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Title
Oui or Non

Issues
Quebec Referenda (1980, 1995)
A referendum is a political process in which the general public votes on an issue of public concern. Two such referenda have been held in Quebec that asked the voters for approval on amendments that would grant Quebec sovereignty, which would allow it to ”acquire the exclusive power to make its laws, levy its taxes and establish relations abroad”. The 1980 Quebec referendum was the first. Called by Quebec's Parti Québécois (PQ) government, the province-wide referendum took place on Tuesday May 20, 1980, and the motion to pursue Quebec's independence was decisively defeated by 59.56% to 40.44%. The 1995 Quebec referendum was the second referendum on the same issue. It took place on October 30, 1995, and the motion was defeated by a much smaller margin, 50.58% to 49.42%.

Persons
René Levesque
- Born August 24, 1922
- Died November 1, 1987
- One-time Liberal, founder of the Parti Québécois
- Left Liberal Party, founded Mouvement Souveraineté-Association, 1967
- Merged Mouvement Souveraineté-Association with Ralliement National to form Parti Québécois, 1968
- Attempted to negotiate political independence for Quebec
- Passed Bill 101 to maintain French as the prominent language of Quebec
- Supported the repatriation of the Canadian Constitution
- Resigned party leadership, 1985
Pierre Trudeau
- Born Pierre Elliott Trudeau, October 18, 1919
- Died September 28, 2000
- Liberal
- Prime Minister of Canada, April 20, 1968 to June 4, 1979 and March 3, 1980 to June 30, 1984
- Opponent of Quebec nationalism
- Touted as “The Hero of English Canada”
- Seen as a very charismatic figure
- Invoked the War Measures Act during the October Crisis, 1970
- Answered, "Just watch me." when asked how far he would go to stop terrorists
- Implemented official bilingualism in his first years in office
- Instituted Wage and Price Controls, 1979
- Established diplomatic relationship with People's Republic of China
- Introduced the National Energy Program (NEP), inflaming "Western alienation"
- Repatriated the Canadian Constitution after a long and difficult struggle with premiers and threatening to go to London alone, 1984
- Stepped down as Prime Minister, 1984
- Later spoke out against the Meech Lake Accord and Charlottetown Accord
Claude Ryan
- Born in Montreal, Quebec, 1925
- Died February 9, 2004
- Liberal
- Journalist and politician
- Director of "Le Devoir" newspaper, 1964 to 1978
- Leader of Parti Libéral du Québec, 1978 to 1982
- Opposed seperatist movement in 1980 Quebec referendum
- Defeated in 1981 election, never became Premier of Quebec
- Minister of education under Robert Bourassa , 1985 to 1990
- Member of the National Assembly and Minister of Municipal Affairs, Minister of Public Security and Minister responsible for the Administration of the French Language Charter 1990 to 1994
- Retired from politics, September 1994