René Lévesque

René Lévesque (August 24, 1922 - November 1, 1987), was a reporter, a minister of the government of Quebec, Canada, (1960 - 1966), the founder of the Parti Québécois political party, and 23rd Premier of Quebec (November 25, 1976 - October 3, 1985). He was a recipient of the title Grand Officer of the French Legion of Honour.

Biography

Origins

The eldest of four children, René Lévesque was born in the Hotel Dieu Hospital in Campbellton, New Brunswick. He was raised in New Carlisle, Quebec, in the Gaspé peninsula by his parents, Dominique Lévesque, a lawyer, and Diane Dionne. Lévesque attended a classical college in the Gaspé and the Saint-Charles-Garnier College in Quebec City. He studied for a law degree at Laval University in Quebec City, but left the university in 1943 without having completed the degree.

Related Topics:
Campbellton, New Brunswick - New Carlisle, Quebec - Gaspé peninsula - Quebec City - Laval University - 1943

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War correspondent

He worked as an announcer and news writer at the radio station CHNC in New Carlisle, as a substitute announcer for CHRC during 1941 and 1942, and then at CBV in Quebec City. During 1944-1945, he served as a liaison officer and war correspondent for the U.S. Army in Europe. He reported from London while it was under regular bombardment by the Luftwaffe, and advanced with the Allied troops as they swept back the Nazis through France and Germany. Through the war, he made regular journalistic reports on the airwaves and by print. He was with the first unit of Americans to reach the Dachau concentration camp, and was profoundly touched by what he witnessed.

Related Topics:
U.S. Army - London - Luftwaffe - Allied - Nazi - France - Germany - Dachau concentration camp

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In 1947, he married Louise L'Heureux, with whom he would have two sons and a daughter. Lévesque worked as a reporter for the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation in the international service. He once more served as a war correspondent with the CBC in the Korean War in 1952. After that war, he was offered a career in journalism in the United States, but decided to stay in Quebec.

Related Topics:
1947 - Canadian Broadcasting Corporation - Korean War - 1952

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Public figure

From 1956 to 1959, Lévesque became famous in Quebec for hosting a weekly television news program at the Radio-Canada (the French-language counterpart of the CBC) called Point de Mire. While working for the public television network, he became involved in the 1958 strike, which lasted 68 tumultuous days. Supported by his later bitter political rival, Pierre Trudeau, Lévesque was arrested in 1959, along with 29 other strikers.

Related Topics:
Radio-Canada - Point de Mire - Strike - Pierre Trudeau

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Involvement in politics

In 1960, Lévesque entered politics and was elected to the Legislative Assembly of Quebec in the 1960 election as a Liberal Party member. In the government of Jean Lesage, he served as Minister of Hydroelectric Resources and Public Works from 1960 to 1961, and Minister of Natural Resources from 1961 to 1965. While in office, he played an important role in the nationalization of hydroelectric companies, greatly expanding Hydro-Québec, one of the reforms that was part of the Quiet Revolution.

Related Topics:
1960 - Legislative Assembly of Quebec - 1960 election - Liberal Party - Jean Lesage - Hydroelectric - Hydro-Québec - Quiet Revolution

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He was served as Minister of Family and Welfare from 1965 to 1966. The Liberals lost the 1966 election to the Union Nationale but Lévesque retained his own seat.

Related Topics:
1966 election - Union Nationale

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Parti Québécois leader

On October 14, 1967, Lévesque left the Liberal Party after its members refused to discuss the idea of a sovereign Quebec during its convention. He remained as the independent representative of the Montreal-Laurier riding until the 1970 election. After leaving the Liberal Party, he founded the Mouvement Souveraineté-Association, which later merged with another sovereigntist party, the Ralliement National of Gilles Grégoire, to create the Parti Québécois in 1968. He remained leader of the Parti Québécois from 1968 until his resignation in 1985.

Related Topics:
October 14 - 1967 - Sovereign - 1970 election - Mouvement Souveraineté-Association - Sovereigntist - Ralliement National - Gilles Grégoire - Parti Québécois

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After failing to win a seat in his riding in the 1970 election and the 1973 election, he and his party swept the 1976 election. Lévesque won his own seat in the riding of Taillon. His party assumed power with 41.1 per cent of the popular vote and 71 seats out of 110; René Lévesque became Premier of Quebec ten days later.

Related Topics:
Riding - 1970 election - 1973 election - 1976 election

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The night of Lévesque's acceptance speech included one of his most famous quotations: "I never thought that I could be so proud to be Quebecer."

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On February 6, 1977, Lévesque's car fatally struck Edgar Trottier, a homeless man who had been lying on the road. The incident gained extra notoriety when it was revealed that the female companion in the vehicle was not his wife, but a secretary named Corinne Côté. Lévesque’s marriage ended in divorce (the couple had already been estranged for some time), and the following April, he married Côté.

