Quebec nationalism in the context of Quebec politics

The Quiet Revolution (French: Révolution tranquille) was a period of socio-political and socio-cultural transformation in French Canada, particularly in Quebec, following the 1960 Quebec general election. This period was marked by the secularization of the government, the establishment of a state-administered welfare state known as the état-providence, a shift in political alignment toward federalist and separatist (or sovereignist) factions (each faction influenced by Quebec nationalism), and the eventual election of a pro-sovereignty provincial government in the 1976 election. While the Quiet Revolution is often associated with the efforts of the Liberal Party of Quebec's government led by Jean Lesage (elected in 1960) and, to some extent, Robert Bourassa (elected in 1970 after Daniel Johnson of the Union Nationale in 1966), its profound impact has influenced the policies of most provincial governments since the early 1960s.

A primary change was an effort by the provincial government to assume greater control over healthcare and education, both of which had previously been under the purview of the Catholic Church. To achieve this, the government established ministries of Health and Education, expanded the public service, made substantial investments in the public education system, and permitted the unionization of the civil service. Additionally, measures were taken to enhance Quebecois control over the province's economy, including the nationalization of electricity production and distribution, the creation of the Canada/Québec Pension Plan, and the establishment of Hydro-Québec in an effort to nationalize Quebec's electric utilities. Furthermore, during this period, French Canadians in Quebec adopted the term Québécois to distinguish themselves from both the rest of Canada and France, solidifying their identity as a reformed province.

The 1984 Canadian federal election was held on September 4, 1984, to elect members to the House of Commons of the 33rd Parliament of Canada, following the dissolution of the House on July 9. The Progressive Conservative Party, led by Brian Mulroney, won a landslide victory, defeating the incumbent governing Liberal Party led by Prime Minister John Turner. The Progressive Conservatives won 211 seats, the most seats in the House in Canadian political history, and regained power for the first time since 1979. This was the first election since 1958 in which the Progressive Conservatives won a majority government, and is also the only time since 1958 that Canada's governing party received an actual majority of votes cast. It was also the first election since 1962 in which the Progressive Conservatives won the popular vote.

Mulroney's victory came as a result of his building of a 'grand coalition' that comprised social conservatives from the West, Red Tories from the East, Quebec nationalists, and fiscal conservatives. Winning 74.8 percent of the seats in the House of Commons meant he won the second-largest percentage of seats in Canadian history, with only Progressive Conservative Prime Minister John Diefenbaker's triumph in the 1958 federal election, at 78.5 percent, being higher. This was the last time that the winning party won every province and territory and the last time that the winning party received over 50 percent of the national popular vote. The Liberals suffered what at that time was the worst defeat for a governing party at the federal level (in terms of percentage of seats), until the new record would be set in 1993 by the Progressive Conservatives themselves. The NDP lost a single seat in the House of Commons.

Maurice Le Noblet Duplessis, QC (French pronunciation: [mɔʁis lə nɔblɛ dyplɛsi]; April 20, 1890 – September 7, 1959), byname "Le Chef" ([lə ʃɛf], "The Boss"), was a Canadian lawyer and politician who served as the 16th premier of Quebec. A conservative, nationalist, populist, anti-communist, anti-unionist and fervent Catholic, Duplessis and his party, the Union Nationale, dominated provincial politics from the 1920s to the 1950s. With a total of 18 years and 82 days in office, he remains the longest-serving premier in Quebec history.

Son of Nérée Duplessis, a lawyer who served as a Conservative member of the Legislative Assembly (MLA), Maurice studied law in Montreal and became a member of the Bar of Quebec in 1913. He then returned to his home town of Trois-Rivières, where he founded a successful legal consultancy. Duplessis narrowly lost his first campaign for the Trois-Rivières seat in the 1923 election, but managed to get elected in 1927 as a Conservative MLA. His rhetorical skills helped him become the leader of the Official Opposition in the Legislative Assembly in 1933 in the place of Camillien Houde. As opposition leader, he agreed to a coalition with Paul Gouin's Action libérale nationale (ALN), which they called the Union Nationale. It lost in 1935 but gained a majority the following year as Gouin retired from politics and Duplessis took over the leadership, thus breaking almost 40 years of uninterrupted rule by the Quebec Liberal Party. In addition to his premiership duties, Duplessis served as attorney general and briefly held other ministerial posts as well.

Federalism in Quebec (French: Fédéralisme au Québec) is concerned with the support of confederation in regards to the federal union of Canada: that is, support for the principles and/or political system of the government of Canada (status quo). This issue has been summarized as revolving around the concepts of Quebec remaining within Canada and opposition to the desires of Quebec sovereigntists.

Throughout the sovereignty debate Quebec nationalist sentiment has swung between the federalist and sovereigntist options, with many Quebec nationalists willing to be a part of a Canadian federation with a more decentralized government. Quebecer anglophones and allophones have been overwhelmingly opposed to Quebec's secession.

The Coalition Avenir Québec ([kɔalisjɔ̃ avniʁ kebɛk], lit. '"Coalition for the Future of Quebec"', CAQ) is a Quebec nationalist, autonomist and conservative provincial political party in Quebec.

It was founded by former Parti Québécois (PQ) cabinet minister François Legault and businessman Charles Sirois; Legault also serves as the party leader. The party membership includes both Quebec nationalists and federalists. Legault has said it will never endorse a referendum on sovereignty; the party does not explicitly support Quebec independence, but will seek more autonomy within Canada if necessary.