Timeline of Quebec History (1960 To 1981) - 1960s

1960s

  • 1960 - Quebec general election: The election of a new Liberal Party government led by Premier Jean Lesage marks the beginning of a period of sustained change known as the Quiet Revolution.
  • 1960 - Foundation of the Rassemblement pour l'indépendance nationale. See History of the Quebec sovereignist movement.
  • 1961 - December 14: Marie-Claire Kirkland becomes the first woman Member of the Legislative Assembly and also the first woman cabinet member.
  • 1962 - The construction of the Montreal Metro (subway) begins.
  • 1962 - The Champlain Bridge in Montreal is partly opened to traffic. Very big.
  • 1962 - Quebec general election: Liberals win.
  • 1963 - Front de libération du Québec (FLQ) members, Gabriel Hudon and Raymond Villeneuve are sentenced to 12 years in prison for manslaughter after their bomb killed Sgt. Wilfred V. O'Neill, a watchman at Montreal's Canadian Army Recruiting Center. See Front de libération du Québec.
  • 1963 - Second wave of the nationalization of electricity. On April 30, Hydro-Québec acquires 8 private producers of hydroelectricity.
  • 1963 - July 10: Voting age lowered from 21 to 18 in Quebec elections.
  • 1964 - A ministry of education, separate from the Catholic clergy, is created by the Quebec government.
  • 1964 - Married women obtain full legal rights (to buy property without their husband's signature, and so forth).
  • 1965 - Canada adopts the maple leaf flag in February.
  • 1966 - Quebec general election: Union Nationale wins.
  • 1967 - Quebec celebrates the 100th anniversary of its joining in the creation of the nation of Canada
  • 1967 - As part of Canada's centennial celebrations, the Universal Exposition of Montreal, better known as Expo 67, opens for the summer.
  • 1967 - Completion of the construction of Saint Joseph's Oratory on Montreal's Mount Royal.
  • 1967 - Visiting President of France Charles de Gaulle shouts "Vive le Québec libre!" from the balcony of Montreal city hall. De Gaulle cancelled the rest of his official visit to Canada after Prime Minister Lester B. Pearson said: "Certain statements by President de Gaulle tend to encourage the small minority of our population whose aim is to destroy Canada: and as such, they are unacceptable to the Canadian people and its government."
  • 1967 - In October, René Lévesque leaves the Quebec Liberal Party and founds the Mouvement Souveraineté-Association.
  • 1968 - On Monday, June 24, 290 people are arrested during the lundi de la matraque civil disorder during the St-Jean-Baptiste parade.
  • 1968 - Pierre Trudeau, born in Montreal, Quebec, is elected Prime Minister of Canada. See 1968 federal election.
  • 1968 - On August 28, the Théâtre du rideau vert premieres Michel Tremblay's play Les Belles-Sœurs, which sells out its entire run in two days and revolutionizes the entertainment world by using Quebec French joual instead of "Parisian" French.
  • 1968 - On October 26, the Parti Québécois is created out of the merger of René Lévesque's Mouvement Souveraineté-Association and the Ralliement national. See History of the Quebec sovereignist movement.
  • 1968 - The Université du Québec network is created by the government.
  • 1968 - The government-operated Radio-Québec (television station) is founded. In the 1990s it was renamed Télé-Québec.
  • 1968 - The Legislative Council, the non-elected upper house of Quebec's parliament, is abolished at the end of the year.
  • 1969 - The Parliament of Canada, under Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau, passes Bill C-120 : An Act Respecting the Status of Official Languages in Canada, making both French and English the official languages of all Canada. See Official Languages Act.
  • 1969 - The Union Nationale government of Jean-Jacques Bertrand passes "Bill 63" which confirms the status quo on the language of instruction in the public schools (Parents can choose English or French).
  • 1969 - The Montreal Expos baseball franchise begins play in Montreal.
  • 1969 - FLQ paramilitary bomb the Montreal Stock Exchange.
  • 1969 - Montreal's 3,700 police and firefighters stage a wildcat strike, resulting in violence, looting, arson, and the death of two people.

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