Posts with the Parti Quebecois tag

Barris Beat

Sovereignty of conviction or convenience

Written by Ted Barris on . Leave a comment
René Lévesque – sovereignty of conviction.

He stood at the lectern in front of hundreds of us. A lit cigarette dangled from his left hand (they were allowed indoors back then). He spoke almost entirely without notes, as if his words were a credo he’d crafted over years until the message came out as his own. I’m paraphrasing now, but here’s what this man from Quebec said on stage at the University of Toronto’s Convocation Hall that day:

“We are heirs to a fantastic adventure – an early America that was almost entirely French,” he said. “We are heirs to an obstinate group which has kept alive that portion of French America we call Quebec…”

The year was 1969. I’d sat mesmerized for the better part of 90 minutes inside Convocation Hall, listening to the man who wanted to lead Quebec out of Canada. (more…)

Barris Beat

When unity’s needed most

Written by Ted Barris on . 1 Comment
Dennis Fisher with a sense of mission.

I’m going to tell you about a person who helped save Canada. And I was fortunate to witness his work.

His mission began long before this moment, but in November 1976, when the Parti Québécois won the provincial election and René Lévesque became premier of Quebec, a lot of Canadians were suddenly afraid. Lévesque’s platform called for the separation of Quebec from Canada. At that time, I worked as producer/host at CFQC AM Radio in Saskatoon. Dennis Fisher was the station’s general manager. Right after the Parti Québécois victory, he called us together.

“The nation has never been so threatened,” he said. “It’s up to us to do something.” (more…)

Barris Beat

A voice of unity

Written by Ted Barris on . 3 Comments

He helped save Canada.

Aside from times during the two world wars, I think some of this country’s darkest days occurred in the years immediately following the Centennial in 1967. First with the St-Jean-Baptiste riots and bombings in Montreal (1968), then during the October crisis (1970), when the FLQ kidnapped and killed cabinet minister Pierre Laporte in Quebec City, hope for maintaining a united Canada seemed bleakest in those early 1970s.

Then, in November 1976, the Parti Quebecois came to power on a platform that included Quebec’s separation from Canada. I worked as a radio producer/host for CFQC in Saskatoon in those years. Our morning program was heard all over the three Prairie provinces. And I remember our station manager, Dennis Fisher, calling us together soon after the PQ’s historic victory that autumn.

“The nation has never been so threatened,” he said. “It’s up to us to do something.”

(more…)