The Bloc populaire canadien was a political party in the Canadian province of Quebec founded on September 8, 1942 by opponents of conscription during World War II. In the April 27, 1942 national referendum held in Canada, a little more than 70% of Quebec voters refused to free the federal government from its promise to avoid a general mobilization, while about 80 per cent of the citizens of the rest of Canada accepted it.
In addition to opposing conscription, the party aimed to defend provincial autonomy and the acquired rights of French-Canadians. The party's motto was 'Le Canada aux Canadiens (non aux Britanniques) et le Qu bec aux Qu cois (non aux Canadiens anglais)' - Canada for Canadians (not for the British) and Quebec for Quebeckers (not for English Canadians).
At the provincial level, it was led by Andr Laurendeau and won four seats in the 1944 Quebec general election, but soon lost popularity. Laurendeau resigned in July 1947, and the party dissolved and did not participate in the 1948 general election.
At the federal level it was led by Maxime Raymond. Raymond had been a LiberalMember of Parliament since 1925, but had crossed the floor over the issue of conscription. Three additional Liberal MPs from Quebec, duard Lacroix, Pierre Gauthier and Joseph Emile Stanislas Emmanuel D'anjou, crossed the floor to sit as Bloc MPs.
The party nominated 35 candidates in the 1945 federal election but only two were elected as Members of Parliament. The Bloc did not contest the 1949 federal election bringing the party's existence to an end.
Blocpopulairecanadien, a Canadian federal and Québec provincial political movement formed September 1942 in reaction to the National Resources Mobilization Act, Amendment Act, 1942, which removed the existing ban on CONSCRIPTION for military service overseas.
Inspired by Henri BOURASSA and led by Maxime Raymond, MP, the Bloc included in its basic program Canadian independence and neutrality, provincial autonomy, English-French equality, a co-operative economy and family-based social reforms such as provincial health insurance.
Led provincially by André LAURENDEAU, the Bloc was a distinct third party in the Québec legislature until the 1948 provincial election, which it did not contest.
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