''An Option for Quebec'' (French: ''Option Québec'') is an

essay An essay is, generally, a piece of writing that gives the author's own argument, but the definition is vague, overlapping with those of a letter, a paper, an article, a pamphlet, and a short story. Essays have been sub-classified as formal a ...

by former

Premier of Quebec The premier of Quebec ( French: ''premier ministre du Québec'' (masculine) or ''première ministre du Québec'' (feminine)) is the head of government of the Canadian province of Quebec. The current premier of Quebec is François Legault of the ...

René Lévesque René Lévesque (; August 24, 1922 – November 1, 1987) was a Québécois politician and journalist who served as the 23rd premier of Quebec from 1976 to 1985. He was the first Québécois political leader since Confederation to attempt ...

published in 1968. The essay presents the constitutional proposal of a group of progressive liberals who, after leaving the

Liberal Party of Quebec The Quebec Liberal Party (QLP; french: Parti libéral du Québec, PLQ) is a provincial political party in Quebec. It has been independent of the federal Liberal Party of Canada since 1955. The QLP has always been associated with the colour red; e ...

, formed the Sovereignty-Association Movement.

Context

On September 18, 1967, René Lévesque proposed to the members of the Laurier riding's Liberal Association, the adoption of a resolution he wished to present to the Congress of the Quebec Liberal Federation planned for October 1967. The text he wrote and which was the basis of his speech that day was entitled ''Un pays qu'il faut faire'' ("A Country That Must be Made"). That text was to form the first part of ''An Option for Quebec'', published in its French edition a few months later, on January 6, 1968. On October 14, 1967,

left the Congress of the Quebec Liberal Federation and announced in a press conference held at Clarendon Hotel that he had quit the Liberal Party of Quebec and was from now on to sit as an independent member in the

Parliament of Quebec The Quebec Legislature (officially Parliament of Quebec, french: Parlement du Québec) is the legislature of the province of Quebec, Canada. The legislature is made of two elements: the King of Canada, represented by the lieutenant governor of Q ...

. He cited as his reason for leaving the fact that his party had refused to even debate his proposal regarding the constitutional future of Quebec. On November 18 and 19 1967, some 400 militants participated to the founding meeting of the Sovereignty-Association Movement, which was held at the Couvent Saint-Albert-le-Grand on Chemin de la Côte-Sainte-Catherine in

Montreal Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-most populous city in Canada and List of towns in Quebec, most populous city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian ...

. After a merger with the

Ralliement national Ralliement national (RN) (in English: "National Rally") was a separatist and right-wing populist provincial political party that advocated the political independence of Quebec from Canada in the 1960s. The party was led by former '' créditiste' ...

led by

Gilles Grégoire Gilles Grégoire (May 6, 1926 – November 22, 2006) was a co-founder of the Parti Québécois. Born in Quebec City, Quebec, the son of Joseph-Ernest Grégoire, he was elected in 1962 to the House of Commons of Canada with the Ralliement des c ...

, the Sovereignty-Association Movement founded a new provincial political party, the

Parti Québécois The Parti Québécois (; ; PQ) is a sovereignist and social democratic provincial political party in Quebec, Canada. The PQ advocates national sovereignty for Quebec involving independence of the province of Quebec from Canada and establishin ...

, which placed René Lévesque's Sovereignty-Association idea at the heart of its program. René Lévesque was elected leader of this new party on October 14, 1968.

Summary

The essay opens with a foreword entitled ''The Moment of Choice'' signed by Roch Banville, Rosaire Beaule, Gérard Bélanger, Jean-Roch Boivin, Marc Brière, Pothier Ferland, Maurice Jobin,

, Monique Marchand, Guy Pelletier and Réginald Savoie. The foreword is followed by a preface by historian Jean Blain. The substance of the essay consists of three parts and a short conclusion. The book ends with an epilogue by Quebec documentary film director

Pierre Perrault Pierre Perrault (29 June 1927 – 24 June 1999) was a Québécois documentary film director. He directed 20 films between 1963 and 1996. He was one of the most important filmmakers in Canada, although largely unknown outside of Québec. In ...

Part one

The first part (17 pages), is entitled ''A Country That Must be Made'' and contains six small chapters advancing the reasons for Quebecers to make the double choice of independence for Quebec and a new economic union with Canada. Chapter I (''"Belonging"'') treats of the collective personality of Quebecers. Chapter II (''The Acceleration of History'') discuses the challenge that

modernity Modernity, a topic in the humanities and social sciences, is both a historical period (the modern era) and the ensemble of particular socio-cultural norm (social), norms, attitudes and practices that arose in the wake of the Renaissancein the " ...

poses to the preservation of the collective personality of the Quebec people and suggests that the only way to dissipate the danger of the assimilation of its francophone majority is "to face up to this trying and thoughtless age and make it accept us as we are". Chapter III (''The Quiet Revolution'') discuses the catch up and progress accomplished by the Quebec nation since the

Quiet Revolution The Quiet Revolution (french: Révolution tranquille) was a period of intense socio-political and socio-cultural change in French Canada which started in Quebec after the election of 1960, characterized by the effective secularization of govern ...

