René Lévesque: Biography from Answers.com

As premier of the province of Quebec, Canada, from 1976 to 1985, René Lévesque (1922-1987) was the first French-Canadian political leader since confederation to attempt, through a referendum, to negotiate political independence for Quebec.

René Lévesque was born in New Carlisle, in the Gaspé region of Quebec, on August 24, 1922, the son of Dominique Lévesque, a lawyer, and of Diane Dionne-Pineault. Upon completing his primary education in New Carlisle, he pursued his classical education at the Jesuit Collège de Gaspé and the Collège Saint-Charles-Garnier in Quebec City. In the fall of 1941 he began studies in law at Laval University, which he did not complete.

He pursued a career in radio journalism and acted as a liaison agent and war correspondent for the U. S. armed forces in 1944 and 1945. Between 1946 and 1951 he worked for the French-language section of the International Service of the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. After serving as correspondent in Korea in 1951-1952, he created Radio-Canada's news service system and co-produced the program Carrefour (Crossroads). Between 1956 and 1959 he produced and served as animator for a television news program entitled Point de mire (Target). During 1959 he led a bitter campaign for the creation of a union for Radio-Canada's producers. When that goal was accomplished he left Radio-Canada a committed neo-nationalist in search of a new career and a new country.

Attracted by the neo-nationalist platform of the Quebec Liberal Party of Jean Lesage, Lévesque accepted an invitation to join the party. He quickly became one of the leading forces in Quebec's "Quiet Revolution" once the party defeated the longstanding Union Nationale Party in June 1960. As minister of natural resources from March 1961 to January 1966 he was responsible for the campaign which brought about the nationalization of Quebec's private hydro-electric companies by 1964. This development allowed Hydro-Québec, which employs thousands of highly skilled French-speaking Quebeçois, to become North America's largest and most successful producer and distributor of electricity.

Lévesque became one of the strongest proponents of a powerful, neo-nationalist Quebec state, both politically and economically. He was the government's most vociferous critic of the existing Canadian constitution. He advocated, as a minimum, "special status" for Quebec which entailed much greater taxing powers, exclusive control over all health and social welfare programs, and significant powers for Quebec in international affairs. When negotiations with Ottawa encountered serious opposition after 1965, he started promoting the concept of associate-state status for Quebec. His views were considered far too radical for the majority in the Liberal Party. After the party's defeat in 1966 he left and created the Mouvement souveraineté-association (MSA) in November 1967 which became the Parti Québéçois (PQ) in October 1968.

As president of the PQ from its formation into the 1980s René Lévesque pursued the party's central goal of achieving a new constitutional arrangement with the rest of Canada; that is, political independence with continued economic association. When Lévesque and the party agreed to postpone the constitutional question for a referendum, the PQ achieved power in November 1976. The PQ's most significant legislative measure was Bill 101, the Charter of the French Language, which confirmed French as the only official language of the province and set out tough provisions to make French the language of work for all Quebeçois.

The Lévesque government prepared for the referendum by trying to assure American investors that a politically independent Quebec would remain a friendly ally of the United States and by seeking to assure Quebec citizens that sovereignty and association would be achieved simultaneously, thereby minimizing the socio-economic risks. During the historic 1980 referendum campaign, the Canadian prime minister, Pierre Elliott Trudeau, declared that the rest of Canada would never agree to political independence with the continued benefit of economic association for Quebec. He also promised to begin the process of reforming the century-old British North America Act to give Canada a renewed federal system. As a result of this dramatic intervention, 60 percent of the voters rejected the PQ's request for a mandate to negotiate sovereignty-association. The PQ strategy of achieving independence democratically and by stages had failed.

Under Lévesque's leadership the PQ won the 1981 provincial election, but the disintegration of the independence movement and its political expression, the PQ, set in immediately. Reduced to a mere premier caught in the dilemma of administering a debt ridden province faced with a serious recession and rising unemployment, and confronted with a humiliating defeat on the constitution which was voted down along with an amendment formula in 1982, Lévesque had to abandon long cherished plans for wide-ranging socio-economic reforms. In fact, he introduced deep cuts in the salaries as well as the quantity of public and para-public employees. The unlimited growth of the Quebec state was over.

