Word: bourassa
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...often happens in Canadian politics, Quebec provided the decisive margin last week. The Conservatives benefited, of course, from the fact that Mulroney is a native son, fluent in both English and locally accented French. The party also enjoyed the strong support of Quebec Premier Robert Bourassa, a Liberal but a believer in free trade and Quebec's prospects in a more open North American economy. Most important, Quebec's response reflected the degree to which the French-speaking province has become politically and culturally self-assured, apparently more confident than much of English Canada that its identity will...
...Canadians, could not hope to stand alone either politically or economically. Quebec voters said non to separation in a 1980 referendum. They repeated the message two years ago by turning against the nationalist Parti Quebecois long led by Rene Levesque and overwhelmingly electing a Liberal government headed by Robert Bourassa, 54, the same man they had ousted from office...
...passage of amendments recognizing it as a "distinct society," giving the provincial government increased power to preserve French-Canadian culture and allotting it the right to nominate three of the country's nine Supreme Court justices. "Quebec has won one of the greatest victories of her history," exulted Bourassa. His elation was shared by Canada's Conservative Prime Minister Brian Mulroney, himself a bilingual Quebecer, who could personally claim much of the credit for the deal that finally anchored the province in the Canadian confederation...
...early evening it was evident that a landslide was in the making. As Liberal Party faithful gathered to celebrate at Montreal's Centre Pierre Charbonneau, loudspeakers boomed What a Feeling, the stirring theme song from the movie Flashdance. Liberal Party Chief Robert Bourassa, 52, took the microphone and, speaking in French, hailed his party's triumph as "a great victory for Canada." Switching to English, he pledged to "give back to Quebec the prosperity we had 15 years...
Liberal Boss Bourassa, who served as Quebec's Premier between 1970 and 1976, did not benefit from his party's prosperity: he was defeated in his home district. A colorless personality, Bourassa was frequently referred to in the Canadian press as "the most unpopular man in Quebec" because of the general perception that his previous administration was incompetent. Having thus lost his own seat in the provincial legislature, the Premier-elect will have to run his victorious party from the public gallery until a Liberal agrees to give up a "safe" seat that he can win in a by-election...