''Cité Libre'' was an influential political journal published in

Quebec Quebec is Canada's List of Canadian provinces and territories by area, largest province by area. Located in Central Canada, the province shares borders with the provinces of Ontario to the west, Newfoundland and Labrador to the northeast, ...

, Canada, through the 1950s and 1960s. Co-founded in 1950 by editor and future

Prime Minister of Canada The prime minister of Canada () is the head of government of Canada. Under the Westminster system, the prime minister governs with the Confidence and supply, confidence of a majority of the elected House of Commons of Canada, House of Commons ...

Pierre Trudeau Joseph Philippe Pierre Yves Elliott Trudeau (October 18, 1919 – September 28, 2000) was a Canadian politician, statesman, and lawyer who served as the 15th prime minister of Canada from 1968 to 1979 and from 1980 to 1984. Between his no ...

, the publication served as an organ of opposition to the

conservative Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy and ideology that seeks to promote and preserve traditional institutions, customs, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civiliza ...

government of

Maurice Duplessis Maurice Le Noblet Duplessis, (; April 20, 1890 – September 7, 1959) byname "Le Chef" (, "The Boss"), was a Canadian lawyer and politician who served as the 16th premier of Quebec. A Conservatism in Canada, conservative, Quebec nationalism, ...

. The journal (whose title roughly translates into English as "Free Speech") published contributions by intellectuals such as Trudeau,

Gérard Pelletier Gérard Pelletier (; June 21, 1919 – June 22, 1997) was a Canadian journalist and politician. Career Pelletier initially worked as a journalist for ''Le Devoir'', a French-language newspaper in Montreal, Quebec. In 1961 he became editor-i ...

René Lévesque René Lévesque ( ; August 24, 1922 – November 1, 1987) was a Canadian politician and journalist who served as the 23rd premier of Quebec from 1976 to 1985. He was the first Québécois political leader since Confederation to seek, ...

Pierre Vallières Pierre "PK" Vallières (22 February 1938 – 23 December 1998) was a Canadian journalist and writer, known as an intellectual leader of the Front de libération du Québec (FLQ). He was the author of the essay ''Nègres blancs d'Amérique'', wh ...

Pierre Laporte Pierre Laporte (; 25 February 1921 – 17 October 1970) was a Canadian lawyer, journalist and politician. He was deputy premier of the province of Quebec when he was kidnapped and murdered by members of the Front de libération du Québec (FL ...

Jacques Hébert Jacques René Hébert (; 15 November 1757 – 24 March 1794) was a French journalist and leader of the French Revolution. As the founder and editor of the radical newspaper ''Le Père Duchesne'', he had thousands of followers known as ''the ...

Charles Gagnon Charles Gagnon (May23, 1934 April16, 2003) was a multidisciplinary artist known for his painting, photography and film. Career Charles Gagnon was born and grew up in Montreal. He studied graphic art and interior design at Parsons School of Desi ...

and other intellectuals and activists. In doing so, the journal gained a reputation for its radical viewpoints at a time when anti-Duplessis views were difficult to get into print. The journal was

anti-clerical Anti-clericalism is opposition to religious authority, typically in social or political matters. Historically, anti-clericalism in Christian traditions has been opposed to the influence of Catholicism. Anti-clericalism is related to secularism, ...

and often criticized the strong influence that the

Roman Catholic Church The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

then had in Quebec. It also favoured

civil liberties Civil liberties are guarantees and freedoms that governments commit not to abridge, either by constitution, legislation, or judicial interpretation, without due process. Though the scope of the term differs between countries, civil liberties of ...

, as shown by its opposition to such measures as the

Padlock Law The ''Act to Protect the Province Against Communistic Propaganda'' (), commonly known as the "Padlock Law" or "Padlock Act" (), was a law in the province of Quebec, Canada that allowed the Attorney General of Quebec to close off access to prope ...

(adopted by Duplessis in 1937) and its support of the Asbestos Strike. Editor Trudeau helped form the Rassemblement, a group devoted to turning the public against Duplessis. This group, combined with ''Cité Libre'', helped foster the intellectualism that revived the

Quebec Liberal Party The Quebec Liberal Party (QLP; , PLQ) is a provincial political party in Quebec. It has been independent of the federal Liberal Party of Canada since 1955. The QLP has traditionally supported a form of Quebec federalist ideology with nuance ...

