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    Maurice Duplessis
    Maurice Duplessis
    Maurice Duplessis
    Ebook256 pages3 hours

    Maurice Duplessis

    By Marguerite Paulin

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    During his 18-year reign as premier of Quebec, Maurice Duplessis dominated the province and shaped it to his image. A brilliant orator and a scathing wit, Duplessis exercised complete control over his caucus and the Cabinet. If he couldnt get a vote, he bought it. Politics was the fuel that drove his life. He died on the job.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherDundurn
    Release dateJan 1, 2005
    ISBN9781770706613
    Maurice Duplessis
    Author

    Marguerite Paulin

    Marguerite Paulin teaches at McGill University and also produces and hosts a radio program. She is also the author of René Lévesque (XYZ Publishing, 2004).

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      Book preview

      Maurice Duplessis - Marguerite Paulin

      Maurice Duplessis, 1890–1959.

      Marguerite Paulin

      Marguerite Paulin produces and hosts her own radio show in Montreal at Radio Centre-Ville, on which she interviews writers. She has a doctorate (arts), has lectured for ten years at McGill University, and has taught at the collegiate level as well. She is the author of three other biographies – Louis-Joseph Papineau, René Lévesque, and Félix Leclerc. She has also published essays and fiction.

      The translator: Nora Alleyn

      Nora Alleyn grew up in a bicultural family in Quebec City. After a B.A. from McGill University (languages), and diplomatic postings in Europe and the Middle East, she returned to Montreal where she worked for many years at the National Film Board of Canada as a staff writer and translator. She now works almost exclusively as a literary translator.

      THE QUEST LIBRARY

      is edited by

      Rhonda Bailey

      The Editorial Board is composed of

      Lynne Bowen

      Janet Lunn

      T.F. Rigelhof

      Editorial correspondence:

      Rhonda Bailey, Editorial Director

      XYZ Publishing

      P.O. Box 250

      Lantzville, BC

      V0R 2H0

      E-mail: xyzed@shaw.ca

      In the same collection

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      William Chalmers, George Mercer Dawson: Geologist, Scientist, Explorer.

      Deborah Cowley, Lucille Teasdale: Doctor of Courage.

      Gary Evans, John Grierson: Trailblazer of Documentary Film.

      Judith Fitzgerald, Marshall McLuhan: Wise Guy.

      lian goodall, William Lyon Mackenzie King: Dreams and Shadows.

      Stephen Eaton Hume, Frederick Banting: Hero, Healer, Artist.

      Naïrn Kattan, A.M. Klein: Poet and Prophet.

      Betty Keller, Pauline Johnson: First Aboriginal Voice of Canada.

      Michelle Labrèche-Larouche, Emma Albani: International Star.

      Wayne Larsen, A.Y. Jackson: A Love for the Land.

      Francine Legaré, Samuel de Champlain: Father of New France.

      Margaret Macpherson, Nellie McClung: Voice for the Voiceless.

      Dave Margoshes, Tommy Douglas: Building the New Society.

      Marguerite Paulin, René Lévesque: Charismatic Leader.

      Raymond Plante, Jacques Plante: Behind the Mask.

      T.F. Rigelhof, George Grant: Redefining Canada.

      Arthur Slade, John Diefenbaker: An Appointment with Destiny.

      Roderick Stewart, Wilfrid Laurier: A Pledge for Canada.

      John Wilson, John Franklin: Traveller on Undiscovered Seas.

      John Wilson, Norman Bethune: A Life of Passionate Conviction.

      Rachel Wyatt, Agnes Macphail: Champion of the Underdog.

      Maurice Duplessis

      MARGUERITE PAULIN

      Maurice Duplessis

                                                           POWERBROKER, POLITICIAN

      Copyright © 2002 Marguerite Paulin and XYZ éditeur.

      English translation copyright © 2005 Nora Alleyn and XYZ Publishing.

      All rights reserved. The use of any part of this publication reproduced, transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, or stored in a retrieval system without the prior written consent of the publisher – or, in the case of photocopying or other reprographic copying, a licence from the Canadian Copyright Licensing Agency – is an infringement of the copyright law.

      Library and Archives Canada Cataloguing in Publication

      Paulin, Marguerite, 1955-

      Maurice Duplessis: powerbroker, politician

      (The Quest library; 26)

      Translation of: Maurice Duplessis: Le noblet, le petit roi.

      Includes bibliographical references and index.

