P+The+Quebec+Referendum+of+1980

=**The Quebec Referendum of 1980:**=

Brief Introduction of The Quebec Referendum of 1980
Tuesday, May 20th 1980, was the date that the voting was held for a referendum forced by the Parti Québecois, led by Rene Levesque, attempting to gain sovereignty for the province of Quebec. At the time, Quebec strongly favored separation from the rest of Canada, due to a multitude of issues that had been building up over a long period of time. Many Quebecers wanted sovereignty and separation from the rest of Canada. With sovereignty, Quebec would be able to maintain its French culture, heritage, and language, as well as have the power to make its own laws, levy its own taxes, grant citizenship, and handle international relations. René Lévesque would be the man to lead them through sovereignty, but Pierre Trudeau, aided by Claude Ryan stepped up against René Levesque and put a stop to his plans, fighting to maintain a united Canada. The question was crafted with great care, the options were simple, but the decision was not – OUI or NON.

2 Rene Levesque biography 3 Trudeau vs. Levesque 4 Circumstances in Quebec 5 The Referendum Question of May 20th, 1980 6 Oui vs. Non: The arguments on both sides 6.1 Oui vs. Non: Campaign Ads from CBC Archives 7 The effect on Quebec Society 8 The Results and Consequences 9 The 1980 Quebec Referendum Conclusion 10 Quebec Referendum 1980 Powerpoint Presentation ||
 * =Contents= 1 The Rising Action Leading up to the Referendum

Rising Action Leading up to the Referendum
- There were 2 strategies: - Réne Lévesque’s, of taking Quebec out of Canada to solve age-old conflicts - Pierre Trudeau’s, who believed that the federal government could deal more effectively with language and other rights issues if Canada had control of its own Constitution. - Only one of these 2 strategies could prevail

René Lévesque
• Born August 24th, 1922 • Died November 1st, 1987 • Founder of Parti Quebecois • 23rd Premier of Quebec (November 25, 1976 – October 3, 1985) • First French Canadian to attempt to achieve political independence for Quebec • Was the oldest of his four siblings • He was the first French-Canadian political leader since confederation to attempt, through a referendum, to negotiate political independence for Quebec. • Levesque used to be a reporter and was with the allied troops during WWII. He took pictures and reported on his findings.

Trudeau vs. Levesque
- Trudeau and Levesque had long shared a mutual dislike and had - Levesque wanted to achieve sovereignty for Quebec - Trudeau opposed sovereignty for Quebec - Long debates between Levesque and Trudeau took place - The two opposed sides came to be known as “Oui” and “Non” sides - Levesque spearheaded the “Oui” campaign because he was for sovereignty - Trudeau was a key member of the “Non” side against Levesque - Although Levesque and Trudeau were on opposing sides, they had some uncannily similar characteristics - Both were bilingual, intelligent, and dedicated to politics - Trudeau offered a compromise by promising a new constitutional agreement if it stayed in Canada.

Circumstances in Quebec
In November 1979, a White Paper, “Quebec/Canada: A New deal was published by the Parti Québécois, which proposed soveignty-association (meaning Quebec would retain an ongoing connection with Canada. It also proposed four agencies for areas such as currency and justice. Under it, only Quebec would be able to make laws, levy taxes, and grant citizenship for itself.

This paper’s opposition came in the form of Claude Ryan’s (Quebec Liberal Party leader) report, “A New Canadian federation”, which outlined the advantages of the Canadian Federation for Quebec, while also demanding changes in Canada’s structure.

René Levesque and the Parti Québécois planned to launch the referendum at a time when Canada would be weakest, so he did so when Trudeau retired after the 1979 federal election. However, he did not anticipate that the minority conservative, Joe Clark government would fail and collapse and another election would be held in 1980. Once Trudeau came back and won the election with a majority government, he firmly pushed for the Non side along with Claude Ryan.