The results were predictable. The PQ lost quite dramatically the widespread public support that had brought it to power in 1976. When Lévesque decided not to hold the forthcoming election on the issue of independence as promised, he precipitated a major schism in the party. All the leading independentists resigned, leaving his government in a precarious position.

While René Lévesque was responsible for many of the socio-economic reforms after 1960, the central goal of the Quiet Revolution - political independence for Quebec - had been thwarted. The neo-nationalist movement, led with great vigor and sincerity by Lévesque, would have to await a new leader and a more opportune time in order to re-emerge as a significant force in Quebec society. In 1985 Lévesque, one of Quebec's most sincere politicians, stepped down as party leader and was replaced by Pierre Marc Johnson, a Montreal lawyer and physician.

René Lévesque

23rd Premier of Quebec
In office November 25, 1976 – October 3, 1985
Lieutenant Governor	Hugues Lapointe, Jean-Pierre Côté, Gilles Lamontagne
Preceded by	Robert Bourassa
Succeeded by	Pierre Marc Johnson

Born	August 24, 1922(1922-08-24) Campbellton, New Brunswick Canada
Died	November 1, 1987 (aged 65) Nuns' Island, Quebec, Canada
Political party	Parti Québécois
Spouse(s)	Louise L'Heureux Corinne Côté-Lévesque
Profession	Journalist
Religion	Roman Catholic

Biography

Origins

The oldest of four children, René Lévesque was born in the Hotel Dieu Hospital in Campbellton, New Brunswick and raised 133 km away in New Carlisle, Quebec, in the Gaspé peninsula by his parents, Dominic Lévesque, a lawyer, and Diane Dionne. Lévesque attended the Séminaire de Gaspé and the Saint-Charles-Garnier College in Quebec City, both of which were run by the Jesuits. He studied for a law degree at Université Laval in Quebec City, but left the university in 1943 without having completed the degree.

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 in print. He was with the first unit of Americans to reach the Dachau concentration camp, and was profoundly touched by what he witnessed.

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's French Language sector in the international service. He once more served as a war correspondent for 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.

Public figure

Circa 1955, Lévesque interviews future Canadian Prime Minister Lester B. Pearson in Moscow for Radio-Canada

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.

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 nationalisation of hydroelectric companies, greatly expanding Hydro-Québec, one of the reforms that was part of the Quiet Revolution.

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

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.

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.

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 Quebecois."

René Lévesque on election night, 1973

On February 06, 1977, Lévesque's car fatally struck Edgar Trottier, a homeless man who had been lying on the road. It was alleged that Lévesque had been driving while intoxicated. 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 soon thereafter (the couple had already been estranged for some time), and in April 1979, he married Côté.

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.

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 normal and everyday language of work, instruction, communication, commerce and business." 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 in order to encourage immigrants to integrate themselves into the majority French culture. (Lévesque was more moderate on language than some of the PQ, including language minister, Camille Laurin. He would have resigned as leader rather than eliminate English public schools, as party extremists proposed.) [1]

Bill 101 also made it illegal for businesses to put up exterior commercial signs in a language other than French at a time when English dominated as a commercial and business language in Quebec (while more than 80% of the population was of French origin).

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 sovereigntists to persevere À la prochaine fois! (until next time).

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.

A major focus of his second mandate was the patriation 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.

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.

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 Quebec 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.

Lévesque, a constant smoker,^[1] was in his apartment on November 1, 1987 when he experienced chest pains; he died of a heart attack that day at a hospital.^[2] A brief resurgence of separatist sentiment followed. Over 100,000 viewed his body lying in state in Montreal and Quebec City, over 10,000 went to his funeral in the latter city, and hundreds wept daily at his grave for months.^[3]

Legacy

Statue of Levesque on the grounds of the Quebec legislature

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

His state funeral and funeral procession was reportedly attended by 100,000 Québécois. During 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. In Montreal, Édifice Hydro-Québec and Maison Radio-Canada are both located on René Lévesque Boulevard, fittingly as Lévesque once worked for Hydro-Québec and the CBC, respectively.

On June 03, 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 "avec René" (with René), despite repeated attempts by officials to keep people from touching the monument or getting too close to it. The statue had been the source of an improvised, comical and affectionately touching tribute to Lévesque. The fingers of his extended right hand are slightly parted, just enough so that tourists and the faithful could insert a cigarette, giving the statue an unusually realistic appearance.