      ISBN 1-894852-17-6

      1. Duplessis, Maurice, 1890-1959. 2. Québec (Province) – Politics and government – 1936-1960. 3. Prime ministers – Québec (Province) – Biography. I. Alleyn, Nora. II. Title. III. Series: Quest library; 26.

      FC2924.1.D86P3813 2005               971.4’04’092               C2005-941665-3

      Legal Deposit: Third quarter 2005

      Library and Archives Canada

      Bibliothèque nationale du Québec

      XYZ Publishing acknowledges the support of The Quest Library project by the Book Publishing Industry Development Program (BPIDP) of the Department of Canadian Heritage. The opinions expressed do not necessarily reflect the views of the Government of Canada.

      The publishers further acknowledge the financial support our publishing program receives from The Canada Council for the Arts, the ministère de la Culture et des Communications du Québec, and the Société de développement des entreprises culturelles.

      Chronology: Michèle Vanasse

      Index: Darcy Dunton

      Layout: Édiscript enr.

      Cover design: Zirval Design

      Cover illustration: Francine Auger

      Photo research: Anne-Marie Sicotte and Marcel Brouillard

      Printed and bound in Canada

      XYZ Publishing

      1781 Saint Hubert Street

      Montreal, Quebec H2L 3Z1

      Tel: (514) 525-2170

      Fax: (514) 525-7537

      E-mail: info@xyzedit.qc.ca

      Web site: www.xyzedit.qc.ca

      Distributed by: Fitzhenry & Whiteside

      195 Allstate Parkway

      Markham, ON L3R 4T8

      Customer Service, tel: (905) 477-9700

      Toll free ordering, tel: 1-800-387-9776

      Fax: 1-800-260-9777

      E-mail: bookinfo@fitzhenry.ca

      International Rights: Contact André Vanasse, tel. (514) 525-2170 # 25

                                         E-mail: andre.vanasse@xyzedit.qc.ca

      In memory of my father, my dear mother, my nephew Alexis,

      and, of course, to Victor-Lévy Beaulieu.

      "We were a people hungry for

      legitimacy. We accepted power

      as long as it meant absolute Power,

      regardless of outcome.

      Our drive for power was constant."

      Paul Chamberland, De la damnation à la liberté

      "It’s difficult to define how we must keep the faith.

      History only provides us with

      certain signs, certain arguments.

      But an argument is not truth per se,

      only a way of looking at things.

      History has no purpose other than to defend a cause.

      The important thing is to know what cause

      we are defending."

      Pierre Perrault, Un pays sans bon sens

      Contents

      Preface

      1 This Young Man Will Go Far

      2 Time and Patience…

      3 A Strategic Resolve

      4 The Art of Politics

      5 A Foretaste of Power

      6 Defeated… Now What?

      7 I’ve Lost My Star

      8 Power and Nothing But Power

      9 Down With Unanimity

      10 The End of an Era

      Chronology of Maurice Duplessis (1890–1959)

      Sources Consulted

      Index

      Preface

      The name Maurice Duplessis will always spark debate. To some, he is Quebec’s greatest premier. To others, he will always be a tyrant, a fascist.

      This biographical narrative does not set out either to judge or to exonerate him. Others before me have taken sides. Others after me will take sides. But not everything has been said about Duplessis.

      In order to write this book, I needed to research his life. I followed his traces – the traces of a man who figured so prominently in Quebec’s political history. My research revealed the dark recesses of his personality before the man gradually evolved into the politician he became.

      Since I had no wish to write either an apologia or a pamphlet, I tried to observe strict impartiality. My sole objective was to revive the story of the politician who was the longest-governing premier in Quebec’s history.

      Here is the book, which I give you to read – in all simplicity.

      Who was Maurice Duplessis? The answer can be summed up in the words of French author/philosopher Jean-Paul Sartre: A man is made up of all men, is equal to all of them just as they are equal to him.

      – Marguerite Paulin

      1

      This Young Man Will Go Far

      When asked what name he would choose for his child, Nérée Duplessis answered:

      Maurice, if it’s a boy. Do you know why? To honour the people in the riding of Saint-Maurice, because that’s where I was first elected to the Quebec legislature in 1886 – and I hope to represent them for as long as I can.

