Quebec referendum.MONTREAL--22 May 1980 "This hurts more than any election defeat." This is Premier Rene Levesque speaking as he brushes away tears. The huge crowd in the Paul Sauve Arena in Montreal is sombre som·bre adj. Chiefly British Variant of somber. sombre or US somber Adjective 1. serious, sad, or gloomy: a sombre message 2. , having just learned they have lost the referendum on sovereignty-association. The Parti Quebecois made the referendum question as blurred blur v. blurred, blur·ring, blurs v.tr. 1. To make indistinct and hazy in outline or appearance; obscure. 2. To smear or stain; smudge. 3. as possible. Instead of asking: "Do you support separation from Canada?" the referendum question asked Quebeckers to give the "Government a mandate to negotiate sovereignty-association with the rest of Canada." Even that "soft" question only got the support of 40% of voters. Only days earlier, Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau had offered Quebeckers a deal. In this same Paul Sauve Arena Mr. Trudeau gave one of the finest speeches of his career to a packed house. Reject separatism sep·a·ra·tist n. 1. One who secedes or advocates separation, especially from an established church; a sectarian or separationist. 2. , he promised the audience, and he would do everything in his power to give Canada a new Constitution. Ten thousand flag-waving people roared their ear-splitting approval of Mr. Trudeau's offer. Rene Levesque called the federal involvement in the referendum campaign "Scandalous MATTER, SCANDALOUS, equity pleading. A false and malicious statement of facts, not relevant to the cause. But nothing which is positively relevant, however harsh or gross the charge may be, can be considered scandalous. 4 Bouv. Inst. n. 4163. 2. , immoral." O CANADA O Canada became Canada's official national anthem on 27 June 1980. The music was composed exactly a century earlier by Calixa Lavallee, the lyrics lyrics npl [of song] → paroles fpl lyrics lyric npl [of song] → Text m were written in French by Adolphe-Basile Routhier Sir Adolphe-Basile Routhier (May 8, 1839 – June 27, 1920) was a Canadian judge, author, and lyricist. He wrote the lyrics of the original French version of the Canadian national anthem O Canada. in Quebec City. It was originally called Chant Nationale and was first performed at a banquet in Quebec City on 24 June 1880. O Canada was not heard in English until the early 1900s and there have been several English translations of it. The official English version of the anthem is based on a translation of 1908 by Robert Stanley Weir Robert Stanley Weir, , (November 15, 1856 – August 20, 1926) was a Montreal, Quebec judge and poet most famous for writing the English lyrics to O Canada, the national anthem of Canada. . In 1970, 80% of the senior management positions in Quebec companies were held by anglophones, who made up just 15% of the province's population. Nine out of ten immigrants to Quebec sent their children to English-language schools. |
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