Union nationale | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Leader | Jonathan Blanchette (second incarnation) |
| Founded | 7 November 1935; 90 years ago (1935-11-07) (as a loose coalition of legislators) 20 June 1936; 89 years ago (1936-06-20) (as a political party) 28 October 2020; 5 years ago (2020-10-28) (second incarnation)[1] |
| Dissolved | 19 June 1989; 36 years ago (1989-06-19) |
| Merger of | Quebec Conservative Party, Action libérale nationale |
| Headquarters | 63A, avenue du Docteur-Bigué,Normétal, J0Z3A0 (second incarnation) |
| Ideology | First incarnation : National conservatism Quebec nationalism Right-wing populism[2] Anti-communism Economic liberalism Clerico-nationalism Second incarnation : Anti public health restrictions Direct democracy |
| Political position | First incarnation : Right-wing Second incarnation : Right-wing toFar-right |
| Colours | Blue,Red |
TheUnion nationale (French pronunciation:[ynjɔ̃nɑsjɔnal]) was aconservative[3][4][5] andnationalist[3][6][7] provincialpolitical party inQuebec,Canada, that identified withQuébécois autonomism. It was created during theGreat Depression and held power in Quebec from 1936 to 1939, from 1944 to 1960 and from 1966 to 1970. The party was founded byMaurice Duplessis, who led it until his death in 1959.
The party was often referred to in English as theNational Union, especially when it was still an electoral force, by both the media and, at times, the party.[8]
The party started when theAction libérale nationale, a group of dissidents from theQuebec Liberal Party, formed a loose coalition with theConservative Party of Quebec. In the1935 Quebec election, the two parties agreed to run only one candidate of either party in each riding. The Action libérale nationale (ALN) elected 26 out of 57 candidates and the Conservatives won 16 seats out of 33 districts.[9]
Conservative leaderMaurice Duplessis becameLeader of the Opposition. He soon rose to prominence as he used the Standing Committee on Public Accounts to expose the corrupt practices of the Liberalgovernment ofAlexandre Taschereau and force it to call an early election.
Capitalizing on his success, Duplessis called a caucus meeting atSherbrooke's Magog Hotel and received the support of 15 Conservatives and 22 ALN members in favour of a merger of the two parties under his leadership under the nameUnion nationale.[10]
The new party had no formal ties to the federalConservatives. It ran candidates in every district and won a majority of the seats in the1936 election.[11]
Even though Duplessis had run on ideas inspired from the ALN platform, he soon alienated the more progressive members of his caucus.René Chaloult,Oscar Drouin,Joseph-Ernest Grégoire,Philippe Hamel,François Leduc andAdolphe Marcouxquit the party, whileRouville Beaudry andGrégoire Bélanger left politics.
The government adopted a farm credit policy in 1936, which was popular in rural areas where the party's most loyal base of supporters lived, but for the most part the administration of Maurice Duplessis protected the status quo. For instance, it gave theCatholicclergy government money to providepublic education,health care and other social services.
Also, the legislature passed theAct to protect the Province Against Communistic Propaganda, better known as thePadlock Law, in 1937, which provided evidence of Duplessis's interest in appearing tough oncommunism.
Duplessis called an election shortly afterCanada declared war against Germany. Federal Cabinet MemberErnest Lapointe, theQuebec lieutenant ofPrime MinisterWilliam Lyon Mackenzie King, promised that no one would face conscription if voters supported the Liberals. The pledge was devastating to the Union Nationale, which lost the1939 election.
While serving inHis Majesty's Loyal Opposition, the party opposedWomen's suffrage which was enacted by the government ofAdélard Godbout in 1940.
The Union Nationale enjoyed a surge after a majority of Canadian voters allowed the federal government to pass conscription. Duplessis, who would later create a provincial income tax equal to 15 per cent of the federal income tax,[12] claimed that the Godbout government failed to impose the strict respect for the principles established in theBritish North America Act 1867. The Liberals won a plurality of the vote in the1944 election, finishing one point ahead of the Union Nationale. However, since rural areas were significantly overrepresented, the Union Nationale won 48 seats to the Liberals' 37, allowing Duplessis to return as premier.
