Daniel Johnson (father)

Biography

Born with Danville in Estrie in 1915, he is the son of Francis Johnson, an anglophone journalist of Irish ascent, and Marie-Adeline Daniel, Québécois. English like French is spoken at the house, but its education is done entirely in French.

He is elected provincial Député of Bagot on behalf of the National union at the time of a by-election in 1946. Re-elected at the time of the general elections of 1948, 1952 and 1956, he becomes Ministre for the Hydraulic resources the April 30th 1958, station which he preserves until the defeat of the National union in 1960.

In 1953, his wife is reached several balls by his/her lover, who wants that it leaves her husband. This one, a journalist of Radio-Canada named Bertrand Dussault, commits suicide then while turning over its weapon against him. Daniel Johnson introduced to her resignation to the Prime Minister Maurice Duplessis, who refused it and who used of all his influence to choke the business. In fact, only the newspaper the Press then brings back the event in a short net and without mentioning the complete name of the victim, which preserves the reputation of the deputy. The business is finally revealed only at the time of the publication of a biography unauthorized of the Famille Johnson signed by Benoît Gignac in January 2007

Re-elected in 1960, he became chief of the National union and chief of the Official opposition in 1961, thus succeeding Antonio Barrette (meanwhile the interim had been respectively assured by Yves Prévost and Antonio Talbot). The party had controlled Quebec under Maurice Duplessis of 1935 with 1939, with an interruption by the liberal government of Adélard Godbout before taking again the capacity in 1944 until its defeat in 1960 by the liberals of Jean Lesage. The defeat of the National union is seen like the beginning of the Quiet revolution, which sought to reverse the domination of the Québécois economy by the english-speaking as well as the role dominating of the Roman Catholic church in the Québécois company.

In 1962, under its control surface, the National union loses the general election started by Jean Lesage about his project of nationalization of electricity; it remains however appointed and chief of the Opposition. In 1965, it publishes one entitled book “Equality or independence”, in which it exposes its doctrines concerning the Constitution of Canada and the future of Quebec in the Canadian Confédération; this book made of him the first chief of a Québécois political party recognize the possibility of the independence of Quebec. Its position on the question was ambiguous: such as he writes it in the book, its position was “independence so necessary, but not necessarily independence” (a reference to the famous quotation of the Canadian Prime Minister Mackenzie King concerning the conscription during the Second world war).

To the general surprise, under this same slogan (Equality or independence), Johnson leads the National union to the victory with the general election of 1966 (although its party obtained less votes than the liberal party, a majority of unionistic candidates is elected); Johnson is sworn in as Prime Minister the June 16th 1966. It accommodates the Général De Gaulle in 1967, which calls it “my friend Johnson”. It occupies its station until its death, which has occurred at the time of a visit to the building site of the stopping Manic 5 with which it will leave its name, the September 26th 1968. It is buried with the cemetery of Saint-Magpie-with-Bagot, chief town of the district which it represented. Two of its sons will occupy thereafter the function of Prime Minister for Quebec, that is to say Pierre Marc Parti Québécois in 1985, and Daniel of the Liberal party of Quebec for 9 months in 1994.

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