''Le Soleil'' (''The Sun'') is a French-language daily

newspaper A newspaper is a Periodical literature, periodical publication containing written News, information about current events and is often typed in black ink with a white or gray background. Newspapers can cover a wide variety of fields such as poli ...

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 ...

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, ...

. It was founded on December 28, 1896. It is distributed mainly in Quebec City; however, it is also for sale at newsstands in

Ottawa Ottawa is the capital city of Canada. It is located in the southern Ontario, southern portion of the province of Ontario, at the confluence of the Ottawa River and the Rideau River. Ottawa borders Gatineau, Gatineau, Quebec, and forms the cor ...

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 ...

New Brunswick New Brunswick is a Provinces and Territories of Canada, province of Canada, bordering Quebec to the north, Nova Scotia to the east, the Gulf of Saint Lawrence to the northeast, the Bay of Fundy to the southeast, and the U.S. state of Maine to ...

and some places in

Florida Florida ( ; ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders the Gulf of Mexico to the west, Alabama to the northwest, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia to the north, the Atlantic ...

, where many Quebecers spend the winter. It has been owned by several media groups but is now a worker cooperative and is a member of th
CN2i network
''Le Soleil'' was published first as a

broadsheet A broadsheet is the largest newspaper format and is characterized by long Vertical and horizontal, vertical pages, typically of in height. Other common newspaper formats include the smaller Berliner (format), Berliner and Tabloid (newspaper ...

, then in

compact Compact as used in politics may refer broadly to a pact or treaty; in more specific cases it may refer to: * Interstate compact, a type of agreement used by U.S. states * Blood compact, an ancient ritual of the Philippines * Compact government, a t ...

format since April 2006. It ceased its print edition in 2023 and is now a fully digital publication.

History

''Le Soleil'' rose from the ashes of '' L'Électeur'', the official newspaper of the

Liberal Party of Canada The Liberal Party of Canada (LPC; , ) is a federal political party in Canada. The party espouses the principles of liberalism,McCall, Christina; Stephen Clarkson"Liberal Party". ''The Canadian Encyclopedia''. and generally sits at the Centrism, ...

, which shut down in December 1896. The first edition was published on December 28, 1896. one day after the disappearance of its predecessor, which shut down because the Catholic clergy had forbidden it to parishioners when the newspaper criticized the Church's electoral interference. It was renamed ''Le Soleil'' in reference to '' Le Soleil'', a daily newspaper based in Paris by the same name. In 1957, ''Le Soleil'' (then owned by Oscar Gilbert) cut ties with the

to concentrate on news coverage. Daily circulation rose past 100,000 in the 1960s, and over 150,000 in the 1970s. Beginning in 1973, many large corporations began to express interest in acquiring ''Le Soleil''. Controversy was stirred when Paul Desmarais's

Power Corporation of Canada Power Corporation of Canada is a management and holding company that focuses on financial services in North America, Europe and Asia. Its core holdings are insurance, retirement, wealth management and investment management, including a portfolio ...

announced its intention to buy the daily. It provoked the intervention of Quebec Premier

Robert Bourassa Robert Bourassa (; July 14, 1933 – October 2, 1996) was a Canadian lawyer and politician who served as the 22nd premier of Quebec from 1970 to 1976 and from 1985 to 1994. A member of the Liberal Party of Quebec, he served a total of just ...

because such a transaction would have concentrated 70% of

francophone The Francophonie or Francophone world is the whole body of people and organisations around the world who use the French language regularly for private or public purposes. The term was coined by Onésime Reclus in 1880 and became important a ...

daily newspapers in the hands of a single company. Eventually, the paper was bought by Unimédia. In 1987,

Conrad Black Conrad Moffat Black, Baron Black of Crossharbour (born 25 August 1944), is a Canadian-British writer and former politician, Publishing, newspaper publisher, Investor, financier, and Fraudster, convicted fraudster. Black's father was businessma ...

's Hollinger Inc. acquired the newspaper, which would eventually pass into the hands of

Groupe Gesca Gesca Limitée is a division of the Power Corporation of Canada, which published French-language daily newspapers in the provinces of Quebec and Ontario. Gesca has since 2013 responded to the Internet challenge by expanding its free online serv ...

. Gesca was a wholly-owned subsidiary of Power Corporation of Canada and also owned owned most of Quebec's francophone dailies including ''La Presse'', thus realizing Bourassa's fear. In 2006, the newspaper had switched to a tabloid format at the same time as

Sherbrooke Sherbrooke ( , ) is a city in southern Quebec, Canada. It is at the confluence of the Saint-François River, Saint-François and Magog River, Magog rivers in the heart of the Estrie administrative region. Sherbrooke is also the name of a territ ...

's ''La Tribune'' and

Trois-Rivières Trois-Rivières (, ; ) is a city in the Mauricie administrative region of Quebec, Canada. It is located at the confluence of the Saint-Maurice River, Saint-Maurice and Saint Lawrence River, Saint Lawrence rivers, on the north shore of the Sain ...

' ''Le Nouvelliste'', all of which were then owned by

Gesca Gesca Limitée is a division of the Power Corporation of Canada, which published French-language daily newspapers in the provinces of Quebec and Ontario. Gesca has since 2013 responded to the Internet challenge by expanding its free online servi ...

. Recent declines in readership due to competition by ''

Le Journal de Québec ''Le Journal de Québec'' is a French-language daily newspaper in Quebec City, Quebec, Canada. Printed in tabloid format, it has the highest circulation for a Quebec City newspaper, with its closest competitor being '' Le Soleil''. It was foun ...

'' was the main explanation of the switch from a

format. In 2015, Gesca sold ''Le Soleil'' and five other daily newspapers to Groupe Capitales Médias, run by former federal cabinet minister

Martin Cauchon Martin Cauchon (born 23 August 1962) is a Canadian lawyer and politician in Quebec Canada. He served as a Liberal Party of Canada, Liberal Cabinet of Canada, Cabinet minister in the government of Jean Chrétien. He unsuccessfully ran for the 2 ...

. Cauchon's media group filed for bankruptcy in 2019. All five of its publications, including ''Le Soleil'', were turned into workers' coops.

Circulation

Like most Canadian daily newspapers, ''Le Soleil ''has seen a decline in circulation. Its total circulation dropped by percent to 78,455 copies daily from 2009 to 2015. In 2020, in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, the newspaper ceased its daily print edition, maintaining only its online activities as well as a weekly Saturday print edition; the Saturday edition was then abandoned in 2023. :::::::::Daily average Figures refer to the total circulation (print and digital combined) which includes paid and unpaid copies.

Featured contributors

* François Bourque (city columnist) * Gilbert Lavoie (political analyst) * Brigitte Breton (editorialist) * Pierre Asselin (editorialist) * Mylène Moisan (columnist)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Soleil, Le Newspapers published in Quebec City Gesca Limitée publications French-language newspapers published in Quebec Daily newspapers published in Quebec Newspapers established in 1896 1896 establishments in Quebec

History

Circulation

Featured contributors

See also

References