Foreign Rights

One of the Quebec sovereigntist movement’s most eloquent champions, Pierre Bourgault (1934-2003) was also a columnsit, an activist, a professor, a fighter. He powerfully embodies the social and political history of Quebec. From his childhood in the Eastern Townships, to his teenage years at the St-Jean de Bréfeuf College, from his parisian excursion to his political career, he has proved to be a spirit of his own, a complex figure who has left a mark on Quebec’s 20th century. His life and deeds are told in this brilliant biography written after years of thorough research which presents a man in all his contradictions and unique character.

During the 1930s, when the misery of hunger, unemployment and the threat of war shadowed life for many, Canadians were drawn to a wide range of new political ideas. Communism, socialism, but also Fascist ideas appealed to some. Out of these circumstances emerged a Canadian fascist party led by a Montreal journalist, Adrien Arcand who became a significant part of the political scene through most of the 1930s. Once Canada declared war on Germany and Italy, Arcand was imprisoned for his political views. Yet after the war he resumed his activities as leader of the far-right National Unity Party, and forged ties to Quebec’s provincial government of Maurice Duplessis during the 1950s and 1960s. Although Canadian historians have paid little attention to Arcand, he played an important role in the country’s political life for many years. This fascinating biography sheds light on a man and an era that have been hidden in the shadows for too long.