DREYFUSS: I don’t remember the precise date Johnson confided that he would retire within two years, but it was sometime in October 1970. The campaign had been hard and as a result, he was resolved to avoid controversial issues until Gendron reported and offered a blueprint for language policy. 1970 had seen some younger MNAs of all stripes elected, but more importantly it marked a subtle shift in Cabinet feelings on succession. Johnson’s designated successor was Bertrand, yet Cardinal’s adroit handling of St. Leonard and subsequent negotiations with the teachers’ unions earned him newfound respect within caucus and Cabinet. He worked well with the “O-ring” group of conservative federalists who backed the federal Tories and desired an intraparty realignment along socioeconomic lines, which given caucus demographics had the potential of achieving their mutual goals. However, that fall was mostly about routine government business rather than leadership hypotheticals, which was discussed outside Quebec City only to avoid detection. It was the quietest Assembly session in many years, certainly since 1960, which made for rather banal reporting. With Drapeau set to be acclaimed in Montreal, there was little action on the municipal scene either. One thing which people were buzzing about was the impending property tax reduction in the fall fiscal update, even if it was a fairly minor part of government tax policy.
ROY: In late October the PQ held an electoral post-mortem to determine the way forward. It was decided to shelve plans for a referendum before independence given how deeply the party was divided. Levesque would have won such a battle but at the price of severely straining party unity. Therefore such a motion was tabled for the 1972 policy convention, where a final vote would be held. Levesque decided to attack the government directly rather than the PLQ, since it was his ultimate target. The UN had always answered language questions by saying “let the Gendron Committee finish its work” and pushing the boundaries in external relations. Almost as importantly, Johnson had impeccable nationalist credentials and remained even more popular than his government. Always a pragmatist, Levesque knew his new party lacked the resources for more than concentrated efforts in certain ridings or even a single region. The UN’s financial resources were only surpassed by the federal Liberals and Conservatives, as everyone knew. They had already begun discussing plans for the PQ’s electoral shutout and regain nationalist defectors. Language legislation would be their primary weapon, though in fall 1970 these discussions were in their earliest stages. Meanwhile the Liberals made almost no important political moves during this period beyond even more strident opposition to many government initiatives.
CLÉMENT VINCENT, AGRICULTURE MINISTER: November was a time when we were scouting ridings to target in the federal election, when on Nov. 8 we heard that Trois-Rivieres MP J.A. Mongrain had died. While a nominal independent, Mongrain was in fact a Liberal who had been the city’s mayor during the Duplessis era. He had been the Liberal candidate against Duplessis himself in 1952 before being elected to Parliament later on. For practical and yes, sentimental reasons, it would be one of our targeted ridings for ’72. As a prelude, we decided to make a full commitment to the by-election. Yves Gabias, the local MNA and Dozois’ parliamentary secretary, would take charge of the PC campaign once that by-election was called. Daniel approved the plan during a meeting of the Cabinet Operations Committee 2 weeks later, and Yves said he would have a candidate within the month. In order not to spike excessive public or Liberal interest, Yves’ search was limited to what he called “regular” candidates. Otherwise November was a fairly quiet month. It has been forgotten that despite Daniel’s lack of attachment to the federal Tories, he had been Duplessis’ primary organizer in 1958. Like Duplessis, he did not intervene in a hopeless federal cause, but there was no doubt as to which party he preferred governing in Ottawa.
Vincent in 1971. A member of the federalist "O-ring", he was the only Unionist minister who had served both federally and provincially.