      On April 20, 1890, two months before his re-election to the Legislative Assembly, ¹ Conservative politician Nérée Duplessis hands out cigars to his friends. His wife, Berthe Genest, has just given birth to a strapping baby boy. The family’s first son cries in his crib. He is hungry, and he is thirsty. Bursting with pride, a jubilant Nérée mingles with his guests. The family lineage is assured.

      Berthe Genest, mother of Maurice Duplessis

      Nérée Duplessis, father of Maurice Duplessis around 1895.

      Maurice Duplessis, around 1908, a young law student at the Université Laval of Montreal.

      Look! My son is already an orator. Just listen to him! He insists on being heard. He’s already showing character. A real Duplessis.

      Berthe swaddles her infant.

      She thinks of her neighbours who have just lost a newborn. The health of an infant is so fragile. The remedies against contagious diseases are not very effective. The christening must take place soon as possible. If something should happen to the little boy, at least he will not end up in Limbo.

      The city of Trois-Rivières is Bishop Laflèche’s kingdom, especially when he preaches fire and brimstone from the pulpit: the sky is bleu¹, hell is rouge². Formerly a missionary in the Canadian West, the prelate with the flashy reputation has returned to Quebec to preach ultramontanism, a movement that advocates the supremacy of Church over State. His most fervent political mouthpiece is Nérée Duplessis who, in the spirit of reciprocity, benefits from Bishop Laflèche’s influence over his parishioners. He is reelected virtually without opposition in his home riding.

      The two make quite the pair.

      So it is only natural that Bishop Laflèche should bless the son of the honourable member for Saint-Maurice. When his godmother holds the wriggling newborn above the baptismal font, the prelate, lost in prayer, administers the sacrament: Vade retro, Satana. Then, with a solemn gesture, he makes the sign of the cross on the baby’s forehead. I baptize thee, Joseph Maurice Le Noblet Duplessis, in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost.

      Nérée and Berthe feel at peace. Their child is now a son of the Catholic religion.

      Nothing can cloud their happiness.

      In Trois-Rivières, the Duplessis family enjoys the prestige of being comfortably off. Son of the Conservative member, Maurice lacks for nothing. In winter, he cavorts on the skating rink. He plays hockey sporting a brand-new sweater and skates. In summer, he runs to the baseball field in knickerbockers, with the proper leather glove on his hand. On Sundays, the whole family occupies the front pew in their parish church.

      The years pass in peaceful serenity, but a dark shadow hovers in the background. There are days when Nérée is haunted by the unthinkable. Could he one day lose the election? With Honoré Mercier in power, the member for Saint-Maurice pulls out all the stops against the despised enemy. He attacks ferociously, like Caton the Ancient against Carthage:

      They’re all rotten, the Rouges! And this Mercier, what a scoundrel! He has so much money that he built himself a mansion out in the country while our poor farmers are starving.

      The departure of the head of the Liberal Party gives new impetus to the Duplessis family for whom politics is the mainstay of their existence. Maurice, constantly overhearing his father’s propaganda, picks up his words: They’re all rotten, those Rouges! This makes his parents laugh. Eventually, might he not also represent the riding? A future premier, perhaps?

      In 1897, Nérée fights yet another electoral campaign like a soldier in the line of fire. Maurice loves accompanying him. Sometimes, he even improvises short harangues in support of his father. One day, he slips into the crowd gathered around the podium not far from the church and the small restaurant where they sell penny candy.

      Go and pass around these pamphlets to those who seem less interested, and also to the women. They don’t vote but they can influence their husbands, Nérée tells his son before climbing up onto the podium. He is determined to point out the broad lines of his platform while reviling liberalism, branding it a social plague.

      But his adversaries are tough. Some of them have even stormed the square. Maurice can’t believe it. They are heckling his father and shouting hostile slogans: You’re a traitor, Nérée. The Bleus are scoundrels, rogues!

      What is the meaning of these words? Since John A. Macdonald agreed to the hanging of Louis Riel, the Conservative Party bears the blame for this emblematic death. Luckily for the Duplessis family, the Saint-Maurice riding is Conservative through and through. In May 1897, Nérée is re-elected member of the Quebec legislature but this time he has to sit in the Opposition. Liberal Felix-Gabriel Marchand has won fifty-one seats against twenty-three Conservatives.

      Maurice is the only boy in a family of five children. Mischievous, spoiled by his sisters Etiennette, Marguerite, Gabrielle, and Jeanne, he knows they will always forgive him his pranks. One day at mealtime, his father, losing patience, orders him abruptly:

      Maurice, stop being so silly at the table!