World War II prosperity kept unemployment low.Machine politics,fiscal conservatism and a program ofrural electrification consolidated the dominance of the Union Nationale over the province. The Duplessis government adopted the currentflag of Quebec to replace theUnion Jack. It won alandslide victory in the1948 election. The Liberals were decimated; nearly all of their 14 MNAs were fromMontreal'sWest Island. Godbout himself lost his own seat, leaving the Liberals without a full-time leader in the legislature.[13]
On the debit side, Duplessis' relations with labour in general and trade unions in particular were difficult and led to a number of strikes. The government was also accused of being too strongly aligned with the Catholic clergy. Indeed, many priests openly supported the Duplessis government and attacked the Liberals by using the sloganLe ciel est bleu, l'enfer est rouge (Heaven is blue, hell is red)--a reference to the primary colours of both parties (blue for the UN, red for the Liberals).[14] The government was also accused of discrimination againstJehovah's Witnesses, receiving insufficient royalties for the extraction the province's natural resources and allowing election fraud for its own benefit.
Nonetheless, the Union Nationale was re-elected in the1952 election with a reduced majority, and in the1956 election. Moreover, its influence was made obvious when its organization helped defeatMontreal MayorJean Drapeau in 1957 and helpedJohn Diefenbaker'sProgressive Conservatives win a majority of the province's seats in the1958 federal election—something that the Tories hadn't done in over 60 years.
Duplessis died in 1959 and was succeeded by his Minister of Social Welfare,Paul Sauvé. Well aware that he faced, at most, two years before the next election, Sauvé saw the need to modernize one of the most conservative governments in Canada, and initiated a program of reform called "100 Days of Change." However, he also died after only three months in office.
Labour MinisterAntonio Barrette took over a government that was increasingly seen as tired and unfocused, despite Sauvé's efforts at reform. He called anelection in 1960, almost a year before it was due. The Union Nationale went into the contest under its third leader in less than a year, and narrowly lost toJean Lesage's Liberals. The new government implemented a vast program of social changes, which is now known as theQuiet Revolution.
Daniel Johnson, Sr. became the leader of the Union Nationale in 1961. He was chosen by party delegates rather than by his colleagues only.[15] The party was heavily defeated in the1962 election, but it held a convention to discuss its platform in 1965 and opened its structures to card-carrying supporters.[16] Johnson published a book calledÉgalité ou indépendance (Equality or independence), which appealed to a number ofnationalist voters. Even though the Liberals won a plurality of the vote in the1966 election, the Union Nationale eked out a narrow majority in part because rural areas were significantly overrepresented. Among the newly elected MLAs, there were three former federal politicians:Rémi Paul,Jean-Noël Tremblay andClément Vincent.
Johnson set a slower pace, but sustained many reforms initiated by the Liberals. His administration establishedCEGEPs (Collèges d'enseignement général et professionnel, or 'College of General and Vocational Education') in 1967, abolished theLegislative Council of Quebec and completed the dam and the generating station of Manic-5 in 1968 and laid the groundwork for the public health insurance plan that would later be implemented by theLiberal government ofRobert Bourassa.
The official visit ofFrench PresidentCharles de Gaulle in Canada in 1967 and Daniel Johnson, Sr.'s sudden death in 1968 left the party divided between itsnationalist wing and members who clearly positioned themselves asfederalists. The latter prevailed whenJean-Jacques Bertrand won the party leadership overJean-Guy Cardinal,[17] but the controversy over a language legislation known asBill 63 prompted a number of nationalist supporters, and legislators such asAntonio Flamand andJérôme Proulx to join theParti Québécois.[18]
In addition, the Union Nationale lost a portion of its conservative base, including MNAGaston Tremblay, to theRalliement créditiste. Bertrand was unable to inspire voters and the party seemed to have lost touch with Quebec society. In the1970 election, the Union Nationale was resoundingly defeated, winning only 17 seats. While it finished third in the popular vote behind the PQ, it still managed to become the Official Opposition.
