Dramatic changes in Quebec’s political economy

Dramatic changes in Quebec’s political economy

Quebec is renowned in Canada since it is the only French-speaking province in the nation. The people in Quebec have had a great struggle for the recognition of their cultural and linguistic rights since the pre-1960 and post-1960 eras. Besides, there has been a single dominant influence on the political economy in the state during the pre-1960 era. However, dominance has changed since 1960, which is the period quiet revolution. The revolution is mainly characterized by the great transformation in both the social-cultural and social-political aspects in Quebec. Therefore, the Quiet Revolution led to dramatic changes in Quebec’s political economy in a bid to attain economic growth in the province.

Arguably, the pre-1960 era presents singular dominance in Canadian’s economy through politics and culture. The dominance in the various economic aspects is firmly rooted in the Canadian constitutive status. The great founders who are the English speaking Canadians dominate the most significant part of Canada and the French-speaking Canadians mostly residing in Quebec had great potential to cause political stability. Therefore, the British merchants dominated the economy, while the French-Speaking Roman Catholic Church dominated the social-cultural aspect of the Canadian. Hence, double subordination described politics where the church would access offices through the French Civil Code, whereby the Roman Catholic Church dominated culture through faith and language with control over social services and schools.

The cultural accommodation of the French-Speaking Canadian through Catholicism played a significant role in the colonial rule’s political acceptance since the double subordination was a reflection of the British merchants’ economic hegemony. The acceptance paved the way to the creation of a modest state which presided politically during the Duplessis Era from 1939 to 1960. The British political dominance supported recognition of the Anglo economic power in urbanization and industrialization. Besides, the church was aligned to a conservative official culture that would uphold modernization with little consideration on secularism. Quebec was at this time facing the effect of modernization, which resulted in a revolution in 1960 after the end of Duplessis’s reign.

The post-1960 era is marked by significant development in Quebec with a great desire by the Lesage Liberals for the execution of economic and social policies by Quebecers in the province. The Quebecers wanted to their integration into the modern national community with expectations of the government support for the setting up of institutions and economic capacity. However, the federal The Quite Revolution posed a challenge to the Anglo economy power by contributing to economic advancement in the nation. For instance, the Quebec government led to the conversion of private hydro-electric companies into public investments. Power generating projects like the James Bay drainage in the North Shore promoted economic growth in Quebec by exporting electricity to New England. Also, the hydro-electric resources made the province lead a leading producer of aluminum in a global spectrum. Besides, the territory became a core contributor o the rail and transit technology in the international market through the Bombardier company. The projects created employment opportunities while improving the nation’s power generating capacity. Quebec’s growth was an increase due to the expansion of the natural-resource extraction industries.

The Quiet Revolution led to the establishment of a welfare state at provincial, and federal levels created more significant opportunities for success. The creation of the state corporations was meant to empower the people in Quebec province and civil servants in the nation. For instance, the Caisse institutional investor was founded by the Lesage government to manage insurance and pension plans in Quebec. Also, Caisses Populaires, which was a funding institution that would be governed by the members rather than the stakeholders. The corporations challenged the Anglo economic regime by attracting more investors in Quebec. The investment managing institutions played a significant role in the expansion of social services like education and hospitals that are free from religious control. Therefore, the corporations represented a great reformation since the institutions were no longer under the influence of the church hence transforming from a state of defending faith and ethnicity to challenging the economic growth in the modern nation.

Nevertheless, the rapid economic growth during the Quiet Revolution had some negative impacts on Quebec’s political economy. The growth led to a broader public administration, implying an increase in operating costs. The increase in urban workers led to the formation of unions that would fight for better treatment. Further reformations were effected to favor unions. Therefore, the revolution led to a state f concentration whereby the government can hold a dialogue with the private sector for effective governance and performance.

Conclusion

The Quiet Revolution period led to significant changes in Quebec’s political economy. The Anglo economic power influenced the modernization of the country, which triggered the Quebec’s quiet revolution in a bid to gain recognition among the modern national community. The period of revolution bears significant differences from its prior history from the conquest. The pre-1960 era shows single high dominance in the social-political and social-economic aspects of the nation where the catholic church dominated cultural life, and the British merchants dominated the economy under the dual subordination to ensure acceptance for colonization. However, the quiet revolution emerged demanding for a change in politics, which led to an end in double subordination. Therefore, the revolution changed the single dominant influence leading to an opening for economic growth in the contemporary Quebec province.