"Rapprocher Les Lieux Du Pouvoir": The Quebec Labour Movement and Quebec Sovereigntism, 1960-2000‪.‬

IN RECENT YEARS the Quebec labour movement has undertaken great efforts to advocate the idea of a sovereign Quebec nation state. Having made the promotion of sovereignty a keystone in their respective political action programs in 1990, the province's three major labour union centrals, the Federation des travailleurs et travailleuses du Quebec (FTQ), the Confederation des syndicats nationaux (CSN), and the Centrale des syndicats du Quebec (CSQ), actively campaigned for a "yes" in the 1995 referendum on sovereignty. Even after the sovereigntist option had been defeated in the referendum, the three centrals reiterated their commitment to propagating sovereignty. However, Quebec labour's recent policy stands in stark contrast to its initial reaction to the rise of sovereigntism. During the first half of the 1960s, when modern sovereigntism first emerged, the three centrals defended Canadian unity. During the second half of the 1960s and the 1970s this position gave way to an increasingly pro-sovereigntist orientation. It will be the purpose of this essay to trace and explain Quebec labour's sovereigntist turn. The Three Federations and the Emergence of Sovereigntism, 1960-1967