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 noted that a trademark of Lévesque was his relative small stature.

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.

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. His government was the first in Canada to prohibit discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation in the province's Charte des droits de la personne in 1977. [2] He also continued the work of the Lesage government in improving social services, in which social needs were taken care of by the state, instead of the Catholic Church (as in the Duplessis era) or the individual. Lévesque is still regarded by many as a symbol of democracy and tolerance.

According to a study made in 2006 by Le Journal de Montréal and Léger Marketing, René Lévesque was considered by far according to Quebecois the best premier to run the province over the last 50 years. [3]

Personality

He was a man capable of great tact and charm, but who could also be abrupt and choleric when defending beliefs, ideals, or morals essential to him, or when lack of respect was perceived, for example, when he was famously snubbed by François Mitterrand at their first meeting. He was also a proud Gaspésien (from the Gaspé peninsula), and had hints of the local accent.

Considered a major defender of Québécois, Lévesque was, before the 1960s, more interested by international affairs than Quebec matters. The popular image of Lévesque was his ever-present cigarette and his small physical stature, as well as by his unique comb over that earned him the nickname of Ti-Poil, literally, "Lil' Hair", but more accurately translated as "Baldy". Lévesque was a passionate and emotional public speaker. Those close to Lévesque have described him as having difficulty expressing his emotions in private, saying that he was more comfortable in front of a crowd of thousands than with one person.

While many Quebec intellectuals are inspired by the French philosophy and high culture, Lévesque favoured the United States of America. While in London during the Second World War, his admiration for Britons grew when he saw as their admirable courage in the face of the German bombardments. He was a faithful reader of the New York Times, and took his vacations in New England every year. He has also stated that, if there had to be one role model for him, it would be U.S. President Franklin Delano Roosevelt.

Lévesque was disappointed with the cold response by the American economic elite to his first speech in New York City as Premier of Quebec, in which he compared Quebec's march towards sovereignty to the American Revolution. His first speech in France was, however, more successful, leading him to a better appreciation of the French intelligentsia and of French culture.

Lévesque in media

Lévesque was notably portrayed in the television series René Lévesque. In 2006, an additional television miniseries, René Lévesque, was aired on the CBC. He was also portrayed in an episode of Kevin Spencer, a Canadian cartoon show. In it, his ghost attempted a camaraderie with Kevin because of their similarities in political beliefs, as well as the fact that the title character, like René's ghost, claims to smoke "five packs a day".

A song by Les Cowboys Fringants named Lettre à Lévesque on the album La Grand-Messe was dedicated to him. They have also mentioned the street bearing his name in the song called La Manifestation.

He was the co-subject along with Pierre Trudeau in the Donald Brittain-directed documentary mini-series The Champions.

Videos

CBC Digital Archives: René Lévesque's Separatist Fight (in English)
CBC Digital Archives: Charting the Future: Canada's New Constitution (in English)
Radio-Canada video archive on René Lévesque and the PQ (in French)
Radio-Canada video archive on the 1980 referendum (in French)

Notes

^ Graham Fraser, Ivon Owen. René Lévesque & the Parti Québécois in Power, p.13. McGill-Queen's Press, 2001, ISBN 0773523235
^ Paulin, Marguerite. René Lévesque, p.123. XYZ Publishing, 2004, ISBN 1894852133
^ Conway, John Frederick. Debts to Pay, p.128-9. James Lorimer & Company, 2004, ISBN 1550288148

Bibliography

Option-Québec (1968)
La passion du Québec (1978)
Oui (1980)
Attendez que je me rappelle (1986) (although the title means 'Wait for me to remember'; the title of the English-language version was Memoirs)

References

This article includes a list of references, related reading or external links, but its sources remain unclear because it lacks inline citations. Please improve this article by introducing more precise citations where appropriate. (September 2009)

