| • Science | • People | • Locations | • Timeline |
The province-wide referendum took place on May 20, 1980, and the motion to pursue Quebec's secession was decisively defeated by a 59.56 per cent to 40.44 per cent margin.
Audio:
The question posed on the ballot was: "The Government of Quebec has made public its proposal to negotiate a new agreement with the rest of Canada, based on the equality of nations; this agreement would enable Quebec to acquire the exclusive power to make its laws, levy its taxes and establish relations abroad — in other words, sovereignty — and at the same time to maintain with Canada an economic association including a common currency; any change in political status resulting from these negotiations will be effected with approval by the people through another referendum; on these terms, do you give the Government of Quebec the mandate to negotiate the proposed agreement between Quebec and Canada?"
Campaigning for the "No" side were those in favour of the status quo and reformists opposed to the secession of Quebec.
Key federalists:
Campaigning for the "Yes" side were those in favour of Quebec's separation from Canada.
Key sovereignists:
Polls throughout the campaign gave little chance of a "Yes" victory, and the final result came as no surprise.
In a major gaffe, Cabinet minister Lise Payette denounced women supporters of the "No" side as Yvettes (the name of a docile young girl in an old school manual). This backfired spectacularly as the Yvettes held a number of political rallies.
The referendum saw 85 per cent of registered voters vote with a large majority, 59.56 per cent to 40.44 per cent voting "No".
| Total votes | % of votes | |
|---|---|---|
| YES | 1,485,851 | 40.44% |
| NO | 2,187,991 | 59.56% |
| Valid ballots | 3,673,842 | 98.26% |
| Rejected ballots | 65,012 | 1.74% |
| Participation rate | 3,738,854 | 85.61% |
| Registered voters | 4,367,584 |
In his concession speech Lévesque spoke the famous words "If I've understood you well, you're telling me 'until next time'." By contrast, the victory speech given by Claude Ryan was widely perceived as somewhat less gracious.
Despite the referendum loss, the PQ government was re-elected in the 1981 Quebec election. Meanwhile, the federal government of Pierre Trudeau renewed its efforts to patriate the Canadian Constitution and succeeded in doing so in 1982Events January January 6 William Bonin is convicted of being the "freeway killer". January 8 AT&T agrees to divest itself of twenty-two subdivisions January 11 Mark Thatcher, son of the British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, disappears in the Sahara du, outmanoeuvring Lévesque to gain the support of the premiers of other Canadian provinces in the so-called "Night of the Long Knives".
During much of the 1980s, Quebec sovereignty was perceived as a dead issue, and Lévesque himself put the issue on the back burner, opting instead for the beau risque of trying to work towards a deal with the MulroneyBrian Mulroney Rank 18th First Term September 17, 1984 June 25, 1993 Predecessor John Turner Successor Kim Campbell Date of Birth March 20, 1939 Place of Birth Baie-Comeau, Quebec Spouse Mila Pivnicki Profession businessman Political Party Progressive Con government. This led to a split in the Parti Québécois which led to Lévesque's resignation from politics in 19851985 is a common year starting on Tuesday. Events January events January 1 Creation of the Internet's Domain Name System. January 17 British Telecom annouces they are going to abolish the famous red telephone boxes. January 23 A debate in the House of Lor and eventually paved the way for Jacques ParizeauJacques Parizeau (born August 9, 1930) is an economist and noted Quebec sovereigntist who served as Premier of the Canadian province of Quebec from September 26, 1994 to January 28, 1996). Biography Parizeau, graduated with a doctorate from the London Sch and the second sovereignty referendum of 1995.
However, for about 15 years, the ball was in the federalist camp. On two occasions, federalist politicians attempted to find a solution to the Quebec question. Both the 1987 Meech Lake AccordThe Meech Lake Accord was a set of failed constitutional amendments to the Constitution of Canada proposed by Prime Minister Brian Mulroney and Robert Bourassa, premier of Quebec. It was designed to induce Quebec to accept the Canada Act. The accord was n and the 1992 Charlottetown AccordThe Charlottetown Accord was a package of constitutional amendments, proposed by the Canadian federal and provincial governments in 1992. It was submitted to a public referendum in October of that year, and was defeated. Background Until 1982 the British ultimately failed to gather the support of the majority of Quebecers.
See also: Quebec Sovereignism