The Quiet Revolution

The Quiet Revolution The purpose of this paper is to analyze the aspects of The Quiet Revolution on Quebec, and how the changes implemented by Lesage made Quebec the province it is today. The Quiet Revolution was only quiet at name; it triggered many conflicts that appeared in Quebec. The province began to move away from Catholic Church with the help of nationalists, leaving Quebec reformed and quite different from how it was before the 1960’s. Before the Quiet Revolution, Quebec was majorly formed of rural population. They believed that rural was much better than urban, but due to large families and the lack of good land, it pushed most Quebeckers to move to the cities. By 1921, half of Quebec’s population was urbanized. Manufacture industries of textile and shoes located in Quebec, were attracting many Quebeckers to work. The schools of Quebec were owned by the Catholic Church, and were mostly run by priests, nuns and brothers. The Quiet Revolution was a period between 1960 and 1966; it was mainly a period of political, social and economic change (Winston Knoll Collegiate). The Union Nationale party was in power since 1944, it held conservative outdated values. The election of June 1960 was the beginning of revolutionary changes that were about to happened in Quebec. The election of June 22nd 1960, when the Liberal Party of Quebec ran by Jean Lesage finally won 51.5% against Union Nationale. “The main issue of the election was indicated by the Liberal slogan, "It 's time for a change"(The Canadian Encyclopedia, 2012)”. The government under Lesage began new era with open debates, changing the political electoral map so each urban area would be well represented. The government changed the voting age from 21 to 18. Lesage by increasing loans, made the budget grow from $745 million to $2.1 billion in less than six years. The Baby Boom generation that had reached adolescence put a lot of pressure on Quebec’s poor educational system; the role of Catholic Church

References: 1. The Quiet Revolution changed Quebec Forever, http://www.llss.sd73.bc.ca/socials11/materials/chapter8/quiet_revn_changed_que_forever.pdf 2. October Crisis, The Quiet Revolution, http://www.historyofrights.com/flq1.html 3. The Canadian Encyclopedia, 2012 http://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.com/articles/quiet-revolution