University of Quebec

University of Quebec administrative center at Sainte Foy, Que., Canada; provincially supported; French language; founded 1968. Its largest campus is at Montreal and there are also campuses at Trois Rivières, Chicoutimi, Rimouski, Hull, and Rouyn. The university maintains a school of advanced technology at Montreal, an oceanography center at Rimouski, and a gerontological institute at Hull. A popular distance-learning program, the Télé-Université (1972), is run from Sainte-Foy.

Chrétien, (Joseph Jacques) Jean (b. 11 Jan. 1934). Prime Minister of Canada 1993–2003 Born at Shawinigan, Quebec, he studied law at Laval University and was admitted to the Quebec Bar in 1958. He became a member of the House of Commons for the Liberal Party in 1963, serving in various ministries including National Revenue (1968), Indian Affairs (1968–74), Industry, Trade, and Commerce (1976–7), Finance (1977–9), Energy, Mines, and Resources (1982–4). In 1980, he campaigned actively for the government in the Quebec referendum against sovereignty, supporting Trudeau's promise of a lasting constitutional settlement which would include the province's aspirations. He was then put in charge of the constitutional negotiations (1980–2) which led to the patriation of the Canadian Constitution. However, this failed to satisfy many Quebeckers, who never quite forgave him for what they considered his broken promise.

He returned from political retirement in 1990, when he was asked to lead a disunited and demoralized Liberal Party. He became leader of the opposition, and in 1993 his steady leadership, in contrast to that of the more erratic Campbell, ensured a comfortable victory for the Liberals. In his first years in office, Chrétien was faced with the growth of Quebec separatism, fuelled by the popularity of the charismatic Bouchard. He was able to overcome this challenge, and his efforts to keep Quebec within Canada were boosted by the appointment of Charest as Liberal leader in the province. Chrétien pursued a policy of economic liberalization and the reduction of the national debt. To benefit from the divisions within the fragmented opposition, he called two early elections in 1997 and 2000, both of which he won handsomely. In 2002 he faced great pressure for his resignation. His popularity was boosted by his decision not to support the US in the Iraq War, but on 12 December 2003 he resigned to make way for his rival, Paul Martin.

Trudeau, Pierre Elliott (b. 18 Oct. 1919, d. 28 Sept. 2000). Prime Minister of Canada 1968–79, 1980–4 Born in Montreal (Quebec), he was educated at the Universities of Montreal and Harvard, and at the London School of Economics. On his return to Canada, he became a strong trade union supporter in the 1949 asbestos strike, which launched him as a social and political critic. A law professor at the University of Montreal, he welcomed the Quiet Revolution, though he firmly rejected the conclusion of many of his contemporaries that this should lead to Quebec's sovereignty. Instead, he advocated acknowledgement of Quebec's nationalism within Canadian society. He entered Parliament in 1965, and was soon appointed Parliamentary Secretary to Pearson, before becoming Minister of Justice in 1967. In his brief period of office he liberalized laws on abortion and homosexuality, and became known as a strong supporter of federal rights against the particularist demands of Quebec.

In 1968, Trudeau became leader of the Liberal Party, and Canada's second-longest serving, and perhaps most controversial, Prime Minister. In 1970, the Quebec Cabinet Minister Pierre Laporte was abducted (and later killed) by the terrorist Front de Libération du Québec (Quebec Liberation Front). In response, Trudeau invoked the War Measures Act, with its controversial limits on personal freedoms. In an attempt to satisfy Quebec nationalism, he made French the second official language throughout Canada, thus triggering resentment within the western provinces, which began to feel that their concerns were being ignored because of the government's constant preoccupation with Quebec. From 1973, he tried to cope with Canada's economic difficulties caused by the world recession, but in 1976 his attention was again forced towards Quebec, when the separatist Parti Québecois took over the provincial government there. He narrowly lost the 1979 elections and resigned as Liberal leader.

Only three weeks later Clark's budget was defeated and a new election called, which Trudeau won. His successful intervention in the 1980 Quebec referendum on sovereignty galvanized him into trying to solve Canada's (and thus Quebec's) constitutional status once and for all. He ended all the remaining judicial and legal prerogatives over Canadian affairs resting in London, and proclaimed a Charter of Rights and Freedoms. After protracted negotiations with the provincial governments, the Consitution Act was passed on 17 April 1982 (see Canadian Constitution, Patriation of). However, the act was not ratified by Quebec, and thus served more to underline than solve the country's constitutional problems.

Trudeau's economic policies failed to cope with high inflation and unemployment. In foreign policy, the advent of Reagan and Thatcher as the dominant Western leaders on the international scene pushed him into a role of irksome opposition, advocating a north-south dialogue between industrialized and developing countries, as well as the reduction of nuclear arms. Increasingly unpopular in Canada from 1981, he resigned on 30 June 1984 to make way for Turner. He retired from active politics, though he spoke in opposition to the Meech Lake Accord.