Aren’t you fascinated, too, to see a gifted human being in action? This was the show to which René Lévesque invited us for decades. Not a contemptuous, haughty gifted, no, a human gifted, ready to make you understand the most complex situations and, my faith, to make you believe that you yourselves are very gifted to grasp them in your turn.
A poignant gift of speech, an outstanding orator and tribune who, on the television show focusat the end of the 1950s, explained to his audience the most tangled, the most complicated international conflicts, without ever losing him along the way.
A man of deep culture, with a precise knowledge of the French language, who could build you a political discourse addressing at the same time your intelligence, your heart and your soul. I remember an electrifying assembly at the Center Paul-Sauvé, I believe, in the last days of the 1970 election campaign, where we cheered on our hero for 12 minutes before he could speak.
The story goes that Mr. Lévesque was worried to see this enthusiasm turn into hysteria. Personally, I think it was collective therapy, because during those 12 long minutes of wild cheering, we carried a message of love intended for René Lévesque, but also, and above all, for ourselves. We could take charge of our own affairs, we were competent, intelligent, sensitive, it was about believing in our abilities like the man in front of us believed in us. In my heart, I still applaud!
It must be said that he had proven himself, our man. An incredible tour de force in 1962 to nationalize electricity against the entire establishment, the supporters of status quo with deep pockets. In 1967, by building a party without a hidden electoral fund, a big step towards a democratization of electoral mores. The politics of the Duplessist era, and the previous ones for that matter, fed the feeling that politics was something dirty, which would always remain so, which fed a strong feeling of powerlessness.
An example to follow
A man stood up, denounced it and implemented reforms to put an end to it. He had won the trust of hundreds of thousands of Quebecers, a very precious ingredient for rallying, motivating and pushing change towards sovereignty.
I believe that human beings need morality as much as they need bread and games. The probity, uprightness and moral conscience of René Lévesque were for many Quebecers an element of adherence to his project and an example to follow. […] We could change things, fight injustice, organize the unthinkable, be ourselves, be contributions to the world without waiting for winning circumstances.
Mr. Lévesque was a great unifier, a great entrepreneur and a great motivator. Founding a party, surrounding yourself year after year with talented and motivated colleagues ready to work hard for the cause, even if the expected results are delayed. Convincing a people that their destiny is theirs is a titanic task strewn with pitfalls.
Faced with attempts to destabilize the sovereigntist movement during the events of October 1970, he condemned violence in all its forms, both that of the FLQ and that of the federal government, thereby demonstrating his good judgment and his fair reading of political and political realities. social.
His logical, implacable thinking knew how to dismantle the perverse mechanisms of the Canadian federation. As he said himself, a “madhouse” in which the duplication of departments, contradictory visions of development and bickering over areas of jurisdiction have made, are making (and will continue to make) Canada a toxic political entity for Quebecers.
He was able to make us dream of a better world, give us hope for political liberation at the service of all, give us the necessary impetus so that each of us can contribute to the advancement of democracy and of Justice. His word linked to his actions led us to be better, more committed, more aware of power games.
He awakened us to the importance of knowledge, to the need to take ourselves in hand by devoting our lives to our collective well-being. René Lévesque is a national hero who deserves to be enthroned and studied as such in our schools.