Jean Lesage

The Honourable Jean Lesage, PC, CC, CD (June 10, 1912 – December 12, 1980) was a lawyer and politician in Quebec, Canada. He served as Premier of Quebec from July 22, 1960, to August 16, 1966. While others like Georges-Émile Lapalme, René Lévesque and the Quebecois people were also instrumental, he is sometimes portrayed as the father of the Quiet Revolution.

Profile

Born in Montreal of Xavéri Lesage, teacher and public servant, and Cécile Côté, he studied law at Laval University in Quebec City and was admitted to the Barreau du Quebec in 1934. He served in the Canadian army reserve from 1933 to 1945. He practised law in Quebec City, and was also a Crown attorney from 1939 to 1944.

Related Topics:
Montreal - Laval University - Quebec City - Barreau du Quebec - 1934 - 1933 - 1945 - 1939 - 1944

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He was elected to the Canadian House of Commons as a member of the Liberal Party of Canada in 1945, and served as an MP until 1957. He was appointed to the federal cabinet in 1953 as Minister of Resources and Development (later retitled Minister of Northern Affairs and National Resources). He remained in that position until the defeat of the

Related Topics:
Canadian House of Commons - Liberal Party of Canada - 1945 - MP - 1957 - Federal cabinet - 1953

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St. Laurent government in the 1957 general election. Lesage retained his seat in that election. He resigned from parliament shortly after being re-elected in the 1958 federal election to enter provincial politics and become leader of the Quebec Liberal Party (PLQ) in 1958.

Related Topics:
St. Laurent - 1957 general election - 1958 federal election - Quebec Liberal Party - 1958

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He became premier of Quebec after winning the 1960 election with the slogan Maîtres chez nous (masters in our own house). Lesage's victory brought to an end the long reign of the conservative Union Nationale party that had governed Quebec since 1944 under the leadership (until 1959) of Maurice Duplessis.

Related Topics:
1960 election - Union Nationale - Maurice Duplessis

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Lesage's campaign ushered in the Quiet Revolution, which began to change the traditional domination of Quebec's economy by English-speaking Canadians, and the traditional domination of the public lives of French-speaking Quebecers by the Catholic Church was replaced by a larger role for the government of Quebec.

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In 1962, while Lesage was its leader, the PLQ ended its affiliation with the Liberal Party of Canada.

Related Topics:
1962 - Liberal Party of Canada

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His government was unexpectedly defeated by the Union Nationale of Daniel Johnson, Sr, in 1966. Lesage continued as leader of the PLQ until 1970. In 1970, he was made a Companion of the Order of Canada.

Related Topics:
Daniel Johnson, Sr - 1970 - Order of Canada

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On his passing in 1980, Jean Lesage was interred in the cimetière Notre-Dame-de-Belmont in Sainte-Foy, Quebec.

Related Topics:
Cimetière Notre-Dame-de-Belmont - Sainte-Foy, Quebec

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