A Provincial Premier - Essay Example

PREMIER Instititution A provincial premier refers to the leader or head of the government of a territory or province in Canada. The term is usually used to distinguish provincial prime ministers from the prime minister of Canada. Currently there are 10 premiers representing the provinces and three premiers representing the territories. Their main role is to represent the interests of the provinces in the federal government which has long been frustrated by the strong party discipline in parliament. This paper will tend to focus on the profile of one provincial premier by the name Rene Levesque. It will explore some background information about him, his contribution to federal-provincial relations and finally his political legacy. Background Rene Levesque was born in August 24, 1922 and later died in November 1, 1987. He started his career as a reporter and a journalist then later went into politics. In his political life he served as a minister of the government of Quebec (1960-1966) and was founder of the political party, Parti Quebecois. As the 23rd premier of Quebec between the periods (November 1976- October 1985) he became the first political leader since the confederation that attempted to negotiate the political independence of Quebec. Rene Levesque was born in Campbellton in New Brunswick and was brought up in New Carlisle in the province of Quebec by his parents Dominic Lévesque who was a lawyer by profession and Diane Levesque in the Gaspe Peninsula. He went to school at the seminaire de Gaspe and then later joined Saint-Charles Garnier College. From there he joined Universite Laval in Quebec City to pursue a degree in law. In 1943, Lévesque quitted his studies and left the university without completing his degree. From quitting university Lévesque went into journalism and joined the radio station called CHNC located in New Carlisle. While at the radio station Lévesque became a substitute announcer for CHRC and then later announced for CBV. His journalism career looked promising when he went to serve as a correspondent and a liaison officer for the USA army in Europe during the Second World War (Wall, 2014). During his stay in Europe, he was based in London where he made his reports through the print media and on the air waves. From there he went to work as a reporter for the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. He again worked for CBC as a war correspondent in the Korean War. While working as a journalist he got married to Louise L’Heureux with whom he had three children with. Levesque gained fame and popularity when he started to host weekly television news program. This program covered major international events and labor struggles between corporations and workers which later saw a massive strike occurring in 1957 at the Gaspe Copper mine in Murdochville (Lecours & Béland, 2013). This strike prompted changes in the existing labor laws in the province thus improving the work conditions of workers. Levesque also joined demonstrations to advocate for the rights and freedoms of the people. A good example is when he got involved in the broadcasters strike which lasted for 68 days. It is from involvement in such activities that helped Levesque become a public figure thus motivating him to join politics. Contributions to Federal-Provincial relations. His entry into politics in 1960 made him to be elected through the Liberal Party into the legislative assembly of Quebec. While in the government he served in various ministerial dockets among them being minister of hydroelectric resources and public works, minister of natural resources and finally minister of family and welfare. While in the ministry of natural resources he played a key role in expanding hydro Quebec through nationalization of hydroelectric companies. In October of the year 1967 Levesque ditched his liberal party, his main reason of quitting the party was that the party members had declined to discuss the idea of sovereignty of Quebec during its convention. During this period he had no party so he continued to be representing Laurier riding as an independent candidate. It was during this period of political independency that he formed an association called Mouvement Souverainete-Association. This association later merged with another party which advocated for sovereignty of Quebec called Ralliement National. This party belonged to the Gillies Gregoire. The merger created a party called Parti Quebecois which saw Lévesque become its leader until his resignation. In 1976 Rene’s party won the elections and this saw him become the premier of Quebec. During his time in power he introduces various acts in his government. One of his renowned acts is that which he introduced to govern the financing of political parties. This act limited individual contributions to political parties and also banned corporates from donating money or funds to the political parties. This was limited to $3,000. The main aim of this legislation was to prevent wealthy organizations and citizens from influencing and manipulating the electoral process. Another contribution his party had to the province of Quebec was passing of the Quebec Charter of the French Language. The main aim of this bill was to make French language the official language which was to be used for communication, commerce, instructions, business and everyday language at the work place. This was to enable easy integration of the immigrants into the French culture. The bill also made it illegal to put up commercials without French language in them. Contribution to province of Quebec Rene Levesque’s contribution to the province of Quebec was so enormous. The referendum act which was passed by his government allowed for a province wide vote whenever there were issues presented in a referendum. This gave the people of Quebec a sense of ownership and democratic rights of deciding on what they want. His government was also the first one to forbid discrimination along gender lines in the provinces charter of rights and freedoms. Levesque’s act of election introduced regulations that prevented manipulation of the electoral system by wealthy organizations and citizens of the province of Quebec. This way he ensured that the elections were free and fair. The nationalization of hydroelectric companies in the reforms under the quiet revolution was also another of his contribution to the province of Quebec. Finally his quest to see a sovereign province of Quebec by forming Parti Quebecois was one of his remarkable contributions to the province of Quebec. Political Legacy. Some of the memorable things that are still remembered of Rene Lévesque and have formed part of his legacy are the nationalization of hydroelectricity through the Hydro-Quebec. This saw the province increase its electricity supply. Another one is the law on the political party financing. This law helped prevent the intrusion of political parties by the wealthy citizens and organizations thus preventing political manipulation and promoting good leadership. The Quebec charter of the French language was also another contribution that saw the promotion of national unity between the nationals and immigrants. Another memorable thing he left is the Parti Quebecois which events leading to its formation demonstrated statesmanship. Before forming this party he was operating like an independent candidate having walked out of his party to advocate for a sovereign Quebec. Rene still adhered to his policy and beliefs of sovereignty until his last years in the government. He did this by reaffirming to friends about the need to have independence. To ensure that this was achieved easily he sold this policies and ideas to the university student whom he believed could propagate this message and help realize this dream. In reward of his statesmanship several things have been named after him to uphold his legacy throughout generations (Kukucha, 2013). For example two avenues now bear his names one is located in Montreal while the other one in Quebec City. Hydro Quebec and maison radio Canada in which he once worked in are all located along this avenue. After his death people started recognizing his crucial and important role in the province of Quebec. Rene has since remained an important figure of the Quebec nationalist movement. This has made him be regarded the spiritual father of sovereignties. This is because of his earlier advocacy for the sovereignty of Quebec which made him to quit his political party at that time. To most citizens of Quebec province Rene is considered to be the best premier to have run the province for a better part of the last century. He is also regarded as the father of the modern Quebec nation due to his great contributions in the province of Quebec. In conclusion the life of this statesman and best premier of all times in Quebec came to an end in November 1, 1987 after experiencing some chest pains. He died of myocardial infarction and was buried in Quebec City. Having been a recipient of the title Grand Officer of the French Legion of Honor, in 2008 he was posthumously made a Grand Officer of the National Order of Quebec. References Kukucha, C. J. (2013). Canadian sub-federal governments and CETA: Overarching themes and future trends. International Journal: Canadas Journal of Global Policy Analysis, 68(4), 528-535. Lecours, A., & Béland, D. (2013). The institutional politics of territorial redistribution: Federalism and equalization policy in Australia and Canada. Canadian Journal of Political Science, 46(01), 93-113. Wall, S. P. B. (2014). Seven ThreeFederal Approaches to Cost Containment in Health Care. Bending the Cost Curve in Health Care: Canadas Provinces in International Perspective. Read More