. In chapter IV (''The Basic Minimums''), Lévesque points out the limitations of the centenary Canadian federal framework (1867–1967) if Quebec is to enjoy the basic amount of internal autonomy it needs to continue on the way of progress as it has been doing since 1960. In chapter V (''The Blind Alley''), Lévesque remarks that the vital minimum for Quebec is a "frightening maximum, completely unacceptable" for

English Canada Canada comprises that part of the population within Canada, whether of British origin or otherwise, that speaks English. The term ''English Canada'' can also be used for one of the following: #Describing all the provinces of Canada that ...

which needs the central State of Canada "for its own security and progress as much as we need our own State of Quebec". Chapter VI (''The Way of the Future'') presents the alternative of René Lévesque to what he describes as the blind alley of maintaining or adapting the political ''

status quo is a Latin phrase meaning the existing state of affairs, particularly with regard to social, political, religious or military issues. In the sociological sense, the ''status quo'' refers to the current state of social structure and/or values. W ...

''. He invites his readers to reject Canadian federalism entirely and proposes a sovereign Quebec ("complete liberty in Quebec") that would be associated to the rest of Canada as part of a new Canadian Union modelled on the precedents of the

European Economic Community The European Economic Community (EEC) was a regional organization created by the Treaty of Rome of 1957,Today the largely rewritten treaty continues in force as the ''Treaty on the functioning of the European Union'', as renamed by the Lisb ...

Scandinavia Scandinavia; Sámi languages: /. ( ) is a subregion#Europe, subregion in Northern Europe, with strong historical, cultural, and linguistic ties between its constituent peoples. In English usage, ''Scandinavia'' most commonly refers to Denmark, ...

Benelux The Benelux Union ( nl, Benelux Unie; french: Union Benelux; lb, Benelux-Unioun), also known as simply Benelux, is a politico-economic union and formal international intergovernmental cooperation of three neighboring states in western Europe: B ...

Part two

The second part (25 pages), entitled ''A Country that Is "Feasible"'', is made of two chapters describing the "Option for Quebec" in more details. This part is introduced by a short text of Bernard Chenot (''From Politics to Economics'') treating of the economic organization of the State. The first chapter (''The Association'') presents the association that Quebec would propose to Canada, that is to say a

monetary union A currency union (also known as monetary union) is an intergovernmental agreement that involves two or more states sharing the same currency. These states may not necessarily have any further integration (such as an economic and monetary union, ...

and a

common market The European Economic Community (EEC) was a regional organization created by the Treaty of Rome of 1957,Today the largely rewritten treaty continues in force as the ''Treaty on the functioning of the European Union'', as renamed by the Lisbo ...

. The monetary union would be carried out on the basis of an accord renewable every five years. The second chapter (''The Transition Period'') deals with the question of the steps Quebec would have to go through to reach the status of a sovereign State. It discuses the financing of the state and the means of retaining investments in Quebec.

Part three

The third part (68 pages) consists of seven appendices which serve as documentation of the first two parts of the essay. Appendix 1 (''Some Varieties of Special Status'') cites authors who wrote on the special status which Quebec would in their opinion need to ensure the future of its development and the conservation of its particular collective personality within the framework of a reformed Canadian federalism. The works cited are ''Equality or Independence'' by

Daniel Johnson, Sr. Francis Daniel Johnson Sr. (April 9, 1915 – September 26, 1968) was a Canadian politician and the 20th premier of Quebec from 1966 to his death in 1968. Background Johnson was born in Danville, Quebec, Canada. He was the son of Francis John ...

(published in 1965), ''Le Québec dans le Canada de demain'' (published in 1967) and comprising texts by

Marcel Faribault Marcel Faribault, (October 8, 1908 – May 26, 1972) was a Canadian notary, businessman and administrator. Background Born in Montreal, he was the son of René Faribault and Anna Pauzé and was educated at the Université de Montréal. A ...

, Jean-Guy Cardinal and

Claude Ryan Claude Ryan, (January 26, 1925 – February 9, 2004) was a Canadian journalist and politician. He was the director of the newspaper ''Le Devoir'' from 1964 to 1978, leader of the Quebec Liberal Party from 1978 to 1982, National Assembly of ...

, as well as an excerpt of the report of the Committee on Constitutional Affairs of the Quebec Liberal Federation presided by Paul Gérin-Lajoie and prepared for the Congress of October 1967. Appendix 2 (''Neo-Centralization'') contains the point of view of senator Maurice Lamontagne, who, in two articles published in ''

Le Devoir ''Le Devoir'' (, "Duty") is a French-language newspaper published in Montreal and distributed in Quebec and throughout Canada. It was founded by journalist and politician Henri Bourassa in 1910. ''Le Devoir'' is one of few independent large-c ...

