was now a fully independent Country. -
Constitution Act
The constitution act was the first act that Canada put into effect after patriation. The act enshrined the Charter of Rights and Freedoms in the Constitution. This was significant because this allowed Canada to amend their own Constitution, without requiring British approval. -
Brian Mulroney becomes prime minister
Brian Mulroney from the progressive conservative party won the federal election and became prime minister. This is significant because it was the first majority progressive conservative party in over 20 years. Mulroney also signed NAFTA. -
Meech Lake Accord 1987
In 1987 the Prime Minister and all ten premiers gathered at Meech Lake to change the constitution to include Quebec. The Meech Lake initiative was Brian Mulroney's attempt to create constitutional harmony by brining in Quebec. -
Reform party created
The reform party is a right-wing populist party that was initially created because of motivation from the popular discontent with Brian Mulroney and the progressive conservative party. This is significant because they later go on to pass the PC in seats in parliament in 1993 -
Department of multiculturalism formed
The creation of the department of multiculturalism came with the Canadian multiculturalism act. The department of multiculturalism helped the diverse Canadians come together through mutual respect. -
Policy of multiculturalism
The federal government, under Prime Minister Pierre Elliott Trudeau, declared in 1971 that Canada would adopt multicultural 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. The policy of multiculturalism was implemented based on the recommendations of the Royal Commission on Bilingualism and Biculturalism. -
1990 Meech Lake Accord
The Progressive Conservative government of Prime Minister Brian Mulroney attempted to win Québec's consent to the revised Canadian Constitution, following the Québec government's rejection of it in 1981. The result was the Meech Lake Accord, an agreement between the federal and provincial governments to amend the Constitution by strengthening provincial powers and declaring Québec a "distinct society." Political support for the Accord later unravelled, and it was never put into effect. -
Bloc Quebecois formed
The Bloc Quebecois was formed through defectors from the Progressive Conservative and Liberal members of parliament from Quebec. This was an informal coalition between the two parties and together they were the largest party in Quebec from 1993 - 2011. -
Charlottetown Accord
A package of proposed amendments to the Constitution of Canada, proposed by the Canadian federal and provincial governments in 1992. It was submitted to a public referendum on October 26 of that year, and was defeated. There were twenty-seven days of meetings among the heads of delegation, as well as meetings of the Coordinating Committee and the four working groups. -
Clarity Bill and the Supreme Court decision
The bill known as the Clarity Act gives effect to the requirement for clarity set out by the Supreme Court of Canada in the Québec Secession Reference. It is the interpretation of the Court that the federal government give "political actors" the responsibility of returning the right to determine, what, among other things, constitutes a question and a clear majority after a referendum that one province or territory initiates with a view to secession from Canada.
