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A Portrait of Robert Bourassa, taken during his second term as Prime Minister of Quebec (1985-1994).
Robert Bourassa (July 14, 1933-October 2, 1996) was a
Quebec politician. Born in Montreal, he served as Liberal Prime Minister of Quebec (May 12, 1970 - November 25, 1976 & December 12, 1985
- January 11, 1994).
Profile
He played a critical role in the October Crisis of 1970 in which his colleague Pierre
Laporte was murdered. It was Bourassa who pushed Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau to call in
the army. After Laporte's kidnapping Bourassa barricaded himself and his cabinet behind heavy layers of security.
Bourassa and Trudeau often clashed over issues of federal-provincial relations and Quebec nationalism with Trudeau opposing what he saw as concessions to separatism. Trudeau
also looked down on Bourassa personally, once referring to him as a mangeur d'hot dog (a hot dog eater).
Bourassa lost the 1976 Quebec election to René Lévesque and resigned the Liberal Party leadership, accepting teaching
positions in Europe and the United States. He subsequently returned to politics as Liberal leader on October 15, 1983, and regained the office of Premier in 1985.
During his time in power he pursued policies such as language laws. In his first term, he introduced Bill 22 in 1974, the first legislation designed to strengthen the position of French within Quebec. However, this legislation was
soon superseded by the Charter of the
French Language also known as Bill 101, introduced by the Parti
Québécois government that replaced him in 1976. In his second term, he invoked the
notwithstanding clause of the Canadian constitution to override a Supreme Court ruling that declared parts of Bill 101
unconstitutional, causing some English-speakers ministers in his government to resign. A few years later, however, he introduced
compromise modifications to Bill 101, and with this the language controversies of the previous decades softened as the majority
of Quebecers reached a consensus on accepting the new status quo.
Bourassa also pushed for Quebec to be acknowledged in the constitution as a distinct society, promising Quebecers that their
grievances could be resolved within Canada with a new constitutional deal. Early in his first term he participated in an early
attempt at constitutional reform, the Victoria Charter of 1971, which quickly unraveled. In his second term, he worked closely with federal Prime Minister
Brian Mulroney and received many concessions from the federal
government, culminating in the Meech Lake Accord and the Charlottetown Accord. When both of these accords failed to be
ratified, the constitutional reform efforts collapsed, reviving the separatist movement.
Bourassa initiated the James Bay hydroelectric projects but ran into opposition from environmentalists and the Cree who lived on the land in question. The Bourassa government also played a major role in rescuing the 1976 Olympic Games in Montreal from the huge cost overruns and construction delays incurred by the mismanagement of the project by mayor
Drapeau's administration.
Bourassa, not in great health and quite unpopular, retired from politics in 1994 and was
replaced by Daniel Johnson, Jr., who quickly lost an
election to the separatist Parti Québécois.
He died in 1996 in Montreal of skin
cancer and was interred at the Cimetière Notre-Dame-des-Neiges in Montreal, Quebec.
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Quotes
- No matter what anyone says and no matter what anyone does, Quebec is, today and forever, a distinct society, free and capable
of assuming its destiny and development. (listen) (watch excerpts of original speech
)
(watch English dubbing )
- Quoi qu'on dise et quoi qu'on fasse, le Québec est, aujourd'hui et pour toujours, une société distincte, libre et capable
d'assumer son destin et son développement.
- Speech given on June 22, 1990, at the National Assembly, in the wake of the Meech Lake Accord's demise.
Elections as party leader
He won the 1970 election and the
1973 election, lost the 1976 election, retired and returned, won the
1985 election and 1989 election, and resigned in 1994.
See also
External links
First Term
Second Term
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