'' on September 23 and 25, 1967, rejected the special status thesis of

and proposed a "cooperative federalism" in which René Lévesque saw nothing but a way to re-centralize powers in

Ottawa Ottawa (, ; Canadian French: ) is the capital city of Canada. It is located at the confluence of the Ottawa River and the Rideau River in the southern portion of the province of Ontario. Ottawa borders Gatineau, Quebec, and forms the core ...

. Appendix 3 (''Québec-Canada: A Blind Alley'') reproduces a talk given by economist and future Premier of Quebec

Jacques Parizeau Jacques Parizeau (; August 9, 1930June 1, 2015) was a Canadian politician and Québécois economist who was a noted Quebec sovereigntist and the 26th premier of Quebec from September 26, 1994, to January 29, 1996. Early life and career Parize ...

in Banff,

Alberta Alberta ( ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is part of Western Canada and is one of the three prairie provinces. Alberta is bordered by British Columbia to the west, Saskatchewan to the east, the Northwest Ter ...

, on October 17, 1967. Appendix 4 (''The Snare of Biculturalism'') gives the statistics available at the time concerning the assimilation of out-of-Quebec francophone minorities and argues that it is not possible to reanimate the cultural life of these minority groups simply by offering them the status the Anglophone "minority" of Quebec enjoys, as proposed by the report of the

Royal Commission on Bilingualism and Biculturalism The Royal Commission on Bilingualism and Biculturalism (french: Commission royale d’enquête sur le bilinguisme et le biculturalisme, also known as the Bi and Bi Commission and the Laurendeau-Dunton Commission) was a Canadian royal commissio ...

. The report, in addition, does not propose an answer to the question of the integration of immigrants to Quebec society. The appendix reproduces a text by René Lévesque dated December 3, 1967, and an excerpt of an essay by Richard Arès published in the November issue of the ''Relations'' review. Appendix 5 (''Association of Sovereign States'') is a dossier on the functioning of the

European Union The European Union (EU) is a supranational political and economic union of member states that are located primarily in Europe. The union has a total area of and an estimated total population of about 447million. The EU has often been des ...

and

. The appendix includes an excerpt of the

Treaty of Rome The Treaty of Rome, or EEC Treaty (officially the Treaty establishing the European Economic Community), brought about the creation of the European Economic Community (EEC), the best known of the European Communities (EC). The treaty was sig ...

of March 25, 1957, which is at the origin of the Common Market of Europe. Appendix 6 (''Other Testimony'') reprints two texts: ''Sovereignty, Condition of Salvation'' by Jean-Marc Léger (writer) (not to be confused with the pollster of the same name), initially published in ''Le Devoir'' on October 23, 24 and 25, 1967, and ''Quebec's Independence: Condition of Quebec's Salvation, Guarantee of Peace for Canada'' by

Doris Lussier Doris Lussier (15 July 1918, Fontainebleau, Estrie, Quebec – 28 October 1993) was a French Canadian comedian and actor, and political activist. He was for many years the personal secretary of Georges-Henri Lévesque, but became famous as a com ...

, excerpted from an interview he gave to ''Échos-Vedettes'' on November 11, 1967. Appendix 7 (''Operation Panic'') analyzes the flight of capital from Quebec which made the news soon after October 18, 1967, which is to say just after René Lévesque released the manifesto that forms the first part of ''An Option for Quebec''.

Reception

More than 50,000 copies of ''Option Québec'', the French-language original, were sold in the weeks after its release. Even before its publication, the

gave a flat refusal to the constitutional option promoted by René Lévesque in his essay. The party instead resolved on a special status for Quebec in a reformed Canadian federation, as recommended in Paul Gérin-Lajoie's October 1967 report. The Union Nationale, as well as the main federal political parties of Canada equally opposed it.

Editions

The first French-language edition was published in 1968 at Éditions de l'Homme in Montreal and Laffont in Paris. The work was reprinted in Montreal in 1988, preceded by an essay of political scientist André Bernard entitled ''Option Québec 1968-1988''. Another edition was published in 1997 by TYPO, preceded by an updated version of André Bernard's essay. In English translation, the book was published by

McClelland & Stewart McClelland & Stewart Limited is a Canadian publishing company. It is owned by Penguin Random House of Canada, a branch of Penguin Random House, the international book publishing division of German media giant Bertelsmann. History It was founded ...

in 1968 and again in 1977, after the election of the

.An Option for Quebec
, in ''Google Books'', retrieved June 28, 2010

Notes

References

Graham Fraser Graham Fraser (born 1946) is a Canadian former journalist and writer who served as Canada's sixth Commissioner of Official Languages. He is the author of several books, both in English and French. Early life and education Fraser is the son o ...

(2001). ''René Lévesque and the Parti Québécois in Power'', McGill-Queen's Press, 434 p.
preview
* Gilles Lesage,

", in ''Le Devoir'', January 17, 1998, p. A10. * André Bernard, "Option Québec 1968-1997", first part of René Lévesque, et al., ''Option Québec'', Édition Typo, 1997, 352 p. {{DEFAULTSORT:Option For Quebec Political history of Quebec Canadian political books René Lévesque 1968 non-fiction books McClelland & Stewart books 1968 essays