Paulin, Marguerite (2004). René Lévesque: Charismatic Leader, XYZ Publishing, 176 pages ISBN 1894852133 (translated by Jonathan Kaplansky)
Fennario, David (2003). The Death of René Lévesque, Talonbooks, March 10, 72 pages ISBN 0889224803
Fraser, Graham (2002). PQ: René Lévesque and the Parti Québécois in Power, Montreal, McGill-Queen's University Press; 2nd edition, 434 pages ISBN 0773523103
Fournier, Claude (1995). René Lévesque: Portrait of a Man Alone, McClelland & Stewart, April 15, 272 pages ISBN 0771032161
Lévesque, René (1986). René Lévesque Memoirs, McClelland & Stewart (translated by Philip Stratford)
Fraser, Graham (1984). PQ: René Lévesque and the Parti Québécois in Power, Montreal, Libre Expression
Lévesque, René (1979). My Québec, Methuen, 191 pages, ISBN 0458939803
Provencher, Jean and Ellis, David (1977). René Lévesque: Portrait of a Québécois, Paperjacks, ISBN 0770100201
Lévesque, René (1977). Quotations from René Lévesque, Éditions Héritage, 105 pages ISBN 0777339420
Dupont, Pierre (1977). How Levesque Won, Lorimer, 136 pages ISBN 0888621302 (translated by Sheila Fischman)
Lévesque, René (1968). An Option for Quebec, McClelland and Stewart, 128 pages
Desbarats, Peter (1976). Rene: a Canadian in search of a country, McClelland and Stewart, 223 pages ISBN 0771026919
"René Lévesque's Separatist Fight", in the CBC Archives Web site
Lévesque, René. "For an Independent Quebec", in Foreign Affairs, July, 1976) [4]

Elections as party leader

He lost the 1970 election and 1973 election, and won the 1976 election and 1981 election, and resigned in 1985.

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: René Lévesque

Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to: René Lévesque

National Assembly biography (in French)
Radio-Canada dossier on the constitution saga (in French)
CBC Digital Archives: René Lévesque's Separatist Fight

National Assembly of Quebec
Preceded by Arsène Gagné (Union Nationale)	MNA, District of Laurier 1960–1970	Succeeded by André Marchand (Liberal)
Preceded by Guy Leduc (Liberal)	MNA, District of Taillon 1976–1985	Succeeded by Claude Filion (PQ)
Government offices
Preceded by Robert Bourassa (Liberal)	Premier of Quebec 1976-1985	Succeeded by Pierre-Marc Johnson (PQ)
Party political offices
Preceded by none	Leader of the Parti Québécois 1968-1985	Succeeded by Pierre Marc Johnson

v • d • e Premiers of Quebec

Chauveau · Ouimet · de Boucherville · de Lotbinière · Chapleau · Mousseau · Ross · Taillon · Mercier · de Boucherville · Taillon · Flynn · Marchand · Parent · Gouin · Taschereau · Godbout · Duplessis · Godbout · Duplessis · Sauvé · Barrette · Lesage · D. Johnson · Bertrand · Bourassa · Lévesque · P. Johnson · Bourassa · D. Johnson, Jr. · Parizeau · Bouchard · Landry · Charest

Canadian Newsmaker of the Year

Igor Gouzenko (1946) · Barbara Ann Scott (1947) · William Lyon Mackenzie King (1948) · Louis St. Laurent (1949) · Lester Pearson (1950-1953) · Marilyn Bell (1954) · Lester Pearson (1955-1956) · John Diefenbaker (1957-1960) · Joey Smallwood (1959) · James Coyne (1961) · Réal Caouette (1962) · Lester Pearson (1963-1964) · Lucien Rivard (1965) · John Diefenbaker (1966) · Lester Pearson (1967) · Pierre Trudeau (1968-1975) · René Lévesque (1976-1977) · Pierre Trudeau (1978) · Joe Clark (1979) · Terry Fox (1980-1981) · Wayne Gretzky (1982) · Brian Mulroney (1983-1984) · Steve Fonyo (1985) · Rick Hansen (1986-1987) · Ben Johnson (1988) · Michael Wilson (1989) · Elijah Harper (1990) · Brian Mulroney (1991) · The referendum on the Charlottetown Accord (1992) · Kim Campbell (1993) · Jacques Parizeau (1994) · Lucien Bouchard (1995) · Donovan Bailey (1996) · Sheldon Kennedy (1997) · Jean Chrétien (1998) · Pierre Trudeau (1999, as Newsmaker of the 20th Century) · Pierre Trudeau (2000) · Stockwell Day (2001) · Jean Chrétien (2002) · Paul Martin (2003-2004) · John Gomery (2005) · The Canadian Soldier (2006) · RCMP (2007) · Stephen Harper (2008)

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René Lévesque

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