Two lieutenant governors, three former premiers, all current members of the National Assembly, several dozen former ministers and members of the National Assembly, and the mayors of Quebec City, Montreal and Laval all were in Quebec City to take part in the unveiling of the statue of Robert Bourassa, who was Premier of Quebec for 14 years.

Robert Bourassa has taken his place among former Premiers Jean Lesage and René Lévesque on the grounds in front of the National Assembly, while on the other side of the building we find the statue of Maurice Duplessis, which was rehabilitated under René Lévesque (the statue was hidden away in a warehouse for 20 years), and that of Adélard Godbout, premier from 1940 to 1944.

Robert Bourassa is therefore the sixth premier to be immortalized by a statue on the grounds since Premier Honoré Mercier was immortalized this way in the 1920s.

Robert Bourassa was elected for the first time in 1966, as a member of the opposition. In January 1970, he became the leader of the opposition and on April 29 of the same year, became the province’s youngest premier ever.

I knew him and supported him when he ran for leader, and after he became leader and then premier, I had the opportunity to talk with him at least 100 times during the six years he held the position. I was a member of the first youth commission and was chair of this commission from 1971 to 1975, after which I was secretary of the political commission. Over these years, we discussed many topics, from hydro-electric development to language policy.

The quality of the legislation over these years was marked by the adoption of the health insurance policy, the charter of rights and freedoms, consumer protection, the recognition of French as Quebec’s official language, legal aid and small claims court, among others.

With regard to economic policy, he frequently declared that we must produce our own wealth if we want to distribute it. Guided by this maxim, he launched work on the James Bay hydroelectric project, thereby allowing Quebecers to be more confident regarding our economic future. He was instrumental in securing our own energy sources for the future, which today allows Hydro-Québec to show substantial profits.

Robert Bourassa experienced some very difficult moments during those first years. The October Crisis and the years of labour relation crises both come to mind. And then there was the imprisonment of the union leaders, as well as the problems revolving around the Montreal Olympics, among others. Yes, these were troubled years, but Robert Bourassa carried on. He was phlegmatic, calm, and he kept things simple. He was a man who left a deep mark on Quebec society. His was a vision of economic development leading to both improved social policy instruments and what he referred to as cultural sovereignty.

Robert Bourassa was an enigma for several members of the Anglophone community. Many did not appreciate his efforts to make French the province’s official language but he was right. Today we know that the linguistic security of Quebec francophones helped avoid hasty political actions, which is most clearly shown in the results of the 1980 and 1995 referendums.

Several of my constituents have often thought that Robert Bourassa was a sovereignist, but he was a committed federalist. He was well aware of the developments within the European Community and had a remarkable knowledge of international politics. His mentor was Jean Monet, “the father of modern Europe,� who saw the role of Quebec a little like a confederated European state among the then nine-member European Community which today is the European Union comprised of 25 member states. Robert Bourassa believed that Quebec should hold a more important place within Canada. And he was right.



• Jacques Chagnon is the Liberal MNA for Westmount—St. Louis.