Related Topics:
February 6 - 1977 - Corinne Côté

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Lévesque's Act to govern the financing of political parties banned corporate donations and limited individual contributions to political parties to $3,000. This key legislation was meant to prevent wealthy citizens and organizations from having a disproportionate influence on the electoral process. A Referendum Act was passed to allow for a province-wide vote on issues presented in a referendum.

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His Parti Québécois government also passed the Quebec Charter of the French Language (also known as "Bill 101"), whose goal was (and still is) to make French the common language of all Quebecers. In its first enactment, it reserved access to English-language public schools to children whose parents had attended English school in Quebec. All other children were required to attend French schools. Bill 101 also made it illegal for businesses to put up exterior commercial signs in a language other than French.

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Lévesque's social policies were based on social democratic principles. Some leftist Quebecers, however, were disappointed that his government did not live up to their expectations.

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On May 20, 1980, the PQ held, as promised before the elections, the 1980 Quebec referendum on its sovereignty-association plan. The result of the vote was 40% in favour and 60% opposed (with 86% turnout). Lévesque conceded defeat in the referendum, but his concession speech called upon sovereigntist militants to persevere À la prochaine fois! (until next time).

Related Topics:
May 20 - 1980 - 1980 Quebec referendum - Sovereignty-association - His concession speech

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Lévesque led the PQ to victory in the 1981 election, increasing the party's majority in the National Assembly of Quebec and increasing its share of the popular vote from 41.1 to 49 per cent.

Related Topics:
1981 election - National Assembly of Quebec

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A major focus of his second mandate was the repatriation of the Canadian constitution. Lévesque was criticized by some in Quebec who said he had been tricked by Canadian Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau and the English-Canadian provincial premiers. To this day, no Quebec premier of any political side has endorsed the 1982 constitutional amendment.

Related Topics:
Repatriation of the Canadian constitution - Pierre Trudeau

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The PQ government's response to the recession of the early 1980s angered labour union members, a core part of the constituency of the PQ and the sovereignty movement.

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A split within the party over how much emphasis to put on sovereignty in the next election led to Lévesque's resignation as leader of the Parti Québécois on June 20, 1985, and as premier of Québec on October 3. Lévesque had argued that the party should not make sovereignty the object of the election, which angered the strongest supporters of sovereignty within the party.

Related Topics:
June 20 - 1985 - October 3

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A heavy smoker, he died of a massive heart attack in 1987 at the age of 65.

Related Topics:
Heart attack - 1987

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Legacy

Despite a perceived weakening of his sovereigntist resolve in the last years of his government, he reaffirmed his belief in the necessity of independence before his death to friends and, notably, to a crowd of Université Laval students months before his passing.

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His state funeral and funeral procession was reportedly attended by 100,000 Quebecers. The popular love for the man was palpable when, at the carrying out of his coffin from the church, the crowd spontaneously began to applaud and sing Quebec's unofficial national anthem Gens du pays, replacing the first verse with Mon cher René (My dear René), as is the custom when this song is adapted to celebrate one person. Two major boulevards now bear his name, one in Montreal and one in Quebec City.

Related Topics:
Church - Gens du pays - One - Montreal - Quebec City

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On June 3, 1999, a monument in his honour was unveiled on boulevard René-Lévesque outside the Parliament Building in Quebec City. The statue is popular with tourists, who snuggle up to it, to have their pictures taken "with René", despite repeated attempts by officials to keep people from touching the monument or getting too close to it. Some put a lighted cigarette in one of the hands of the statue before taking the group picture.

Related Topics:
June 3 - 1999 - Statue

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This practice is less often seen now, however, as the statue was moved to New Carlisle and replaced by a similar, but bigger one. This change resulted from considerable controversy. Some believed that the life-sized statue was not appropriate for conveying his importance in the history of Quebec. Others note that a trademark of Lévesque was his relative and paradoxical small stature.

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Lévesque remains today an important figure of the Quebec nationalist movement, and is considered sovereigntism's spiritual father. After his passing, even people in disagreement with some of his convictions (like sovereigntism) now generally recognize his importance to the history of Quebec. Many in Quebec regard him as the father of the modern Quebec nation.

Related Topics:
Quebec nationalist movement - Sovereigntism - Father of the modern Quebec nation

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Of the things he left as his legacy, some of the most memorable and still robust are completing the nationalization of hydroelectricity through Hydro-Québec, the Quebec Charter of the French Language, the political party financing law, and the Parti Québécois itself. He continued the work of the Lesage government in creating a welfare state, in which social needs were taken care of by the state, instead of the Catholic Church. Although this has recently been challenged by the Charest government, it remains an ideal held by a majority of Quebecers. Lévesque remains a symbol of democracy and tolerance within the Parti Québécois, and of the credibility of the sovereigntist movement.

Related Topics:
Hydroelectricity - Hydro-Québec - Lesage - Welfare state - Charest - It remains an ideal

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