chicot60
06-02-2015, 11:36 AM
One of Canada’s most controversial politicians of the 20th century has died.
The wife of former Quebec premier Jacques Parizeau says the longtime Quebec sovereigntist icon died Monday night following a five month battle with an undisclosed illness.
Lisette Lapointe says the 84-year-old passed away surrounded by loved ones. The longtime Quebec politician became PQ leader in 1988 and was elected premier in 1994.
Lapointe made the announcement on her Facebook page.
“Immense grief tonight,” Lapointe wrote. “The man of my life has gone….He was surrounded by love. After a titanic fight, hospitalized for five months, facing challenges one after the other with extraordinary courage and determination, he passed away…We are devastated. We love him and will love him forever.”
Parizeau was Quebec’s premier during the 1995 provincial referendum which saw the federalist No side narrowly defeat the sovereigntists in a bitter campaign. The result was much closer than in 1980, but the PQ government still failed to secure a majority of votes in favour of sovereignty.
In a speech to supporters the night of the referendum, Parizeau blamed the Yes side’s loss on “money and the ethnic vote.”
That speech, and the referendum, effectively ended his political career. Parizeau was replaced by Lucien Bouchard as PQ leader and Quebec premier on January 29th, 1996.
Parizeau came from a prominent family in the upscale Montreal suburb of Outremont. His grandfather was the head of the Quebec Chamber of Notaries and his father was a historian and author as well as the president of an insurance company.
Parizeau leaves behind two children, Isabelle, a lawyer, and Bernard, a doctor. His first wife, Alice Poznanska, a Polish-born novelist, died in 1990. He married Lapointe, a former aide in 1992. Lapointe started a political career of her own in 2007 when she was elected as the MNA for Crémazie, a riding in which Parizeau had run and been defeated more than three decades before.
Since quitting politics, Parizeau busied himself with his vineyard and being the occasional thorn in the side of PQ premiers, popping up occasionally to criticize their inaction on sovereignty.
In an hour-long interview with Radio-Canada in February 2015, Parizeau said it would be up to the next generation to decide about Quebec sovereignty.
“It’s clear that what my generation had to say has been said.”
http://www.am980.ca/2015/06/02/jacques-parizeau-dead/
The wife of former Quebec premier Jacques Parizeau says the longtime Quebec sovereigntist icon died Monday night following a five month battle with an undisclosed illness.
Lisette Lapointe says the 84-year-old passed away surrounded by loved ones. The longtime Quebec politician became PQ leader in 1988 and was elected premier in 1994.
Lapointe made the announcement on her Facebook page.
“Immense grief tonight,” Lapointe wrote. “The man of my life has gone….He was surrounded by love. After a titanic fight, hospitalized for five months, facing challenges one after the other with extraordinary courage and determination, he passed away…We are devastated. We love him and will love him forever.”
Parizeau was Quebec’s premier during the 1995 provincial referendum which saw the federalist No side narrowly defeat the sovereigntists in a bitter campaign. The result was much closer than in 1980, but the PQ government still failed to secure a majority of votes in favour of sovereignty.
In a speech to supporters the night of the referendum, Parizeau blamed the Yes side’s loss on “money and the ethnic vote.”
That speech, and the referendum, effectively ended his political career. Parizeau was replaced by Lucien Bouchard as PQ leader and Quebec premier on January 29th, 1996.
Parizeau came from a prominent family in the upscale Montreal suburb of Outremont. His grandfather was the head of the Quebec Chamber of Notaries and his father was a historian and author as well as the president of an insurance company.
Parizeau leaves behind two children, Isabelle, a lawyer, and Bernard, a doctor. His first wife, Alice Poznanska, a Polish-born novelist, died in 1990. He married Lapointe, a former aide in 1992. Lapointe started a political career of her own in 2007 when she was elected as the MNA for Crémazie, a riding in which Parizeau had run and been defeated more than three decades before.
Since quitting politics, Parizeau busied himself with his vineyard and being the occasional thorn in the side of PQ premiers, popping up occasionally to criticize their inaction on sovereignty.
In an hour-long interview with Radio-Canada in February 2015, Parizeau said it would be up to the next generation to decide about Quebec sovereignty.
“It’s clear that what my generation had to say has been said.”
http://www.am980.ca/2015/06/02/jacques-parizeau-dead/