''Le Jour'' (French for "The Day") was a

Quebec independence The Quebec sovereignty movement (French: ''mouvement souverainiste du Québec'', ) is a political movement advocating for Quebec's independence from Canada. Proponents argue that Quebecers form a distinct nation with a unique culture, language, ...

newspaper. It was founded in Saint-Laurent, near

Montreal Montreal is the List of towns in Quebec, largest city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Quebec, the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-largest in Canada, and the List of North American cit ...

, by Yves Michaud,

Jacques Parizeau Jacques Parizeau (; August 9, 1930June 1, 2015) was a Canadian politician and economist who served as the 26th premier of Quebec from September 26, 1994, to January 29, 1996. Early life and career Parizeau was born in Montreal, Quebec, the s ...

and

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, ...

. Michaud was

editor-in-chief An editor-in-chief (EIC), also known as lead editor or chief editor, is a publication's editorial leader who has final responsibility for its operations and policies. The editor-in-chief heads all departments of the organization and is held accoun ...

. The paper was published as a daily from 1974 to 1976, and again as a weekly from 1977 to 1978.

History

Initially, Michaud considered ''Le Québec'' as a title and a test print bore that name. Finally named ''Le Jour'', its first issue was published on February 28, 1974. With 30,000 copies printed, it became the 14th daily in Quebec. Editor-in-chief Michaud wrote that " is newspaper shall be independentist, social-democrat, national and free". The paper was the property of a

cooperative A cooperative (also known as co-operative, coöperative, co-op, or coop) is "an autonomy, autonomous association of persons united voluntarily to meet their common economic, social and cultural needs and aspirations through a jointly owned a ...

of which the

Parti Québécois The Parti Québécois (PQ; , ) is a sovereignist and social democratic provincial political party in Quebec, Canada. The PQ advocates national sovereignty for Quebec involving independence of the province of Quebec from Canada and establishi ...

(PQ), then led by Lévesque, owned 5% of the

shares In financial markets, a share (sometimes referred to as stock or equity) is a unit of equity ownership in the capital stock of a corporation. It can refer to units of mutual funds, limited partnerships, and real estate investment trusts. Sha ...

. Around Michaud was a team composed of assistant editor-in-chief Evelyn Dumas,

Gil Courtemanche Gil Courtemanche (August 18, 1943 – August 19, 2011)

, Michel C. Auger, Jacques Guay, Paule Beaugrand-Champagne, Laurent Laplante, Jacques Keable and Jean-Pierre Fournier. René Lévesque, journalist by profession, held a column in its pages and cartoonist Berthio was a collaborator. ''Le Jour'' covered such subjects as politics, culture, economics,

consumption Consumption may refer to: * Eating *Resource consumption *Tuberculosis, an infectious disease, historically known as consumption * Consumer (food chain), receipt of energy by consuming other organisms * Consumption (economics), the purchasing of n ...

and sports. It gave notable space to the then-emerging

Quebec comic strips Quebec comics ( or BDQ) are French language comics produced primarily in the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Quebec, and read both within and outside Canada, particularly in French-speaking Europe. In contrast to Eng ...

scene. It excluded advertisers that the newspaper deemed not to be in line with its ideals, like

financial institution A financial institution, sometimes called a banking institution, is a business entity that provides service as an intermediary for different types of financial monetary transactions. Broadly speaking, there are three major types of financial ins ...

s because of what it saw as unfair fees (Michaud would become known for fighting against this, earning the nickname ''"Robin des banques"''). The last issue of the daily edition was published on August 24, 1976, three months before the first election won by the PQ on November 15, 1976. Finances had become difficult. A weekly edition with a different staff was published from February 1977 and January 1978. While other Quebec newspapers would eventually come to be in favour of sovereignty (like ''

Le Devoir (, ) is a French-language newspaper published in Montreal and distributed in Quebec and throughout Canada. It was founded by journalist and politician Henri Bourassa in 1910. is one of few independent large-circulation newspapers in Quebec ...

''), the next one to be specifically devoted to it would be ''

Le Québécois ''Le Québécois'' () is a political newspaper based in Quebec City. Founded in 2001, it is a medium of the Quebec sovereignty movement. The newspaper also has a militant wing, the Réseau de Résistance du Québécois. Description Original ...

'' (although different in many regards), founded in 2001 in

Quebec City Quebec City is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Quebec. As of July 2021, the city had a population of 549,459, and the Census Metropolitan Area (including surrounding communities) had a populati ...

References

"28 février 1974 - Parution du quotidien souverainiste «Le Jour»"
at Bilan du Siècle
"Le Jour (Saint-Laurent, Île-de-Montréal, Québec)"
at the

Bibliothèque et Archives nationales du Québec The (; ; abbr. BAnQ) is a Quebec government agency which manages the province's legal deposit system, national archives, and national library. Located at the Grande Bibliothèque in Montreal, the BAnQ was created by the merging of the Biblioth ...

Radio interview of Yves Michaud about the upcoming first issue and assorted information
at the SRC archives

External links

Radio interview of Yves Michaud about the upcoming first issue and assorted information
at the SRC archives {{DEFAULTSORT:Jour, Le Newspapers established in 1974 Publications disestablished in 1976 Newspapers established in 1977 Publications disestablished in 1978 Defunct newspapers published in Quebec French-language newspapers published in Quebec Quebec sovereigntist media Newspapers published in Montreal Daily newspapers published in Quebec 1974 establishments in Quebec 1976 disestablishments in Quebec 1977 establishments in Quebec 1978 disestablishments in Quebec

History

See also

References

External links