The Quebec referendum on the prohibition of alcohol, held on April 10, 1919, considered the legalization of the sale of

beer Beer is one of the oldest and the most widely consumed type of alcoholic drink in the world, and the third most popular drink overall after water and tea. It is produced by the brewing and fermentation of starches, mainly derived from ce ...

cider Cider ( ) is an alcoholic beverage made from the fermented juice of apples. Cider is widely available in the United Kingdom (particularly in the West Country) and the Republic of Ireland. The UK has the world's highest per capita consumption, ...

and

wine Wine is an alcoholic drink typically made from fermented grapes. Yeast consumes the sugar in the grapes and converts it to ethanol and carbon dioxide, releasing heat in the process. Different varieties of grapes and strains of yeasts are m ...

in the province of

Quebec Quebec ( ; )According to the Canadian government, ''Québec'' (with the acute accent) is the official name in Canadian French and ''Quebec'' (without the accent) is the province's official name in Canadian English is one of the thirtee ...

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

. The 'yes' side won with 78.62% of the votes.

The question asked

The question asked in English on the ballot paper was: "Should sale of light beer, cider and wines be allowed?" In French, the question was: "Êtes-vous d'opinion que la vente des bières, cidres et vins légers, tels que définis par la loi, devrait être permise?"https://books.google.com/books?id=QxO3pyvw7k0C, p. 136

The results of the vote

178,112 persons (78.62%) voted in favour of the proposal, while 48,433 (21.38%) voted against; proposal was therefore passed with a majority of 129,679 votes. The analysis of the vote by riding reveals that all voted in favour except for seven:

Pontiac Pontiac may refer to: *Pontiac (automobile), a car brand *Pontiac (Ottawa leader) ( – 1769), a Native American war chief Places and jurisdictions Canada *Pontiac, Quebec, a municipality ** Apostolic Vicariate of Pontiac, now the Roman Catholic D ...

Compton Compton may refer to: Places Canada * Compton (electoral district), a former Quebec federal electoral district * Compton (provincial electoral district), a former Quebec provincial electoral district now part of Mégantic-Compton * Compton, Que ...

, Dorchester,

Huntingdon Huntingdon is a market town in the Huntingdonshire district in Cambridgeshire, England. The town was given its town charter by King John in 1205. It was the county town of the historic county of Huntingdonshire. Oliver Cromwell was born there ...

, Brome, Stanstead and

Richmond Richmond most often refers to: * Richmond, Virginia, the capital of Virginia, United States * Richmond, London, a part of London * Richmond, North Yorkshire, a town in England * Richmond, British Columbia, a city in Canada * Richmond, California, ...

. The result of the vote was that the subsequent prohibition law which became effective on May 1, 1919 only applied to

spirits Spirit or spirits may refer to: Liquor and other volatile liquids * Spirits, a.k.a. liquor, distilled alcoholic drinks * Spirit or tincture, an extract of plant or animal material dissolved in ethanol * Volatile (especially flammable) liquids, ...

. The victory of the "moderate" prohibitionists over the "radicals" did not have immediate repercussion on the legal sale of alcohol for in 1919, 90% of Quebec municipalities were prohibiting its sale locally. Indeed,

Trois-Rivières Trois-Rivières (, – 'Three Rivers') is a city in the Mauricie administrative region of Quebec, Canada, at the confluence of the Saint-Maurice River, Saint-Maurice and Saint Lawrence River, Saint Lawrence rivers, on the north shore of the Sain ...

, Lévis, Lachine, Sainte-Agathe,

Louiseville Louiseville is a town in the Mauricie region of the province of Quebec in Canada. It is located near the mouth of the 'Rivière-du-Loup', on the north shore of Lac Saint-Pierre. Louiseville is twinned with Soissons in France and Cerfontaine in ...

, Sainte-Rose and

Terrebonne Terrebonne, meaning ''good earth'' in French, is a name of several places in North America: ;Canada *Terrebonne, Quebec, a suburb of Montreal ** Terrebonne station, a commuter railway station in Terrebonne, Quebec **Terrebonne City Council, the go ...

had voted for local prohibition in 1915, while

Quebec City Quebec City ( or ; french: Ville de Québec), officially Québec (), is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Quebec. As of July 2021, the city had a population of 549,459, and the Communauté métrop ...

had done the same on October 4, 1917. All these regulations had to be rescinded, one municipality at a time. Prohibition was finally abolished on May 1, 1921 when the ''Alcoholic Beverages Act'' creating the Commission des liqueurs du Québec entered into force.Ville de Montréal - Centre d’histoire de Montréal - Alcool
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Notes

References

* Lacoursière, Jacques (1997). ''Histoire populaire du Québec. Tome 4'', Sillery: Septentrion ()
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* Prévost, Robert, Suzanne Gagné and Michel Phaneuf (1986). ''L'histoire de l'alcool au Québec'', Montréal: Société des alcools du Québec, 239 p. ()

The question asked

The results of the vote

Notes

References

See also