NEWMAN: On Nov. 27, New Brunswick decisively voted for Dick Hatfield’s Tories, ousting Louis Robichaud’s Liberals after one of the province’s most progressive decades in its history. Hatfield had not been expected to win initially, but benefited from a strong campaign, Robichaud’s reluctance to continue governing and Liberal missteps. It was the decade’s first change in government, a harbinger of things to come. Grits ruled securely in Alex Campbell’s PEI, Gerald Regan’s Nova Scotia and Joey Smallwood’s Rock. Despite the New Brunswick setback, it would soon be clear that anti-incumbent sentiment was hardly limited to Liberals, as a cursory glance westward could attest. In the 1950s BC, Manitoba, New Brunswick and Nova Scotia Liberal governments had all fallen before their federal cousin did in 1957. Yet provincially Trudeau’s strongest foes were in Ontario and Quebec, as usual. Ontario was undergoing a change in Queen’s Park as John Robarts announced his imminent retirement, with a crowded field emerging to replace him. I still thought Quebec was the province to watch long-term, given various political trends and the fascinating party dynamic which was developing on the ground. So long as Quebec remained a Liberal hammerlock, the chance of Tory governments being anything but circumstantial flukes was slim.
MARIO BEAULIEU: Just before we recessed for Christmas, Daniel asked me to prepare a memo on the upcoming policy convention, which would be held sometime in April. This would be mostly an opportunity for grassroots voices to be heard rather than announcing any new policy directions, given his previous instructions to us. At the end of that session he was much less stressed than he had been in a long time, and told me that he would take a long Christmas vacation. The Assembly would not be recalled until the budget was tabled in early February, as usual. In the meantime a Trois-Rivieres candidate had been found, local businesswoman Claire Malraux. She was a first-time candidate but a seasoned political activist at both federal and provincial levels. Yves understood that he would be running this by-election on his own, as a test. If he succeeded then he would enter Cabinet at the next vacancy. Just before he left for his Christmas vacation, Daniel said he was considering an initiative to work with New Brunswick and Manitoba on minority language rights. It would be nothing formal, at least for now, but a step towards interprovincial cooperation on this issue.
WILLIAM TETLEY: In our last caucus meeting before Christmas break, Pierre [Laporte] told us we would be making a strong push on language in the next sitting. The caucus was far from unified on this point, with a sizeable minority supporting Lesage’s more voluntarist approach. Nonetheless he said it was a political imperative, for as long as the government held its nationalist trump card with a decent economy, it would continue its winning streak. Moreover, we needed to stop progressive nationalists from defecting to Levesque, who at that time was equally scornful of both major parties.
CANADIAN GALLUP POLL, DECEMBER 1970
IF A FEDERAL ELECTION WERE HELD TODAY, WHICH PARTY'S CANDIDATE DO YOU THINK YOU WOULD FAVOUR?
LIB: 42.6%
PC: 34.8%
NDP: 15.2%
SC: 5.1%
ROY: In late October the PQ held an electoral post-mortem to determine the way forward. It was decided to shelve plans for a referendum before independence given how deeply the party was divided. Levesque would have won such a battle but at the price of severely straining party unity. Therefore such a motion was tabled for the 1972 policy convention, where a final vote would be held. Levesque decided to attack the government directly rather than the PLQ, since it was his ultimate target. The UN had always answered language questions by saying “let the Gendron Committee finish its work” and pushing the boundaries in external relations. Almost as importantly, Johnson had impeccable nationalist credentials and remained even more popular than his government. Always a pragmatist, Levesque knew his new party lacked the resources for more than concentrated efforts in certain ridings or even a single region. The UN’s financial resources were only surpassed by the federal Liberals and Conservatives, as everyone knew. They had already begun discussing plans for the PQ’s electoral shutout and regain nationalist defectors. Language legislation would be their primary weapon, though in fall 1970 these discussions were in their earliest stages. Meanwhile the Liberals made almost no important political moves during this period beyond even more strident opposition to many government initiatives.