Gabriel Loubier took over as leader and the party became known asUnité Québec from October 25, 1971 to January 14, 1973. The name change was not enough to halt the party's decline, and at the1973 election, it was shut out of the legislature for the first time.[19]
In 1974, former UNCabinet Member and interim leaderMaurice Bellemare won aby-election, and the party again was represented in theNational Assembly.[20] On May 31, 1975, the party merged with the tinyParti présidentiel, a group of Créditiste dissidents led byYvon Brochu, and kept the Union Nationale name.
In May 1976, business ownerRodrigue Biron, a former card-carrying Liberal supporter who had no experience in provincial politics, was chosen as party leader.[21] Bellemare tried to flush out potential candidates for the leadership of the UN (such as former Liberal cabinet ministerJérôme Choquette) by calling a leadership convention for May 1976, but was unsuccessful.[22] His impulsive policy statements and poor relations with the old guard of the party led to resignations of party officials, includingJacques Tétreault, who had been his most serious opponent for the party leadership. In September 1976, Biron abandoned a plan to unite his party with Choquette'sParti National Populaire, despite prior efforts made by the two groups.[23]
The Union Nationale made a modest recovery in the1976 election, winning 11 seats and 18.2% of the popular vote. While it came up just short ofofficial party status in the legislature, the party appeared to be back from the brink. However, this did not last. From 1978 to 1980, five MNAs eithercrossed the floor, moved to federal politics or retired. The party bottomed out in 1980, when Biron resigned as leader and left the party to sit as an independent, and then joined the Parti Québécois a few months later.Michel Le Moignan, the MNA for the district ofGaspé, took over as interim leader. This left the once-mighty party with only five seats.
On January 9, 1981, federalProgressive ConservativeMember of Parliament (MP)Roch LaSalle was acclaimed leader of the Union Nationale.[24] In theApril 1981 provincial election, the party lost all of its seats, and would never elect another MNA. La Salle resigned as leader and returned to federal politics—winning the by-election created by his resignation from parliament a few months earlier.[25]
In 1982, lawyer Jean-Marc Beliveau, who had been appointed interim leader by the party executive following Lasalle's resignation, was elected Union Nationale leader by acclamation at what would be the party's final leadership convention.[26] The party was $150,000 in debt, but appeared poised to return to the National Assembly when one public opinion poll in October 1984 showed it with 18% public support, its best showing since 1976, in the wake of the1984 federal election in which the Progressive Conservatives won Quebec and the country in a landslide.[27] However, Béliveau contested a June 3, 1985by-election inTrois-Rivières and was defeated, finishing third with 16% of the vote. He tried to merge the UN with the fledglingProgressive Conservative Party of Quebec, but negotiations came to nothing. In September, after a group of veteran party members demanded his immediate resignation, Beliveau stepped down as leader.[28]
The party appointedAndré Léveillé, a minister in the Johnson government, as interim party leader on October 28, 1985. Earlier, Léveillé had announced the formation of his ownParti du progrès, which he subsequently abandoned. Léveillé led the party into theDecember 2, 1985, general election. However, the party ran only 19 candidates, none of whom came close to being elected. It only won 0.23% of the popular vote, its worst showing ever. This would prove to be the final general election in which the Union Nationale fielded candidates.
By the 1980s, the Union Nationale no longer could rely on a significant get-out-the-vote organization or attract any media attention. The electorate was increasingly polarized over the constitutional issue, with conservative-leaning voters split between either the federalist Liberals or the sovereigntist Parti Québécois in provincial elections.
Furthermore, a number of small conservative andcréditiste parties were created and were in competition with the Union Nationale for the few thousands of votes that were still up for grabs. Those parties included André Asselin'sProgressive Conservative Party of Quebec, Jacques E. Tardif'sUnité Québec and Jean-Paul Poulin'sParti crédit social uni. The situation accelerated the demise of the Union Nationale.
