1967 – Visiting
President of FranceCharles de Gaulle shouts "Vive le Québec libre!" from the balcony of
Montreal city hall. De Gaulle cancelled the rest of his official visit to Canada after Prime Minister
Lester B. Pearson said: "Certain statements by
President de Gaulle tend to encourage the small minority of our population whose aim is to destroy Canada: and as such, they are unacceptable to the Canadian people and its government."
1968 – On August 28, the Théâtre du rideau vert premieres
Michel Tremblay's play Les Belles-Sœurs, which sells out its entire run in two days and revolutionizes the entertainment world by using
Quebec Frenchjoual instead of "Parisian" French.
1968 – The government-operated
Radio-Québec (television station) is founded. In the 1990s it was renamed
Télé-Québec.
1968 – The
Legislative Council, the non-elected upper house of Quebec's parliament, is abolished at the end of the year.
1969 – The
Parliament of Canada, under Prime Minister
Pierre Trudeau, passes Bill C-120 : An Act Respecting the Status of Official Languages in Canada, making both French and English the official languages of all Canada. See
Official Languages Act.
1969 – The
Union Nationale government of
Jean-Jacques Bertrand passes "Bill 63" which confirms the status quo on the language of instruction in the public schools (Parents can choose English or French).
1969 –
Montreal's 3,700 police and firefighters stage a
wildcat strike, resulting in violence, looting, arson, and the death of two people.
1970s
1970 – Formation of the "Montreal Urban Community" on January 1, consisting of the central city of
Montreal and its suburbs on the
island of Montreal. Replaced in 2002 by the new "megacity" of Montreal.
1976 - On September 26, the Expos play their final game at
Parc Jarry.
1976 –
Quebec general election: On November 15, the Parti Québécois (PQ) is elected. With a participation rate of 85.27%, the highest in
Quebec's history, 41% of voters give 71 seats to the PQ.
1977 – The exodus of unilingual English speaking workers and businessmen, started with the economic boom of Toronto and the West, accelerates. Over the next decade, more than 300,000[citation needed] English-speaking Canadians leave the province. Most settled in
Ontario. An equally high number of Canadians moved from other provinces to settle in
Ontario, where Toronto is booming, replacing
Montreal as the metropolis of Canada since the end of the
second world war.
1978 – "No-fault" automobile insurance comes into effect in Quebec.
1978 –
National Assembly debates are televised for the first time, and to suit the cameras, the walls are painted blue instead of the previous green.
1981 – November 4–5: In the "
Night of the Long Knives" (French: "La Nuit des Longs Couteaux"),
Pierre Trudeau makes a constitutional deal with nine anglophone provinces without Quebec.