Maurice Duplessis by Marguerite Paulin Nora Alleyn

Author:Marguerite Paulin, Nora Alleyn [Marguerite Paulin, Nora Alleyn]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781770706613
Barnesnoble:
Publisher: Dundurn Press
Published: 2005-01-01T00:00:00+00:00

The sounds of war, at first distant, seem closer every day. They are nibbling at the borders. Already, 300,000 Canadians are in Europe fighting the enemy. The news, censored – which doesn’t help – arrives late. It is invariably bad. People in Quebec have trouble understanding what is going on in Europe. In June 1940, people are horrified. France capitulates. Field Marshal Philippe Pétain signs an agreement with Hitler. Of course, there is this French general exiled in England who, on June 18, launches an appeal over the BBC to members of the Resistance. Nobody in Quebec really knows who Charles de Gaulle is.

In the morning when he wakes up, Maurice Duplessis always listens to the radio. In his suite at the Château Frontenac, he gathers up the newspapers he leaves lying around so that he can read them at any time. He is passionate about current affairs. With his friends, he can discuss the international political situation for hours. Cynical, he sees dark days ahead for Canada. “De Gaulle is in league with Winston Churchill. You’ll see these two bounce back. And when the United Kingdom needs men, she’ll come here to get her cannon fodder.”

Since his return to the Legislative Assembly in February, Duplessis has shown himself to be prudent and efficient. When Adélard Godbout took up his seat as head of the government, he proposed that women be given the vote. Duplessis was content to repeat Cardinal Villeneuve’s objections. His speech was dull. He doesn’t want to appear more aggressive than he has to be because he feels that women’s emancipation is inevitable.

They are the ones working in the factories making bombs and ammunition for the war effort. Already, at Épiphanie, young girls are being recruited in great numbers. If women leave the home to work in factories, it is hard to see how they can be prevented from voting! And even if, on April 11, 1940, Duplessis speaks out against the bill that will give half the population the right to elect representatives in Quebec, he is aware that Thérèse Casgrain and Idola Saint-Jean are behind this victory. As a good politician, Maurice realizes that he will have to court the women’s vote if he wants to be premier of the province again.

“Godbout is getting bogged down in his bills,” he says to Gérald Martineau, whom he now addresses with the less formal tu since he is part of the inner circle. “He is cutting farm credit, he wants to increase taxes, and worse yet, he intends to attack public schools. We’ll soon have our chance, and Mackenzie King will hand it to us on a silver platter. The spring session was quiet enough, but summer is bound to heat up.

“I never would have thought that the old Rouge from Ottawa would pull off such a brilliant electoral victory. Having the majority gives him a free hand to impose the law on mobilizing national resources.

“A first step towards conscription – just like in 1917! Poor Adélard,

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