, which defeated the Union Nationale in 1960. Many of the themes raised by ''Cité Libre'' found fruition during Quebec's

Quiet Revolution The Quiet Revolution () was a period of socio-political and socio-cultural transformation in French Canada, particularly in Quebec, following the 1960 Quebec general election. This period was marked by the secularization of the government, the ...

of the 1960s. A number of the journal's contributors went on to take leading parts in that movement. As the 1960s progressed, Quebec society became divided between Quebec nationalists and sovereigntists such as Lévesque, Vallières and Gagnon and Canadian

federalist The term ''federalist'' describes several political beliefs around the world. It may also refer to the concept of parties, whose members or supporters call themselves ''Federalists''. History Europe federation In Europe, proponents of deep ...

s such as Trudeau, Pelletier, Laporte and Hebert. This caused a rift among the journal's board members, ultimately leading to the magazine's evolution into a federalist journal as the sovereigntists left . As well, the journal abandoned its earlier interest in socialist ideas and became more and more

liberal Liberal or liberalism may refer to: Politics * Generally, a supporter of the political philosophy liberalism. Liberals may be politically left or right but tend to be centrist. * An adherent of a Liberal Party (See also Liberal parties by country ...

in orientation. The division among Quebec's left, as well as the entry of a number of ''Cité Libre'' figures into electoral politics, led to the journal's demise in 1966. Some of the journal's leading writers who would enter electoral politics included Trudeau and Pelletier successfully running for the

Liberal Party The Liberal Party is any of many political parties around the world. The meaning of ''liberal'' varies around the world, ranging from liberal conservatism on the right to social liberalism on the left. For example, while the political systems ...

in 1965 while Levesque and Laporte would become Cabinet Ministers for the

with Levesque later leaving to found the

Parti Quebecois Parti may refer to: *Parti (service), an online video platform, web hosting, livestreaming, and cloud services business. *Parti (surname), a Hungarian surname, and a list of people with the name * ''Parti'' (architecture), the organizing concepts b ...

in 1968. Hebert would be appointed to the

Canadian Senate The Senate of Canada () is the upper house of the Parliament of Canada. Together with the Crown and the House of Commons, they compose the bicameral legislature of Canada. The Senate is modelled after the British House of Lords, with its member ...

by Trudeau in 1983. By 1965 Vallieres and Gagnon would break with Levesque over the latter's entering into electoral politics with Vallieres and Gagnon supporting the

Front de libération du Québec The (FLQ) was a Quebec separatist terrorist group which aimed to establish an independent and socialist Quebec. Founded sometime in the early 1960s, the FLQ conducted a number of attacks between 1963 and 1970,Reich, Walter. ''Origins of Terror ...

(FLQ) an extreme nationalist terrorist group that would launch a campaign of bombings, bank robberies and kidnappings which would lead to the kidnapping and murder of Pierre Laporte in 1970. Vallieres had already been arrested on other charges and was not involved with the Laporte murder but he later renounced violence and wrote a defense claiming Laporte's murder was accidental which was refuted by the members of the FLQ who had already been convicted of the murder. Gagnon would also distance himself from the FLQ after 1970. ''Cité Libre'' was revived in July 1991 to help promote Canadian national unity in Quebec and combat the perceived (pro-Quebec nationalist) "political unanimism" in the province. Anne-Marie Bourdouxhe, Gérard Pelletier's daughter, was its editor from 1991 to 1995, before she was replaced by academics

Max Nemni Max Nemni (June 13, 1935 – August 29, 2024) was a Canadian political scientist and writer, best known for a series of biographies of former Prime Minister of Canada Pierre Trudeau which he cowrote with his wife Monique Nemni.

and

Monique Nemni Monique Esther Nemni (; March 27, 1936 – 2 November 2022) was an Egyptian-born Canadian linguist and writer, best known for a series of biographies of former Prime Minister of Canada Pierre Trudeau which she cowrote with her husband Max Nemni ...

. In 1998, an

English-language English is a West Germanic language that developed in early medieval England and has since become a English as a lingua franca, global lingua franca. The namesake of the language is the Angles (tribe), Angles, one of the Germanic peoples th ...

version (also under the name ''Cité Libre'') was launched; unlike most other

bilingual Multilingualism is the use of more than one language, either by an individual speaker or by a group of speakers. When the languages are just two, it is usually called bilingualism. It is believed that multilingual speakers outnumber monolin ...

publications, both the

French French may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to France ** French language, which originated in France ** French people, a nation and ethnic group ** French cuisine, cooking traditions and practices Arts and media * The French (band), ...

and English versions were identical in their respective content."The English-language Cite libre crosses the Quebec border". ''

The Globe and Mail ''The Globe and Mail'' is a Newspapers in Canada, Canadian newspaper printed in five cities in Western Canada, western and central Canada. With a weekly readership of more than 6 million in 2024, it is Canada's most widely read newspaper on week ...

'', January 10, 1998. Publication ceased (both in French and English) in 2000, officially because of the magazine's perception that separatism was defeated.

References

External links

Encarta: Pierre Trudeau
2009-10-31) {{DEFAULTSORT:Cite Libre 1950 establishments in Quebec 1966 disestablishments in Quebec 1991 establishments in Quebec 2000 disestablishments in Quebec Cultural magazines published in Canada Defunct political magazines published in Canada French-language magazines published in Canada Magazines established in 1950 Magazines disestablished in 1966 Magazines established in 1991 Magazines disestablished in 2000 Defunct magazines published in Montreal Political history of Quebec