On June 19, 1989, Quebec chief electoral officer Pierre F. Côté withdrew the party's registration after the party was found to be nearly $350,000 in debt. As a result of this decision, it was no longer able to receive contributions or make expenditures. The next day, the interim leader of the party, Michel Le Brun, told a reporter that he would contest the decision before theQuebec Superior Court, arguing that the decision was unfair, and a violation of both theCanadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms and theQuebec Charter of Rights and Freedoms. It was the first time in Quebec that a party had lost its official status as a result of its debts.[29]
Le Brun resurrected the Union Nationale under the nameParti Renaissance on June 26, 1992. It ran candidates in twoby-elections in 1993, but the party did not field any eligible candidates in the1994 election and lost its registration on August 27, 1994.[30]
Although another attempt was made to revive the Union Nationale in 1998, it failed when the party failed to nominate enough candidates to be registered. TheAction démocratique du Québec (ADQ) was established about at the same time and made a significant breakthrough in the districts that were once considered the base of the Union Nationale's support. This has continued withCoalition Avenir Québec, which has sometimes drawn comparisons with Union Nationale.
In 2009, former Union Nationale MNAsSerge Fontaine andBertrand Goulet (both of whom had been among the last Union Nationale members elected to the legislature) announced the formation of a newConservative Party of Quebec.[31] Fontaine had askedÉric Caire of the ADQ to join the party and become its leader, with a view to attract disaffected ADQ supporters, but this did not materialize and Caire now sits as a member of theCoalition Avenir Québec.[32]
The Parti démocratie chrétienne du Québec, a minor political party which garnered less than 1% of the popular vote, was founded in 2000 and emulated the Union Nationale by combining moderate Quebec nationalism with Christiansocial conservatism. It changed its name in 2012 to theParti unité nationale. It has been defunct since 2018.
A new Union Nationale party was registered in 2020 by Jonathan Blanchette who ran as the party's only candidate in the2022 Quebec general election, receiving 159 votes inAbitibi-Ouest. The new Union Nationale was founded in opposition to health restrictions during theCOVID-19 pandemic in Canada and to promotedirect democracy.[33]
The party stood in the2025 Terrebonne provincial by-election, coming in 8th place with 95 votes (0.42%).[34]
The media claimed that the Parti Québécois was going through a phase ofUnion-Nationalization (French:unionnationalisation) when, in the mid-1980s, it chosePierre-Marc Johnson, the younger son of Daniel Johnson, Sr., as its leader and put the issue ofQuebec sovereignty on the back burner.[35]
| Leader[36] | District (Region) | Years of Service | Background | Selection as Leader |
| Maurice Duplessis | Trois-Rivières (Mauricie) | 1935–1959 | Lawyer | Confirmed as UN leader by caucus on June 20, 1936 |
| Paul Sauvé | Deux-Montagnes (Laurentides) | 1959–1960 | Lawyer Army officer | Chosen by caucus on September 10, 1959 |
| Antonio Barrette | Joliette (Lanaudière) | 1960 | Machinist Insurance Agent | Chosen by caucus on January 8, 1960 |
| Yves Prévost (interim) | Montmorency (Québec) | 1960–1961 | Lawyer | Chosen by caucus on September 16, 1960 |
| Antonio Talbot (interim) | Chicoutimi (Saguenay-Lac-Saint-Jean) | 1961 | Lawyer | Chosen by caucus on January 11, 1961 |
| Daniel Johnson, Sr. | Bagot (Montérégie) | 1961–1968 | Lawyer | Won leadership convention on September 23, 1961; DefeatedJean-Jacques Bertrand on the first ballot |
