Jean Lesage & the Quiet Revolution

Agar Adamson is the author of Letters of Agar Adamson, 1914–19 and former chair of the Department of Political Science at Acadia University in Nova Scotia.

To say that this is an important book, written by a scholar who knows his subject, is somewhat of an understatement. Dale Thomson has presented in this work not only a biography of Jean Lesage, but also an outstanding anthology of the “Quiet Revolution.” In fact, this is not one book, but two and even possibly three — a fact that Thomson himself has recognised, as he has divided it into three parts.

The first part deals with the life and times of the politician Jean Lesage, including his background in Ottawa and his troubles prior to assuming the premiership on June 22, 1960. The second part deals with Lesage and the modernization of Quebec; indeed, it is a history of the “Quiet Revolution,” including the following issues: electoral reform, political reform, reform of the civil service, the fuelling of the Quiet Revolution (or “maître chez nous”), and, of course, the survival of the Québécois. The third part deals with the external dimensions of the Quiet Revolution, including the issues of the decentralization of Canadian federalism, the struggle over the Fulton-Favreau Formula, and the problem of international ventures.

Thomson faces the quandary that haunts many biographers — that is, do they become so close to their subject that their work loses its perspective and becomes nothing more than a litany of the “hero’s” accomplishments? Readers, when they read the first page of the preface, certainly will wonder whether or not Thomson has lost his objectivity when he writes: “The analogy between [Winston] Churchill and Lesage is striking.” Perhaps there are several similarities between the two men, including the fact that they both lost elections, they were both effective political speakers, and they both had a great capacity for drink. But, with all due respect to Dale Thomson, this analogy is somewhat far-fetched and tends to put the reader on an incorrect footing as he commences the book. Fortunately, the author recovers his judgement. Throughout the book Thomson presents a solid, well-researched, comprehensive, and well-argued study not only on Jean Lesage but, more importantly, on one of the most important periods of Quebec’s recent history.

Thomson’s research has been painstaking. His detailed description of events such as the struggle between Lesage and Paul Gerin-Lajoie for the leadership is, even today, fascinating reading. Other events that were significant during the Lesage government’s term of office from 1960 to 1966 are retold in a similarly painstaking manner. Thomson writes with skill and dedication; no one can say that the book is boring, for Thomson is able to bring the history of the Quiet Revolution alive and to present the actors with careful accuracy.

In describing Lesage, Thomson leaves very little to the imagination, including his problems of drink and his personal grandeur and political ego, which came to the forefront during the 1966 election campaign. His analysis is kind yet objective.

In discussing the Quiet Revolution, Thomson states: “In the 1980s, the debate launched two decades earlier over the future character of Quebec society was far from over; it even assumed greater urgency because of the impasse reached by the Levesque administration with regard to both its Separatist goal and its strong, interventionist approach to government.” He suggests that perhaps the greatest change effected by the Quiet Revolution was that concerning the values of French-Canadians:

With the disintegration of traditional structures and the free exchange of ideas, the former relative homogeneity of French Canadian society gave way to increasing diversity. The final years of the Lesage government were marked by increasing social conflict; succeeding governments faced even greater challenges to their authority. The Parti Quebecois sought to rally the population around an updated version of the collectivist ideal, but in vain; its sovereignty association option never rallied a majority of the population.

The “Quiet Revolution” set Quebec on the path towards a society based on the primacy of the individual, not the collectivity. Quebec,...had passed from a society that we could describe as organic and in which the general will is considered the national will to a liberal society in which the general will is considered to be the result of agreement among individuals.

This statement is a fitting epitaph not only for Jean Lesage but also for the Quiet Revolution.

One must earnestly hope that the publishers will make this work readily available to university and high school audiences. Although it was not launched with the great splash that some late 1984 books received, in the long run it will prove to be a most enduring work, a work that should be given wide circulation as a supplementary text for any student studying modern Canadian history. Thomson deserves great credit for his scholarship and his research.