Bloc populaire


The Bloc populaire canadien was a political party in the Canadian province of Quebec from 1942 to 1947. It was founded on September 8, 1942 by opponents of conscription during World War II. The party ran candidates at both federal and provincial levels.

Origin

In early 1942, Liguori Lacombe formed the anti-conscriptionist Parti canadien which finished strongly in two February by-elections.
In the April 27, 1942 national plebiscite on conscription held in Canada, a little more than 70% of Quebec voters refused to free the federal government from its promise to avoid a general mobilization, while about 80 per cent of the citizens of the rest of Canada accepted it.
The party was inspired by the nationalist ideas of Henri Bourassa and supported by Montreal mayor Camillien Houde. Jean Drapeau and Pierre Elliot Trudeau were members in their youth.
In addition to opposing conscription, the party aimed to defend provincial autonomy and the rights of French-Canadians.

Provincial level

At the provincial level, it was led by André Laurendeau and won four seats in the 1944 Quebec general election, but soon lost popularity. Laurendeau resigned in July 1947, and the party dissolved and did not participate in the 1948 general election.

Federal level

At the federal level it was led by Maxime Raymond, who had been Member of Parliament from the province of Quebec since the 1925 federal election. He and two of his Liberal colleagues crossed the floor to sit as Bloc populaire canadien MPs.
The Bloc populaire won a federal by-election in 1943.
The Bloc populaire's entry into provincial politics antagonized Quebec Premier Maurice Duplessis, leader of the Union Nationale, who henceforth transferred his party's federal support to the "Independent Group" of anti-conscription MPs led by Frédéric Dorion in the 1945 federal election.
In the 1945 federal election, the Bloc nominated 35 candidates. All of them except two ran in Quebec-based ridings.. Additionally, Arthur Cardin quit Mackenzie King's cabinet in May 1942 over the conscription issue to sit as an anti-conscription independent MP.

Decline

ended in 1945, and by the late 1940s the party's concerns had largely become a non-issue. Many insiders abandoned the party. The Bloc populaire canadien contested neither the 1948 provincial election nor the 1949 federal election, and soon ceased to exist.

Publications

The party published a modest and short-lived weekly newspaper, Le Bloc, in 1944 and 1945, with a circulation of about 15,000 copies. The newspaper was under the responsibility of Victor Trépanier in early 1944 and of Léopold Richer in 1944-1945. The party also published a series of ten brochures reproducing the texts of radio speeches by its leaders.

Quebec provincial election results

Members of the Legislative Assembly of Quebec

MLADistrictRegionYears of ServiceBackground
Ovila BergeronStansteadEastern Townships1944-1948Manager of a Credit Union
Édouard LacroixBeauceChaudière-Appalaches1944-1945Lumber Merchant & Liberal MP
André LaurendeauMontréal-LaurierMontreal East1944-1948Journalist
Albert LemieuxBeauharnoisMontérégie1944-1948Lawyer

Members of the Canadian House of Commons

MPDistrictRegionYears of ServiceBackground
Joseph Armand ChoquetteStansteadEastern Townships1943-1945Farmer
Joseph-Émile-Stanislas-Émmanuel D'AnjouRimouskiBas-Saint-Laurent1917-1924
1940-1945		Insurance Broker & Liberal MP
Pierre GauthierPortneufQuébec1936-1958Physician & Liberal MP
René HamelSaint-Maurice—LaflècheMauricie1945-1949Lawyer
Édouard LacroixBeauceChaudière-Appalaches1925-1945Lumber Merchant & Liberal MP
Maxime RaymondBeauharnois—LaprairieMontérégie1925-1949Lawyer & Liberal MP

Notable defeated candidate

CandidateDistrictRegionYearBackground
Jean DrapeauOutremont
Montréal-Jeanne-Mance		Montreal West
Montreal East		1942
1944 		Lawyer
Roger DuhamelSt. JamesMontreal1945 author

Prominent insider

MemberRegionYearsBackground
Pierre Elliott TrudeauMontreal1942–1945Student

Footnotes