| Jean-Jacques Bertrand | Missisquoi (Eastern Townships) | 1968–1971 | Lawyer | Won leadership convention on June 21, 1969; DefeatedJean-Guy Cardinal on the first ballot |
| Gabriel Loubier | Bellechasse (Chaudière-Appalaches) | 1971–1974 | Lawyer | Won leadership convention on June 19, 1971; DefeatedMarcel Masse on the third ballot |
| Maurice Bellemare (interim) | Johnson (Montérégie) | 1974–1976 | Timber Scaler | Chosen by caucus on March 30, 1974 |
| Rodrigue Biron | Lotbinière (Chaudière-Appalaches) | 1976–1980 | Small business owner; Mayor ofSainte-Croix, Quebec | Won leadership convention on May 22, 1976; DefeatedJacques Tétreault on the first ballot |
| Michel Le Moignan (interim) | Gaspé (Gaspésie–Îles-de-la-Madeleine) | 1980–1981 | Catholic priest | Chosen by caucus on March 3, 1980 |
| Roch La Salle | n/a[37] | 1981 | Member of Parliament forJoliette Public relations officer Sales manager | Won leadership convention on January 9, 1981; Unopposed |
| Jean-Marc Béliveau | n/a[38] | 1981–1985 | Lawyer | Appointed interim leader August 20, 1981; acclaimed at leadership convention on October 24, 1982. |
| Maurice Bouillon (acting) | n/a[39] | 1985 | Party president | As party president, Bouillon served as acting leader between the resignation of Béliveau on September 21, 1985, and the appointment of André Léveillé as interim leader on October 28, 1985. |
| André Léveillé | n/a[40] | 1985 | Accountant and former UN cabinet minister | Appointed party leader on October 28, 1985 and led the UN into the1985 Quebec election. |
| Charles Thibault (interim) | n/a | 1986 | n/a | Appointed interim leader in January 1986. |
| Paul Poulin | n/a[41] | 1986–1987 | n/a | Appointed party leader August 10, 1986 |
| Michel Le Brun (interim) | n/a[42] | 1987–1989 1992–1994 | n/a | Became interim party leader following Poulin's resignation on March 24, 1987. Party de-registered on June 19, 1989. Le Brun re-registered the party under the nameParti Renaissance on June 26, 1992. |
Source:[1]
| Election | Leader | # of candidates | # of seats won | Change ± | % of popular vote | Legislative role |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1936 | Maurice Duplessis | 90 | 76 / 90 |  441 | 56.9% | Majority Government |
| 1939 | 85 | 15 / 86 |  61 | 39.1% | Official Opposition | |
| 1944 | 91 | 48 / 91 | 33 | 38.0% | Majority Government | |
| 1948 | 91 | 82 / 92 | 34 | 51.2% | Majority Government | |
| 1952 | 91 | 68 / 92 | 14 | 50.5% | Majority Government | |
| 1956 | 93 | 72 / 93 | 4 | 51.8% | Majority Government | |
| 1960 | Antonio Barrette | 95 | 43 / 95 | 29 | 46.7% | Official Opposition |
| 1962 | Daniel Johnson, Sr. | 95 | 31 / 95 | 12 | 42.2% | Official Opposition |
| 1966 | 108 | 56 / 108 | 25 | 40.8% | Majority Government | |
| 1970 | Jean-Jacques Bertrand | 108 | 17 / 108 | 29 | 19.7% | Official Opposition |
| 1973 | Gabriel Loubier | 110 | 0 / 110 | 17 | 4.9% | No seats |
| 1976 | Rodrigue Biron | 108 | 11 / 110 | 11 | 18.2% | Third Party |
| 1981 | Roch LaSalle | 121 | 0 / 122 | 11 | 4.0% | No seats |
| 1985 | André Léveillé | 19 | 0 / 122 |  | 0.2% | No seats |
| 2022 | Jonathan Blanchette | 1 | 0 / 125 | | <0.00001% | No seats |
1 Compared to the1935 election in which theAction libérale nationale, led by Paul Gouin, and theQuebec Conservative Party, led by Maurice Duplessis elected, which elected 42 MLAs (27 ALN and 15 Conservatives) running as an electoral alliance under the banner of theUnion nationale. The two parties formally merged prior to the 1936 election.
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| ||
| Premierships |  | |
| Elections | ||
| Family |
| |
| Related |
| |
.svg)
