Introduction
On July 1st, 1867, the Dominion of Canada was effective. Sir John A Macdonald was the 1st Canadian Prime Minister. The first telephone was invented by Sir Alexander Graham Bell in 1874. In the next decade, the great depression began at the exact date of 1929. After that, in 1940, Quebec women finally won the right to vote. By 1944, over one million Canadian women were full-time workers, supporting themselves and their families.
The Canadian Bill of Rights was established in 1958. In 1959, the death of Duplessis, who was the prime minister of Quebec, after World War 2, gave a veritable relief to Quebec and it was called the ‘Duplessis Reign’. On June 22, 1960, the Liberal Party represented by John Lesage won the provincial election in Quebec. The Quiet Revolution also started in the 1960s. It is said that many Quebecers transformed to become Catholics during this time. This is also the time when the economic, political, and religious shifts started to take place, also people were beginning to fight for freedom as well.
French Canadians and the Anglo-Quebecers
In the early 1960s, the Franco-Quebec’s wanted to be known as the French Canadians as opposed to the Anglo-Quebecers. Things got heated up between the English Canadians and French Canadians. French Canadians started feeling like they were left out in the government and they decided to do something about it. That is when tragedy hit in the year 1963 when the separatist, Front de Liberation du Quebec set off bombs in Montreal. However, things were going more on a positive track when Canada launched its new flag in 1965 with red maple leaves on white with red sidebars.
The situation took a turn for the worst when in 1970, the Front de Liberation du Quebec (FLQ) kidnapped British trade commissioner James Cross which led to the October crisis. Subsequently, the Minister of Labor and Immigration, Pierre Laporte was also kidnapped. Following these events, Quebec’s Robert Bourassa appealed to the Federal Government to form the War Measures Act which was almost immediately approved by the Prime Minister then, Pierre Trudeau.
Upon the implementation of the Act, 500 terrorists were arrested and the Front de Liberation du Quebec (FLQ) was demolished. In 1987, Trudeau appealed for the last time through the Meech Lake Accord. The failure of this resulted in many Quebecers having a sense of disrespect and disgust over the federal system and Canada. In 1991, Charlottetown agreed to the proposal of a representation system in the parliament, which would give more seats to British Columbia, but gave a negative effect on the House of Commons. The Charlotte town Accord received the most number of rejections in the referendum there. A national referendum held in 1992 showed a majority of Canadians voting ‘No’ to the Charlotte town agreement, for the second time after the Meech Lake agreement.
Summary
Though there are still some political misunderstandings and arguments in Canada as would the rest of the world have, Quebec has become one of the most appreciated states in Canada mainly because of its rich history. Presently, Canada has become one of the most respected countries around the world, and one which has one of the smallest populations mainly because of its location up north and its cold winters. Canada is currently encouraging more people to migrate to Canada and it’s also encouraging its citizens to give birth to more children as a measure to keep Canada still booming.
Bibliography
- Belanger, Claude. Marinopolis College. Pierre Elliott (E.) Trudeau, Quebec and the Canadian Constitution. 2000. Web.
- Paul-Andre, Linteau. Quebec Since 1930, Published in 1991. Web.