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Thehistory of Canada (1960–1981) refers to the period immediately following the prosperous 1950s until the new constitution of 1982, theCanada Act.
In 1960, Prime MinisterJohn Diefenbaker's government decided to permit allStatus Indians to vote in federal elections. Since 1950, Status Indians had been allowed vote on the condition that they gave up their treaty rights and Indian status, defined in theIndian Act as "enfranchisement", or if they had fought in theFirst orSecond World Wars. TheInuit andMétis were already able to vote at the time.[1]
TheAct to Amend theCanada Elections Act, which removed the discriminatory parts of Section 14, was made into law on March 31, 1960. The1968 election would makeLeonard Marchand the firstStatus Indian to serve as a member of parliament. Status Indians would not be legally allowed to vote in all provincial elections untilQuebec enfranchised them in 1969.[2]
Diefenbaker was succeeded byLester B. Pearson in 1963, at a time of increasing political unrest in much of the Western world. In Canada the largest crises involved provincial rights, especially in Quebec, where nationalism had been increasing and was on the verge of violent explosion. Pearson recognized Quebec to be a "nation within the nation". One attempt at pacifying Quebec, and moving Canada away from the old British imperialism, was creating a new flag.
The old Red Ensign no longer reflected Canada's place in the world, and Pearson believed a new flag would help unite French and English Canada with truly Canadian symbols. After lengthy debates over numerous designs, the currentmaple leaf flag was adopted in 1965 and was somewhat quickly embraced by the public. Veterans of the First Two World Wars felt as though this change was wrong, as they and many of their friends and family members fought and died under the old flag. By the end of Lester B. Pearson's term, most of the controversy had ended, although some people remained upset. Famously, Diefenbaker, a staunch proponent of the Red Ensign, had both the Red Ensign and the Maple Leaf version on his casket following his death in 1979.[3]
Fifteen years before, Quebec had replaced the British provincial flag with the currentflag of Quebec, which was quickly embraced by Quebecers.
TheQuiet Revolution (orRévolution tranquille) began in Quebec whenJean Lesage became premier in 1960. It was, essentially, a peaceful nationalist movement to transform Quebec into a modern secular state. It was characterized by rapid secularization, the creation of a welfare state, and the transformation of the national identity among Francophone Quebecers (fromCanadien français to the termQuébécois).
In 1967, theWorld's Fair was held inMontreal, Quebec, coinciding with the firstCanadian Centennial. The fair opened April 28, 1967, with the theme "Man and his World" and became the best attended of allBIE-sanctionedworld expositions until that time. Expo 67 raised the international profile of Montreal and Canada and instilled a sense of hopefulness and national pride in many Canadian citizens.[4] Canadian nationalists likePierre Berton would later refer to 1967 as Canada's "Last Good Year" before the country became divided over economic problems andQuebec sovereignty.
Pierre Elliott Trudeau, himself a French Canadian, came to power in 1968. Quebec also produced a more radical nationalist group, theFront de libération du Québec, who since 1963 had been using terrorism in an attempt to make Quebec a sovereign nation. In October 1970, in response to the arrest of some of its members earlier in the year, the FLQ kidnappedJames Cross andPierre Laporte, later killing Laporte. Trudeau invoked theWar Measures Act, declaringmartial law in Quebec, and by the end of the year the kidnappers had all been arrested.
Trudeau was a somewhat unconventional Prime Minister; he was more of a celebrity than previous leaders, and in the 1960s had been the centre of "Trudeaumania".[5] He also did not blindly support the United States without consideration, especially over theVietnam War and relations with the People's Republic of China andCuba.Richard Nixon particularly disliked him.[citation needed]
Domestically, Trudeau had to deal with the aftermath of theOctober Crisis. The separatist movement was not aided by the violentFront de libération du Québec (FLQ), yet it still existed in a less radical form under PremierRené Lévesque (1976–1985). Lévesque came to power as leader of theParti Québécois, which wanted to make Quebec at least an autonomous society in Canada and at best an independent nation. A step towards this was taken in 1977 with the adoption ofBill 101, making French the only official language in the province.
While Canada had participated extensively in theKorean War, it was officially a non-participant in theVietnam War. Setting itself apart from America'sTruman andEisenhower Doctrines, Canada was involved in diplomatic efforts to discourage escalation of the conflict and set conditions that required a much greater level of multilateralism than existed for it to join theSEATO military pact and commit troops.
The war was generally unpopular among the public and thecounterculture of the day had strong ties with American organizations likeStudents for a Democratic Society. Canadian anti-war activists encouraged American draftees to head north, offering them extensive counsel and assistance.Draft dodgers were generally accepted as immigrants by Canadian authorities, and as many as 125,000 Americans moved to Canada due to their opposition to the War. At least half of them are believed to have stayed permanently. This influx of young people helped Canada recover from the "brain drain" of the 1950s, and while in many ways the draft dodgers assimilated into Canadian society, they are considered to have had significant and lasting effects on the country.
