Quiet Revolution

The Quiet Revolution (Révolution tranquille) refers to the period in Quebec under the Liberal provincial government of Jean Lesage from 1960 to 1966.

Coming after the highly conservative, church-based, and traditionalist government of Maurice Duplessis, the period was characterized by province-wide social, economic, and educational reforms, as well as mounting separatist sentiment resulting from political deadlocks between the government Quebec and Ottawa since as far as 1867.

The issue of a special status for Quebec within Confederation or the attainment of sovereignty of this state is the subject of a fundamental and still unresolved debate since that period. Canada has lived two failed attempts at reforming its constitution to "accommodate" Quebec and two failed referenda on independence.

Despite the continuing disagreements between federalists and sovereignists, Quebec has managed to progress in astonishing ways since that period. The salary discrepancy between francophones and anglophones has been eliminated, the level of education is very high, and Quebec is increasingly able to assimilate immigrants into a French-speaking society, since it has partial control over immigration.

See Les Automatistes.