JEAN LESAGE

'Jean Lesage', PC, CC, CD (June 10, 1912 – December 12, 1980) was a lawyer and politician in Quebec, Canada. He served as Premier of Quebec from July 22, 1960, to August 16, 1966. While others like Georges-Émile Lapalme, René Lévesque and the Quebecois people were also instrumental, he is sometimes portrayed as the father of the Quiet Revolution.

Contents

Profile

Legacy

See also

Book References

External links

Profile

Born in Montreal of Xavéri Lesage, teacher and public servant, and Cécile Côté, he studied law at Université Laval in Quebec City and was admitted to the Barreau du Quebec in 1934. He served in the Canadian Army reserve from 1933 to 1945. He practised law in Quebec City, and was also a Crown attorney from 1939 to 1944.
He was elected to the Canadian House of Commons as a member of the Liberal Party of Canada in 1945, and served as an MP until 1958. He was appointed to the federal cabinet in 1953 as Minister of Resources and Development (later retitled Minister of Northern Affairs and National Resources).
He remained in that position until the defeat of the St. Laurent government in the 1957 general election. Lesage retained his seat. He resigned from parliament shortly after being re-elected in the 1958 federal election to enter provincial politics and became leader of the Quebec Liberal Party (PLQ) in 1958.
He became premier of Quebec after winning the 1960 election with the slogan 'Maitres chez nous' (masters in our own home). Lesage's victory brought to an end the long reign of the conservative Union Nationale party that had governed Quebec since 1944 under the leadership of Maurice Duplessis (until 1959). Lesage's election campaign ushered the Quiet Revolution, which began to change the traditional domination of Quebec's economy by English-speaking Canadians, and the traditional domination of the public lives of French-speaking Quebeckers by the Catholic Church was replaced by a larger role for the government of Quebec.
In 1962, the PLQ ended its affiliation with the Liberal Party of Canada and became a separate party.
Some of the major accomplishments were the creation of the Ministry of Education, the nationalization of hydro-electricity (Hydro-Quebec) and a bigger control over the health care system. Major reforms were also made in the public sector and improved working conditions were implemented as well.
His government was unexpectedly defeated by the Union Nationale of Daniel Johnson, Sr, in 1966. Lesage continued as leader of the PLQ until 1970. In 1970, he was made a Companion of the Order of Canada.
On his passing in 1980, Jean Lesage was interred in the cimetière Notre-Dame-de-Belmont in Sainte-Foy, Quebec.

Legacy

Autoroute 20, a vital transportation corridor in Quebec, was named ''Autoroute Jean-Lesage'' in his honour. Also, in 1993, the airport at Quebec City was renamed Aéroport International Jean-Lesage.
In 2001, a Quebec City area provincial electoral district was named after him starting in the 2003 elections. It was previously called Limoilou from 1966 to 2003.

See also

★ Politics of Quebec

★ Quebec general elections

★ Quiet Revolution

★ History of Quebec

★ Mackenzie King

Book References

★ Rouillard, Jacques (2003), ''Le syndicalisme Quebecois : Deux siècles d'histoire'', Boréal Editions, 335p.

★ Comeau, Robert & Bourque, Gilles (1989), ''Jean Lesage et l'éveil d'une nation'' Sillery Editions, 367p.

★ Thomson, Dale Carins (1984), ''Jean Lesage et la révolution tranquille'', du Trecarre Editions, 615p.

★ Fullerton, Douglas H. (1978), ''The dangerous delusion'' McClelland and Stuart Editions, 240p.

External links

★ Jean Lesage and the Quiet Revolution, 1960-1966

★ His Order of Canada citation

★ National Assembly biography (in French)