fbpx

KidsKonnect

Rene Levesque Facts & Worksheets

a Québécois politician, journalist, and nationalist

Search for Worksheets

Worksheets /People /Rene Levesque Facts & Worksheets
Premium
Not ready to purchase a subscription? Click to download the free sample version   Download sample

René Lévesque was a Québécois politician, journalist, and nationalist who was the premier of the Provincial Government of Quebec from 1976 to 1985.

See the fact file below for more information on René Lévesque or alternatively, you can download our 28-page René Lévesque worksheet pack to utilise within the classroom or home environment.

Key Facts & Information

Early Life & Education

  • Lévesque was born on August 24, 1922 in Campbellton, New Brunswick, Canada.
  • He was born to  Dominic Lévesque, a lawyer, and Diane Dionne.
  • He was raised in the coastal town of New Carlisle, Quebec, on the Gaspé Peninsula.
  • At a young age, René became aware of the socioeconomic differences between English Canadians and French Canadians; the former was of a higher class, had bigger homes, and were richer.
  • Lévesque’s father introduced him to politics and raised him to be bilingual. 
  • Lévesque was fluent in English and French.
  • Lévesque was 14 years old when his father died.
  • His mother remarried shortly thereafter.
  • Upon relocating to Québec City, Lévesque alienated himself from his family.
  • Lévesque completed his primary education in New Carlisle and his classical education at the Jesuit Collège de Gaspé and the Collège Saint-Charles-Garnier in Quebec City.
  • In the fall of 1941, he enrolled in law school at Laval University, but was not able to earn a degree.

Career as a Journalist

  • He took up a job in radio journalism in 1938 and worked at CBV, a regional Radio-Canada station in Quebec.
  • When the Second World War began, Lévesque wanted to be a war correspondent. However, Radio-Canada refused to send him.
  • Still, in 1944, Lévesque found a position as a war correspondent attached to the US Forces.
  • As a liaison officer and war correspondent, he joined the US Army in Europe in February 1945.
  • He was among the first US war correspondents to see the horrific Dachau concentration camp after its liberation.
  • After the war, Lévesque returned to Quebec and became a reporter for the international service of the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation in 1946.
  • In 1952, he became a war correspondent for the CBC in the Korean War.
  • Upon his return from Korea, he co-produced the program Carrefour (which means “Crossroads”) on Radio-Canada.
  • From 1956 to 1959, he became a famous newsman in Quebec for hosting a popular weekly news program on Radio-Canada called Point de Mire (which means “Focal Point”).
  • In 1959, he led a campaign for establishing of a union for the producers of Radio-Canada.
  • Because of the campaign, he was arrested during a demonstration, along with union leader Jean Marchand and 24 demonstrators.
  • Despite receiving an offer for a journalism career in the United States, Lévesque chose to stay in Canada and continue as a devoted neo-nationalist.

Career in Politics

  • In 1960, Lévesque entered politics, joining the Quebec Liberal Party of Jean Lesage. 
  • After the Quebec Liberal Party defeated the long-established Union Nationale Party in June 1960, Lévesque immediately became one of the prominent figures in Quebec’s Quiet Revolution.
  • Quebec’s Quiet Revolution marked a period of radical sociopolitical change in the province.
  • From 1960 to 1961, Lévesque served as  minister of public works and hydraulic resources.
  • He led the campaign which resulted in the nationalization of Quebec’s private hydro-electric companies by 1964.
  • Consequently, Hydro-Québec become the biggest and most successful manufacturer and distributor of electricity in North America.
  • From 1965 to 1966, the last years of the Lesage government, Lévesque served as minister of family and social welfare.
  • More importantly, he became known as the most vocal critic of the existing Canadian constitution. 
  • He advocated for granting “associate-state” status for Quebec.
  • Even for the Liberal Party, Lévesque’s views were becoming too radical.

Parti Québécois

  • In 1966, following the Liberal Party’s defeat, he left and established the Mouvement Souveraineté-Association (MSA) in November 1967.
  • In October 1968, the MSA merged with other separatist groups and formed the left-wing party Parti Québéçois.
  • Lévesque served as the party’s first president. 
  • The party did not win the 1970 and 1973 elections, which resulted in Lévesque returning to journalism to a certain extent.
  • In 1976, Parti Québéçois won control of the provincial National Assembly.

Premier of Quebec

  • On November 25, 1976, he was seated as the premier of Quebec. 
  • He was reelected premier in April 1981.
  • The Parti Québécois government pursued the concept called “sovereignty-association” for Quebec, which would allow Quebec to establish its own laws, independently collect taxes, and expand its international relations.
  • The was rejected by 59.6 percent of the Quebec electorate in a popular-referendum vote on May 20, 1980.

Personal Life

  • In 1947, he married Louise L’Heureux.
  • The couple had two sons and one daughter.
  • Lévesque smoked cigarettes for most his life.. 
  • In June 1985, Lévesque resigned from his position as leader of the Parti Québécois and premier of Quebec, mostly because of poor health.
  • On November 1, 1987, he died of a heart attack.
  • Lévesque remains a nationalistic hero for many Québécois.

Rene Levesque Worksheets

This is a fantastic bundle that includes everything you need to know about René Lévesque across 28 in-depth pages. These are ready-to-use René Lévesque worksheets that are perfect for teaching students about René Lévesque who was a Québécois politician, journalist, and nationalist and the premier of the Provincial Government of Quebec from 1976 to 1985.

Complete List Of Included Worksheets

  • Rene Levesque Facts
  • Brief Biography
  • Levesque Word Search
  • Career Timeline
  • Factual or Fake?
  • Quebec’s Sovereignty
  • Understanding Neo-Nationalism
  • About Courage
  • Being a Leader
  • Taking on His Task
  • Guided Poem Writing

Link/cite this page

If you reference any of the content on this page on your own website, please use the code below to cite this page as the original source.

Link will appear as Rene Levesque Facts & Worksheets: https://kidskonnect.com - KidsKonnect, July 30, 2021

Use With Any Curriculum

These worksheets have been specifically designed for use with any international curriculum. You can use these worksheets as-is, or edit them using Google Slides to make them more specific to your own student ability levels and curriculum standards.

Related Resources