TheBloc populaire canadien (French pronunciation:[blɔkpɔpylɛʁkanadjɛ̃],lit. 'Canadian Popular Bloc'), often shortened to theBloc populaire or theBloc, was apolitical party in theCanadian province ofQuebec from 1942 to 1947. It was founded on September 8, 1942, by opponents ofconscription during theSecond World War. The party ran candidates at both federal and provincial levels. In the1945 federal election, the party made a minor breakthrough by winning two seats in theHouse of Commons.

In early 1942,Liguori Lacombe formed the anti-conscriptionistParti canadien which finished strongly in two February by-elections.

In the April 27, 1942national plebiscite on conscription held in Canada, a little more than 70% of Quebec voters refused to free the federal government from its promise to avoid a general mobilization, while about 80 per cent of the citizens of the rest of Canada accepted it. (see alsoSecond Conscription Crisis)

The party was inspired by thenationalist ideas ofHenri Bourassa and supported byMontreal mayorCamillien Houde.Jean Drapeau andPierre Elliot Trudeau were members in their youth.

In addition to opposing conscription, the party aimed to defend provincial autonomy and the rights of French-Canadians.

At the provincial level, it was led byAndré Laurendeau and won four seats in the1944 Quebec general election, but soon lost popularity. Laurendeau resigned in July 1947, and the party dissolved and did not participate in the1948 general election.

At the federal level it was led byMaxime Raymond, who had been Member of Parliament (MP) from the province ofQuebec since the1925 federal election. He and two of hisLiberal colleagues (Édouard Lacroix andPierre Gauthier)crossed the floor to sit as Bloc populaire canadien MPs.

The Bloc populaire won a federal by-election in 1943.

The Bloc populaire's entry into provincial politics antagonized Quebec PremierMaurice Duplessis, leader of theUnion Nationale, who henceforth transferred his party's federal support to the "Independent Group" of anti-conscription MPs led byFrédéric Dorion in the1945 federal election.^[1]

In the1945 federal election, the Bloc nominated 35 candidates. All of them except two ran inQuebec-based ridings. (Lionel Campeau, ran in the district ofNipissing inNorthern Ontario and Léandre Maisonneuve ran in theEastern Ontario riding ofPrescott. Only two candidates were elected as Members of Parliament:Maxime Raymond andRené Hamel. Though former Montreal mayorCamillien Houde was officially listed as an independent candidate, he was reported to be the Bloc populaire's co-leader in the 1945 election.^[2]

In addition to the Bloc populaire, there was also an "Independent Group" of five anti-conscription MPs led byFrédéric Dorion which includedLiguori Lacombe,Wilfrid Lacroix,Sasseville Roy andEmmanuel D'Anjou (D'Anjou had joined the Bloc in June 1944 but had left to join Dorion's group by the time of the 1945 election). Additionally,Arthur Cardin quit Mackenzie King's cabinet in May 1942 over the conscription issue to sit as an anti-conscription independent MP.

TheSecond World War ended in 1945, and by the late 1940s the party's concerns had largely become a non-issue. Many insiders abandoned the party. The Bloc populaire canadien contested neither the1948 provincial election nor the1949 federal election, and soon ceased to exist.

The party published a modest and short-lived weekly newspaper,Le Bloc, in 1944 and 1945, with a circulation of about 15,000 copies. The newspaper was under the responsibility of Victor Trépanier in early 1944 and of Léopold Richer in 1944–1945.^[3] The party also published a series of ten brochures reproducing the texts of radio speeches by its leaders.^[4]

• Conscription Crisis of 1944
• Politics of Quebec
• List of Quebec general elections
• National Assembly of Quebec
• Timeline of Quebec history

• (in French)Platform of the Bloc populaire (1944)
• National Assembly historical information
• La Politique québécoise sur le Web

• Federal political parties in Canada
• Political parties established in 1942
• Defunct political parties in Canada
• Political parties disestablished in 1947
• Opposition to World War II
• Nationalist parties in Canada
• 1942 establishments in Quebec
• 1947 disestablishments in Quebec
• Defunct provincial political parties in Quebec
• Quebec nationalism

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