Thirty-five years ago, in the inaugural issue of this magazine, I reviewed the newly published diary of André Laurendeau, written from 1964 to 1967 during the Royal Commission on Bilingualism and Biculturalism. The timing was apt: politicians, scholars, and journalists were speculating heavily on how to fix the “Canadian crisis” following the collapse of the Meech Lake Accord the year before.
It was an ideal opportunity to write about Laurendeau, one of Quebec’s most lucid journalists. Born in 1912, Laurendeau had promoted separatism in his youth, helped launch the Ligue pour la défense du Canada movement during the Second World War, and led the Bloc populaire canadien. He served in Quebec’s legislative assembly from 1944 to 1948. Even before the end of his term, he joined Le Devoir in 1947, and he became its editor-in-chief a decade later. He witnessed first-hand how Canada was losing legitimacy among the Québécois and deeply understood the Quiet...
Patrice Dutil is a professor in the Department of Politics and Public Administration at Toronto Metropolitan University. He founded the Literary Review of Canada and is the author of Sir John A. Macdonald & the Apocalyptic Year 1885.
Advertisement
Advertisement