Meanwhile, several thousand Canadians joined theU.S. military and served in Vietnam. Many of them became naturalized American citizens after the war, while those who returned to Canada never received official recognition from the Canadian government or military as veterans. Canada did deploy somepeacekeeping troops to monitorceasefire agreements during the conflict, and also sold a great deal ofmatériel to the United States. After thefall of Saigon in 1975, many Vietnamese refugees moved to Canada, establishing large communities in Vancouver and Toronto.
In 1973, world oilprices quadrupled due to theOAPEC oil embargo following theYom Kippur War. Canada's province ofAlberta had substantial oil reserves, whose extraction had long been controlled by American corporations. Elements of the government of Prime MinisterPierre Trudeau and the oppositionNew Democratic Party felt that these corporations geared most of their production to the American market, and sent their profits south. As a result, they believed, little of the benefit of rising oil prices went to Canadians. This view was not widely shared in the oil-producing province ofAlberta.
A bill to create a publicly run oil company was introduced by theNew Democratic Party in 1973, Trudeau'sLiberals were then in aminority government and dependent upon the support of the NDP to stay in power. The idea also fit with Trudeau's economic nationalism. The NDP and the Liberals passed the bill over the opposition of theProgressive Conservative Party (PC) led byRobert Stanfield.Petro-Canada was given $1.5 billion in start-up money and easy access to new sources of capital. It was set up in Calgary, despite the hostility of that city's population and existing oil firms. The PCs, now led byAlbertanJoe Clark, were opponents of the company and advocated breaking it up and selling it. The Tories were unable to proceed with these plans during their brief time in power in 1979–1980, however.
The company became popular outside Alberta as a symbol of Canadian nationalism. The federal government and Petro-Canada tried to reinforce this popularity nationwide (but especially in Calgary) through its prominent sponsorship of the city's successful1988 Winter Olympics bid. It quickly grew to be one of the largest players in the traditional oil fields of the west as well as in theoil sands and the East Coast offshore oil fields.
The Liberals returned to power in 1980, energy policy was an important focus, and the sweepingNational Energy Program was created. This expanded Petro-Canada, but it was detrimental to Alberta's economy. Inflation was out of control and interest rates were through the roof. Unemployment was epidemic in the eastern provinces where the Trudeau government had much of its political support.[6] The NEP was designed to promote oil self-sufficiency for Canada, maintain the oil supply, particularly for the industrial base in eastern Canada, promote Canadian ownership of the energy industry, promote lower prices, promote exploration for oil in Canada, promotealternative energy sources, and increase government revenues from oil sales through a variety of taxes and agreements.[7] The NEP's Petroleum Gas Revenue Tax (PGRT) instituted a double-taxation mechanism that did not apply to other commodities, such as gold and copper.
It is estimated that Alberta lost between $50 billion and $100 billion because of the NEP.[8] The rationale for the program weakened when world oil prices began to decline in the early 1980s, leading to the start of a phased shut down by the new Minister of Energy, Mines and ResourcesJean Chrétien. In the1984 election the government ofBrian Mulroney was elected with the support of western Canada after campaigning against the NEP. However,Mulroney did not eliminate the last vestiges of the program until two and a half years later at which time world oil prices had dropped below pre-1980s levels (as adjusted for inflation). This was a contributing factor to the creation of western Canada'sReform Party of Canada.
In 1980, theParti Québécois launched areferendum on the question of sovereignty. The question actually asked whether Quebec should negotiate for sovereignty, not whether Quebec should simply declare independence, but it was vaguely worded and confused many voters. Trudeau, although it was not a federal referendum, supported the "no" side, promising constitutional reform. The "no" side won by a margin of 60% to 40% when the question was put to the voters on the 20th of May.
Three years after losing his right leg to cancer at age 18,Terry Fox decided to run from coast to coast in order toraise money forcancer research. In creating theMarathon of Hope, his goal was to raise $1.00 from every Canadian citizen. The young athlete began by dipping hisartificial leg in the Atlantic Ocean atSt. John's,Newfoundland on April 12, 1980. He aimed to dip it again in the Pacific Ocean atVancouver, British Columbia.His plan was to run an average of 42.195 kilometres (26.219 mi) a day, the distance of a typicalmarathon. Unfortunately, Fox could not finish his run. The cancer had spread to his lungs, and he was forced to abandon the course on September 1, 1980, just northeast ofThunder Bay, Ontario after 143 days. He had run 5,373 km (3,339 miles, or around 23.3 miles per day) throughNewfoundland, Nova Scotia,Prince Edward Island, New Brunswick,Quebec, andOntario. However, Fox was hailed as a national hero, made aCompanion of the Order of Canada and his efforts have raised millions around the world for cancer research withTerry Fox Run events that have continued long after his early death.
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