Jean Lesage

Jean Lesage (; June 10, 1912 – December 12, 1980) was a Canadian lawyer and politician. He served as the 19th premier of Quebec from July 5, 1960, to June 16, 1966. Alongside Georges-Émile Lapalme, René Lévesque and others, he is often viewed as the father of the Quiet Revolution. He is the namesake of the Québec City Jean Lesage International Airport, the main sections of Quebec's longest Autoroute highway Autoroute 20, and the provincial electoral district within Quebec City named Jean-Lesage.

Early years

Lesage was born on June 10, 1912, in Montreal, Quebec, one of six children of Xavéri Lesage, a district manager of the insurance company Les Prévoyants du Canada, and Cécile Côté.

Lesage began his education at the kindergarten Saint-Enfant-Jésus Montréal. In 1921, the family relocated to Quebec City, where Xavéri Lesage was appointed as assistant manager by his brother Antoni in the headquarters office.

He was a student and a supporter of the New Left movement of the 1960s and his education was strongly influenced by figures such as Charles Darwin, Sigmund Freud, Karl Marx and Friedrich Nietzsche.

Legal career

thumb|upright|Lesage as a young lawyer

He practised law in Quebec City with Paul Lesage in 1934, then with Charles Gavan Power, Valmore Bienvenue, Paul Lesage, and Jean Turgeon. He married Corinne Lagarde, a singer and the daughter of Alexandre Lagarde and Valéria Matte.

He was made a Crown attorney for the Wartime Prices and Trade Board from 1939 to 1944. He served in the Canadian Army Reserve from 1939 to 1945.

Federal political career

Lesage was elected as a federal Member of Parliament for the riding of Montmagny-L'Islet as a Liberal for the first time in the 1945 general election. After his re-election in 1949, he was first named Parliamentary Secretary to the Secretary of State for External Affairs from January 25, 1951, to December 31, 1952. He was then named Parliamentary Secretary for the Minister of Finance from January 1, 1953, to June 13, 1953.

Following his re-election in 1953, Lesage was appointed as Minister of Resources and Development from September 17, 1953, to December 15, 1953, and then Minister of Northern Affairs and National Resources from December 16, 1953, to June 21, 1957.

He survived the Progressive Conservative ascendancy and was re-elected in both 1957 and 1958. However, he resigned from his seat on June 13, 1958, following his election as leader of the Liberal Party of Quebec on May 31, 1958.

Premier of Quebec (1960–1966)

thumb|Jean Lesage (left) with Mayor of Montreal [[Jean Drapeau (right) in June 1964]]

On June 22, 1960, Lesage's Liberal Party won the Quebec general election with 51 of 95 seats and 51 percent of the popular vote. He was elected to the Legislative Assembly of Quebec with the slogans l'équipe de tonnerre ("the terrific team") and C'est le temps que ça change ("It's time for change"). His electoral success ended the Union Nationale and Maurice Duplessis's conservative reign since 1944.

During his time as premier, Lesage achieved many great changes in Quebec. Lesage believed that French Canadians could very well develop as a modern people within Canada without losing their identity.

Another major success was the establishment of Hydro-Québec and the nationalization of the province's hydro-electricity. "The nationalization of electricity was 'a logical extension' of the government's goal of growth... based primarily on the promotion of the French-Canadian people."

With much assistance from René Lévesque, the 11 remaining private power companies were bought out, and Hydro-Québec began supplying, distributing, and transmitting the entire province's energy. The Lesage government's success of Hydro-Québec represents strength, determination, and initiative.

Other major economic accomplishments included the creation of the Société générale de financement to encourage Quebecers to invest in their future and provided capital for private and mainly Francophone enterprises; the creation of public companies like the Société de Montage Automobile (SOMA) to assemble French automobiles in Quebec; the Société Québécoise d’Exploration Minière (SOQUEM) to ensure that mining resources would be developed in the interests of Quebecers; and Sidérurgie Québécoise (SIDBEC) which was established as an integrated steel plant.

Furthermore, during his time as Premier, Quebec also took over health care from the Church and was the only province to opt out of the national pension plan to create its own version, the Quebec Pension Plan. It also formed the Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec to invest in the pension plan funds and the Régie des rentes du Québec to manage the plan, revamped the province's labour force by giving public-sector workers the right to strike, and laid a foundation for the creation of post-secondary Collèges d’enseignement général et professionnel (CEGEPs) in the area of education. Lesage's funeral was held at Cathedral-Basilica of Notre-Dame de Québec. He is buried at Cimetière Notre-Dame-de-Belmont in Quebec City.

Québec City Jean Lesage International Airport was named in his honour on March 31, 1994, and a provincial electoral district, Jean-Lesage, was named for him as well.

Book references

Rouillard, Jacques (2003), Le syndicalisme Québécois : Deux siècles d'histoire, Boréal Editions, 335p.
Comeau, Robert & Bourque, Gilles (1989), Jean Lesage et l'éveil d'une nation Sillery Editions, 367p.
Thompson, Dale C. (1984) Jean Lesage and the Quiet Revolution. Macmillan of Canada.
Thomson, Dale Carins (1984), Jean Lesage et la révolution tranquille, du Trecarre Editions, 615p.
Fullerton, Douglas H. (1978), The dangerous delusion. McClelland and Stewart, 240p.

External links

Jean Lesage and the Quiet Revolution, 1960–1966
His Order of Canada citation