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“I am a Canadian, free to speak without fear, free to worship in my own way, free to stand for what I think right, free to oppose what I believe wrong, or free to choose those who shall govern my country. This heritage of freedom I pledge to uphold for myself and all mankind.” ~~ John G. Diefenbaker

FELDSTED: A bit of Quebec History

Claude Bélanger, Department of History, Marianopolis College has done an interesting study of Jean Lesage and the Quiet Revolution (1960-66) which is well worth the read.

Although many people are familiar with the term ‘Quiet Revolution’ few are really familiar with just what that entailed.

Quebecers had suffered decades of oppression and regulation that reached a point of causing a rebellion against church and state as practiced by the Duplessis regime.
Prime Minister Pierre Elliot Trudeau being questioned
after introducing the War Measures Act (10/16/1970)

Unlike most rebellion, the Quebec version was primarily intellectual and social excepting for the minority hotheads who led Quebec into the October 1970 crisis and enactment of the War Measures Act.

What is more intriguing is how Jean Lesage managed to wrest a degree of political anonymity from the federal government. There are several lessons therein for all provinces to consider, but many have been lost in misreading of how Quebec secured anonymity and set a series of precedents.

Most of us incorrectly assume that we have a representation by population system, but Quebec is separately treated, other provinces with a population of over 2.5 million (Alberta, British Columbia and Ontario) are treated differently from those with a population of between 1.5 and 2.5 million (none at present) and those with population under 1.5 million (Manitoba, New Brunswick, Newfoundland and Labrador, Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island & Saskatchewan).


The system favours smaller provinces.

Successive federal governments have insisted that the federal government is superior to, and above, the provinces. This is, at best, only partially true and restricted to matters under federal jurisdiction, and a few not articulated in the constitution.

For the most part, provinces have not fully exercised their constitutional powers, in part as those powers entail responsibilities. Quebec is the exception in that regard at present.

Western Canadians are awakening to the need for a different deal with the federal government. The system is not working for them.

In future articles we will explore the options provinces have and how they relate to federal powers and responsibilities.

John Feldsted
Political Consultant & Strategist
Winnipeg, Manitoba







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