René Lévesque

Québécois prime minister (1976-1985)

• Born: August 24, 1922
• Birthplace: Campbellton, New Brunswick, Canada
• Died: November 1, 1987
• Place of death: Montreal, Quebec, Canada

Lévesque was the founder of the Québécois Party, which advocated political independence for the Canadian province of Quebec, and as the twenty-third prime minister of the province, he expanded the use of the French language and organized the first attempt to achieve independence by means of a referendum.

Early Life

The oldest of four children, René Lévesque (rehn-ay leh-vehsk) was raised in the small town of New Carlisle, Quebec, located in the rural Gaspé peninsula. His father, Dominique Lévesque, was a lawyer. Lévesque attended two Jesuit schools, the local Seminary of Gaspé and then the Saint-Charles-Garnier College in Quebec City. In 1941, he entered the law school of Laval University, but he left the university without completing the degree. While in law school, he worked as an announcer and news writer for two radio stations, at which time he attracted attention because of his charismatic personality and outstanding communication skills.

During 1944-1945, Lévesque served as war correspondent and liaison officer for the U.S. Army in Europe. In London, he reported on the results of German bombing, and he traveled with allied troops as they moved through eastern France into Germany. After the end of World War II, he worked as a reporter for the French language section of the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC). In 1947, he married Louise L’Heurex, with whom he would have three children.

In 1952, Lévesque served as a war correspondent for the CBC in the Korean War. Following the war, he became a household name in Quebec because of his skillful hosting of a weekly news program, Point de Mire (target). His popular image included his ever-present cigarette, small physical stature, enthusiasm for public affairs, and unique hairstyle. In 1959, he was a leader in a bitter strike for a union of CBC producers. As soon as the strike ended successfully, he resigned from the CBC to become a professional politician.

Life’s Work

Entering the political arena, Lévesque was a committed partisan of the Liberal Party’s program, the so-called quiet revolution, under the leadership of Prime MinisterJean Lesage , which emphasized modernization, an enhanced role of the state, and additional powers for Quebec within the Canadian confederation. Elected to the legislative assembly of Quebec in 1960, Lévesque served as minister of hydroelectric resources for two years and as minister of natural resources from 1961 to 1965. During these years, he played a dominant role in the expansion of Hydro-Quebec and in the nationalization of private hydroelectric companies. From 1965 to 1966, he served as minister of family and welfare.

By the mid-1960’s, Lévesque had become an advocate of a neonationalist program for Quebec. Criticizing the existing Canadian constitution, he insisted on, at a minimum, a “special status” for the province, which would have given Quebec exclusive control over its social-welfare powers and an independent role in international affairs. The majority of the members of the Liberal Party firmly opposed such ideas. On October 14, 1967, after the delegates at the convention refused to consider any changes in Quebec’s constitutional status, Lévesque resigned from the party.

Also in 1967, Lévesque founded the Mouvement Souveraineté-Association, or Movement for Sovereignty Association (MSA), which advocated political independence with continued economic association with Canada. In 1968, he made an alliance with another sovereignist group to organize the Parti Québécois (PQ), or Québécois Party. At the time, the idea of independence was growing and radical French Canadian sovereignists were advocating violence and insurrection. Insisting on democratic means for sovereignty, Lévesque announced that if the party gained a majority of the Quebec parliament, it would hold a referendum and let the citizens decide the constitutional issue.

In 1976, the PQ won a plurality of the votes (41 percent) and a firm majority of the Quebec parliament (more than 70 percent). As the new prime minister of Quebec, Lévesque attempted to expand the role of the state over the economy and to increase the powers of the province within the confederation. His government’s most important and controversial legislative achievement was Bill 101, which confirmed French as the only official language of the province and established tough requirements for the use of French in employment, communication, and education. This law, called the charter of the French language, angered the non-French-speaking minority (about 20 percent of the province), and some businesses moved to other provinces. Furthermore, Lévesque’s government was the first in Canada to prohibit discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation. In 1977, he faced a personal crisis when his car struck and killed a homeless man. Quebecers learned that Lévesque’s companion in the car was a secretary, Corinne Côté, and not his wife. Côté, however, would later marry Lévesque (1979).

