Treaty of Paris 1763
• French canadians Felt that they were betrayed
as they had to give up New France.
• French Canadians were only left with a few
islands, although they were still allowed to
practice their religions.
• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=02R4nxG7
t8U
Quebec Act of 1774
• This act passed by the British parliament, was
Canada’s first constitution.
• The Quebec Act of 1774 protected the rights
of French Canadians, which allowed them to
feel confident enough of their rights being
protected to join confederation.
The Canadian Flag
The Fleur De Lys
French and English Relations
1950’s-1960’s
Harry, Caitlyn, Hamza, Amrit
Maurice Duplessis
(1936-39) (1944-59)
• Was the leader of the Union
Nationale, a Quebec political party
• Enacted the Padlock law,
which outlawed communist propaganda, and
communist meetings.
• As the head of the Union Nationale, he was
heavily supported by the Roman Catholic Church,
which was the major church in Quebec.
When he was in power
• www.youtube.com/watch?v=I1sSzEBmRYw
The Great Darkness
• Duplessis’ regime when he was the leader of Quebec was known as
The Great Darkness.
• During his reign, he abused his rights to spite the federal
government.
• Duplessis discouraged or even
outright banned unions in order to
attract foreign investment since workers
had little to no rights.
• He wanted Quebec to be a nation
• His government was fraught with corruption
• One of his worst atrocities was when he pronounced thousands of
orphans as mentally insane to send them to asylums because
asylums were federally funded.
Jean Lesage
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Jean Lesage was the Liberal leader in Quebec
The liberal’s motto was “Time for change”
When he was elected in 1960, he began the “quiet revolution”
Lesage stopped the corruption in government, awarded positions
according to who earned them, raised wages and pensions, and
lifted restrictions on unions.
• Under Lesage the economy, politics, education and culture.
• Science and technology courses, which were previously discouraged
under Duplessis were now
mandatory
• Roman Catholic Church’s importance
declined a lot.
• In the 1962 elections, The liberals won with
the slogan “maîtres chez nous” which meant
masters in our own house.
• The aim of this was to strengthen Quebec’s
control of it’s economy, such as the purchasing
of several hydro companies which combined
to form Hydro-Québec.
Separatism
• The belief that Quebec should separate
from Canada grew in the 1960’s and 70’s.
• Francophones (French speakers) were upset
that they had to speak English while working.
• Anglophones(English speakers) also had schools that taught them in
English in Quebec, yet French schools were only in Quebec.
• These thoughts gave birth to a terrorist group the “FLQ”(front de
Liberation du Quebec” that went as far as bombing mailboxes and
symbols of English-Canadian power on Quebec.
• In 1968, René Lévesque formed the
Parti Québécois whos aim was to “divorce”
from Canada.
Response to Seperatism
• When Lester Pearson was in power he formed the Royal Commission in
Bilingualism and Biculturalism (the “Bi and Bi Commission)
• The goal of the Commission was to figure out how to make Quebec feel
more at home in Canada so that they wouldn’t separate.
• The “Bi and Bi Commission” recommended that Canada would become
bilingual, with both French and English as it’s official Languages.
• This suggestion was later realized by Pierre Trudeau as the Official
Languages Act in 1969
The “Bi and Bi Commission”
The Flag Debate
• Until 1965, the Canadian Flag
was the Red Ensign, which many
Canadians believed was too British.
• English Canadians wanted to keep the Red Ensign (for
obvious reasons) but French Canadians wanted a new flag.
• One February 15th, 1965, the Maple Leaf flag was flown on
Parliament Hill.
• Ironically, English Canadians
regard the flag with pride,
while French Canadians
continue to raise the “Fleur de Lys”