Timeline of Quebec History (1960 To 1981) - 1970s

1970s

• 1970 - Formation of the "Montreal Urban Community" on January 1, consisting of the central city of Montreal and its suburbs on the island of Montreal. Replaced in 2002 by the new "megacity" of Montreal.
• 1970 - Quebec general election: Liberals win.
• 1970 - Terrorist activities by the Front de libération du Québec culminated with the abduction of James Cross, the British Trade Commissioner to Canada, and Pierre Laporte, a provincial minister and Vice-Premier. Martial law is declared and civil rights are suspended. See the October Crisis.
• 1971 - Women are allowed to serve on juries.
• 1971 - Premier Bourassa launches the James Bay hydroelectric project.
• 1971 - Victoria Charter constitutional reform ends in failure.
• 1973 - Quebec general election: Liberals re-elected.
• 1973 - The Royal Canadian Mounted Police steal the membership list of the Parti Québécois.
• 1974 - The Liberal government adopts "Bill 22" (Official Language Act (Quebec)) language legislation (later superseded by Bill 101).
• 1975 - The Quebec Charter of Human Rights and Freedoms is passed and comes into effect the following year.
• 1976 - The Summer Olympic Games are held in Montreal.
• 1976 - Quebec general election: On November 15, the Parti Québécois (PQ) is elected. With a participation rate of 85.27%, the highest in Quebec's history, 41% of voters give 71 seats to the PQ.
• 1976 - Quebec-born author Saul Bellow wins the Nobel Prize for literature.
• 1977 - On August 26, the Quebec Charter of the French Language (Bill 101) becomes law.
• 1977 - The exodus of unilingual English speaking workers and businessmen, started with the economic boom of Toronto and the West, accelerates. Over the next decade, more than 300,000 English-speaking Canadians leave the province. Most settled in Ontario. An equally high number of Canadians moved from other provinces to settle in Ontario, where Toronto is booming, replacing Montreal as the metropolis of Canada since the end of the second world war.
• 1978 - "No-fault" automobile insurance comes into effect in Quebec.
• 1978 - National Assembly debates are televised for the first time, and to suit the cameras, the walls are painted blue instead of the previous green.
• 1979 - Pierre Trudeau is defeated in the 1979 Canadian election and retires (he soon changes his mind).