Preparing for the referendum on the sovereign-association plan, Lévesque attempted to assure Quebec citizens that a combination of political sovereignty and economic association would not have any negative economic consequences. His major opponent, Canadian prime minister Pierre Trudeau , countered that political independence was incompatible with the economic benefits of confederation. When the referendum was held in 1980, 60 percent of the voters rejected the PQ’s recommendation. In his concession speech before his bitterly disappointed followers, Lévesque called on the PQ to persevere “à la prochaine fois” (until the next time).

In the election of 1981, the PQ won a second victory and increased its share of the popular vote to 49 percent. During his second mandate, Lévesque unsuccessfully opposed Trudeau’s reforms of the Canadian constitution. The province was experiencing an increase in unemployment and a growing debt, forcing Lévesque to give up his left-of-center plans for significant socioeconomic reforms. Labor unions, a core constituency of the PQ, were particularly unhappy with the change in direction. There were also stories about the effects of stress on Lévesque and his intemperate consumption of alcohol.

As the PQ continued to lose popularity, Lévesque decided that it was impractical to hold the forthcoming provincial election on the issue of sovereignty. This decision divided the party, and the more committed sovereignist members of the government resigned. Faced with the growing stresses of office and almost certain defeat, Lévesque resigned as leader of the PQ on June 20, 1985, and he resigned as prime minister in October. He was replaced by Pierre Marc Johnson. Although Lévesque’s health seemed to improve after he left office, he died from a massive heart attack in 1987. Newspapers estimated that about 100,000 Quebecers attended his state funeral and funeral procession.

Significance

Quebecers remember Lévesque as the spiritual leader of the sovereignty movement during the last half of the twentieth century. His legacy includes many impressive achievements: nationalizing hydroelectricity; founding the Québécois Party and serving as its leader for eighteen years; and serving nine years as prime minister of the province, during which time the Parliament improved social services and passed a charter of the French language. A study by Le Journal de Montréal in 2006 found that many journalists and intellectuals consider him to have been the best prime minister of Quebec in the last fifty years.

The prospects for Lévesque’s dream of independence for Quebec remained uncertain. Proponents came extremely close to achieving a majority of the votes in the second referendum of 1995, although there were indications that support for the idea declined in the first years of the twenty-first century. Even if Quebec ultimately chooses to stay in the confederation, it is likely that a significant percentage of Quebecers would favor some version of full or partial sovereignty. Some observers believe that French and English Canadians would look to compromise on the issue of sovereignty, somewhat akin to the model of the European Union.

Bibliography

Behiels, Michael. Prelude to Quebec’s Quiet Revolution: Liberalism Versus Neo-nationalism, 1946-1960. Montreal: McGill-Queen’s University Press, 1985. An excellent account of the historical context in which Lévesque operated following World War II.

Bothwell, Robert. Canada and Quebec: One Country, Two Histories. Seattle: University of Washington Press, 1999. The recent history of the troubled relationship between Quebec and the rest of Canada, leading to the referendum of 1995.

Durnford, Megan. René Lévesque: The Fascinating Life of a Separatist Icon. Canmore, Alta.: Altitude, 2005. A short, 128-page account of Lévesque’s political life, with a clearly written introduction. Suitable for young readers.

Fournier, Claude. René Lévesque: Portrait of a Man Alone. Translated by Jean-Pierre Fournier. Toronto, Ont.: McClelland & Stewart, 1995. A critical look at Lévesque and his legacy, emphasizing the isolated and erratic aspects of his private life.

Fraser, Graham. René Lévesque and the Parti Québécois in Power. 2d ed. Montreal: McGill-Queen’s University Press, 2001. Written by an English Canadian journalist who knew Lévesque personally, this scholarly and well-written biography is recognized as the definitive work on the subject.

Paulin, Marguerite. René Lévesque: Charismatic Leader. Translated by Jonathan Kaplansky. Montreal: XYZ, 2005. A readable 200-page summary of Lévesque’s life, depicting him as “the charismatic leader who seemed to personally embody the dreams and aspirations of Quebecers.”

Saywell, John. The Rise of the Parti Québécois, 1967-76. Toronto, Ont.: University of Toronto Press, 1977. The fascinating story of Lévesque’s establishment of a sovereignist party and its victory in the election of 1976.