CLÉMENT VINCENT, AGRICULTURE MINISTER: November was a time when we were scouting ridings to target in the federal election, when on Nov. 8 we heard that Trois-Rivieres MP J.A. Mongrain had died. While a nominal independent, Mongrain was in fact a Liberal who had been the city’s mayor during the Duplessis era. He had been the Liberal candidate against Duplessis himself in 1952 before being elected to Parliament later on. For practical and yes, sentimental reasons, it would be one of our targeted ridings for ’72. As a prelude, we decided to make a full commitment to the by-election. Yves Gabias, the local MNA and Dozois’ parliamentary secretary, would take charge of the PC campaign once that by-election was called. Daniel approved the plan during a meeting of the Cabinet Operations Committee 2 weeks later, and Yves said he would have a candidate within the month. In order not to spike excessive public or Liberal interest, Yves’ search was limited to what he called “regular” candidates. Otherwise November was a fairly quiet month. It has been forgotten that despite Daniel’s lack of attachment to the federal Tories, he had been Duplessis’ primary organizer in 1958. Like Duplessis, he did not intervene in a hopeless federal cause, but there was no doubt as to which party he preferred governing in Ottawa.
Vincent in 1971. A member of the federalist "O-ring", he was the only Unionist minister who had served both federally and provincially.
NEWMAN: On Nov. 27, New Brunswick decisively voted for Dick Hatfield’s Tories, ousting Louis Robichaud’s Liberals after one of the province’s most progressive decades in its history. Hatfield had not been expected to win initially, but benefited from a strong campaign, Robichaud’s reluctance to continue governing and Liberal missteps. It was the decade’s first change in government, a harbinger of things to come. Grits ruled securely in Alex Campbell’s PEI, Gerald Regan’s Nova Scotia and Joey Smallwood’s Rock. Despite the New Brunswick setback, it would soon be clear that anti-incumbent sentiment was hardly limited to Liberals, as a cursory glance westward could attest. In the 1950s BC, Manitoba, New Brunswick and Nova Scotia Liberal governments had all fallen before their federal cousin did in 1957. Yet provincially Trudeau’s strongest foes were in Ontario and Quebec, as usual. Ontario was undergoing a change in Queen’s Park as John Robarts announced his imminent retirement, with a crowded field emerging to replace him. I still thought Quebec was the province to watch long-term, given various political trends and the fascinating party dynamic which was developing on the ground. So long as Quebec remained a Liberal hammerlock, the chance of Tory governments being anything but circumstantial flukes was slim.
MARIO BEAULIEU: Just before we recessed for Christmas, Daniel asked me to prepare a memo on the upcoming policy convention, which would be held sometime in April. This would be mostly an opportunity for grassroots voices to be heard rather than announcing any new policy directions, given his previous instructions to us. At the end of that session he was much less stressed than he had been in a long time, and told me that he would take a long Christmas vacation. The Assembly would not be recalled until the budget was tabled in early February, as usual. In the meantime a Trois-Rivieres candidate had been found, local businesswoman Claire Malraux. She was a first-time candidate but a seasoned political activist at both federal and provincial levels. Yves understood that he would be running this by-election on his own, as a test. If he succeeded then he would enter Cabinet at the next vacancy. Just before he left for his Christmas vacation, Daniel said he was considering an initiative to work with New Brunswick and Manitoba on minority language rights. It would be nothing formal, at least for now, but a step towards interprovincial cooperation on this issue.
WILLIAM TETLEY: In our last caucus meeting before Christmas break, Pierre [Laporte] told us we would be making a strong push on language in the next sitting. The caucus was far from unified on this point, with a sizeable minority supporting Lesage’s more voluntarist approach. Nonetheless he said it was a political imperative, for as long as the government held its nationalist trump card with a decent economy, it would continue its winning streak. Moreover, we needed to stop progressive nationalists from defecting to Levesque, who at that time was equally scornful of both major parties.
CANADIAN GALLUP POLL, DECEMBER 1970
IF A FEDERAL ELECTION WERE HELD TODAY, WHICH PARTY'S CANDIDATE DO YOU THINK YOU WOULD FAVOUR?
LIB: 42.6%
PC: 34.8%
NDP: 15.2%
SC: 5.1%