      Instead of stopping, the young boy gets up and answers back:

      There! Now I can go on… I’m no longer at the table.

      Maurice is very amusing. He knows how to win people. His mother makes a fuss over him. His sisters lavish affection on him. Nérée says of his eight-year-old son that he is a troublemaker, like his ancestors. He’ll go far. He’s not afraid of discipline. When it’s time to think about his education, his parents choose one of the best schools for this lively and resourceful boy. It is autumn of 1898. Maurice Duplessis is enrolled as a student at College Notre-Dame, Montreal.

      Montreal seems to be at the other end of the world. The first few weeks are very difficult for the young boarder – the long corridors, the dark dormitory, the classrooms with their blackboards. From the window of the refectory, the boy tries to glimpse the blue of the sky poking through the trees. The school, run by the Brothers of the Holy Cross congregation, is located in Notre-Dame-des-Neiges, a rather remote spot but recently accessible by tramway. The landscape, with Mount Royal right across from the college, reminds him of the Mauricie region.

      Maurice Duplessis is an obedient pupil who works hard to obtain good marks. His notebooks are filled with expressions of praise, stamps, and stars; his report cards are satisfactory. He looks like a model pupil dressed in a blue blazer with brass buttons, short pants, and a white shirt with a hard collar. In June, when the prizes are handed out, he doesn’t mind if he is not first in all subjects. What is important is his parents’ presence in the hall. And knowing that he will spend the summer in Trois-Rivières. At last, he will be able to play baseball with Paul, Robert, and Jean, his little neighbours from Hart Street whom he hasn’t seen for ten months.

      At Collége Notre-Dame, there is someone who performs miracles!

      Maurice comes home full of stories about his life in Montreal. His mother listens to him. He tells her that one day, as he was walking down the corridor, he noticed a strange little man with a threadbare cassock.

      Everyone calls him the ‘greasy brother’ because he helps cure wounds with oil. But I call him by his real name: Brother André. And he’s a friend.

      Brother André is very devout, humble. He reminds Maurice of people he knows in Trois-Rivières. He has the same humility and generosity of spirit. Brother André is the college doorman. Often he is tired after his long day. To help him, Maurice offers to fetch the pupils and bring them to the common room. From then on, they become close. The child admires the Brother who speaks of St. Joseph like a friend.

      You know, Mother, Brother André says that one day he will have an oratory built on Mount Royal in honour of his patron saint, Joseph. Many people laugh at him but I don’t. I’m sure he’ll succeed.

      He admires such determination. Maurice is discovering the mysterious power that this humble man exercises over others. A kind of charisma. It fascinates him.

      After he graduates from Collége Notre-Dame, Maurice continues his classical studies at the Trois-Rivières Seminary. Even though he is only a teenager, people are already taking notice of his talent as an orator.

      Why not come to the Saint-Thomas-d’Aquin Academy? a friend asks one day. You like history and politics. I listened to your arguments about the Boer War and they were very convincing. You can take part in the debates we are organizing around certain themes. Next week, it will be Lincoln and the War of Secession. We need someone who will defend the Confederates. It’s a thankless role, but I can see you standing up for those who have been defeated.

      What an opportunity! Maurice is enthusiastic. He joins this group of young people who engage in spirited verbal matches. Elegant in his three-piece suits, with a trim moustache and his hair slicked back, he is impressive. And when he participates in the debates, he stirs up the audience. He soon stands out from the group.

      Who is that boy who speaks so well?

      He’s the son of Nérée Duplessis, the former representative for Saint-Maurice. Watch him, he’ll go far, this young man. They say he can’t be beaten when it comes to politics.

      His reputation grows. His father, who holds a salon, introduces him to his friends, well-known members of the Conservative Party. Maurice talks about current affairs with historian-politician Thomas Chapais and two former premiers, Louis-Olivier Taillon and Edmund James Flynn. The year is 1908 and Trois-Rivières is slowly recovering from the great fire of June 22. Rumour says that the fire started in a stable with horses for hire. It spread like wildfire, destroying the centre of town. The business sector, the post office, the offices of the Canadian Pacific Railway, the beautiful parish church – a whole architectural heritage turned to ashes. The fire couldn’t have happened at a worse time. Industrialization had just started to draw rural families into the towns. But Trois-Rivières cannot compete with Montreal and Quebec City. Maurice reassures Thomas Chapais, who

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