The Referendum Question: May 20, 1980
The referendum fulfilled a previous obligation that promised in 1976 to hold such a referendum before making any radical changes in Quebec’s status. The question posed on the ballot was:

//"The Government of Quebec has made public its proposal to negotiate a new agreement with the rest of Canada, based on the equality of nations; this agreement would enable Quebec to acquire the exclusive power to make its laws, levy its taxes and establish relations abroad — in other words, sovereignty — and at the same time to maintain with Canada an economic association including a common currency; any change in political status resulting from these negotiations will only be implemented with popular approval through another referendum; on these terms, do you give the Government of Quebec the mandate to negotiate the proposed agreement between Quebec and Canada"//

There were only two options: Yes or No (Qui ou Non).

Despite these seemingly simple choices (yes and no), the question made choosing an answer very difficult. The question was also crafted with great care. It was designed to obtain the highest possible Oui vote, by not straight-out saying the Quebec was to separate from Canada, but rather proposed a mandate to negotiate “the agreement between Quebec and Canada).

Oui vs. Non: The Argument on Both Sides
- Obviously, most of the English Canadians and Anglophones in general were against such a separation - They wanted to remain with Canada as it was and still is an excellent country - On the other hand were l oyal and proud French Canadians and (especially) the Francophones who believed remaining with Canada would destroy what heritage, culture, and language French Canada had left - The Oui side was led by René Lévesque with the PQ, and the Non side by Claude Ryan, the leader of the Quebec Liberal Party - Quebec law dictated that the committees led by Lévesque and Ryan were to be run and held only within Quebec - René Levesque knew how to get the media’s attention, as carefully studied and planned his events around the media deadlines so as to optimize publicity - Ryan, on the other hand, tended to ignore the media’s schedule make them ignore him - In addition to this he would give unsure, overly pessimistic speeches that were to offense-oriented - Also campaigning the Non side were Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau, Federal Justice Minister Jean Crétien, and the Speaker of the House of Commons, Jeanne Sauvé

The following file is a movie that shows the advertising campaign from both sides of the referendum

The Effect On Quebec Society
- Despite the referendum, the Parti Québécois were re-elected in 1981 - Even though Levesque got outvoted in the referendum, he tried again to gain sovereignty for Quebec in the 1980s - This time, Levesque tried to make a deal with the Mulroney government. - Many members of the Parti Québécois disagreed with Levesque and didn’t think sovereignty was worth another shot. - The Parti Québécois split up because of the difference of opinions. - This led to Rene Levesque’s resignation in 1985 Even though Quebec remained a part of Canada, there were still those, and at 40% a lot of people in Quebec, who thought that Quebec should gain sovereignty. - This caused a separation in society among Quebecers. - Through the referendum, separation between the two opinion had grown stronger because such a huge deal was made over it. - The voting process was also what caused social groups to oppose each other. The direct opposite opinions of “Oui” and “Non” were also partly what separated society.

The Result and its Consequences
- On the day of the referendum, May 20, 1980, voter turnout was extremely hig with about 82 percent of registered voters in Quebec showing up and filling out ballots - It wasn’t all about Quebec, though, because emotions ran high throughout Canada on the day as the outcome of this referendum would affect Canada quite radically - In the end, the Non side of the 1980 Quebec Referendum won, with 59.4 percent of the vote, while the Oui side managed just 40.6 percent. - However, as Trudeau knew, separatism in Quebec was still far from dead - “We will not agree to you interpreting a ‘no’ vote as an indication that everything is fine and can remain as it was before” is what Trudeau said to remind Non siders that the battle may have been won but the war was not over. - Despite the referendum, the Parti Québécois were re-elected in 1981 - Even though Levesque got outvoted in the referendum, he tried again to gain sovereignty for Quebec in the 1980s - The Quebec separatists were and still are persistent and determined as it was only a matter of time before the Quebec issue would be brought up again in 1995

The Quebec Referendum of 1980 Conclusion
Quebec sovereignty was a very unlikely thing to happen. Rarely does a province or state ever separate from a country. Even with the referendum question strongly leaning toward the “Oui” side, it still failed. There were so many other politicians against sovereignty that even though Levesque had most of Quebec behind him and a poor opposition public figure, there was no success in sovereignty.

Information Presented in Powerpoint Form:


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