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For other political parties of the same name, see Union Nationale.

Union Nationale
Former Provincial Party
Founded	1935
Dissolved	June 19, 1989
Notable leaders	Maurice Duplessis Paul Sauvé Antonio Barrette Daniel Johnson, Sr. J.-Jacques Bertrand Rodrigue Biron
Political ideology	Quebec Nationalism, Conservatism
International alignment	None
Colours	Blue

The Union Nationale was a political party in Quebec, Canada, that identified with conservative French-Canadian nationalism. It held power in Quebec from 1936 to 1939, uninterrupted from 1944 to 1960 under the leadership of Premier Maurice Duplessis, and from 1966 to 1970.

Contents 1 Rise to power 2 Decline 3 Deregistration 4 Leaders 5 Notes 6 See also 7 External links

The party was created when a group of nationalist Liberals who had quit the Parti libéral du Québec in 1934 to form the Action libérale nationale (ALN) joined with the Parti conservateur du Québec (Conservative Party, led by Duplessis), to form the Union Nationale. Because the Union Nationale, was launched only two weeks before the election, the ALN and Conservatives ran separately in the 1935 Quebec election but did not compete against each other. The ALN won 25 seats and the Conservatives won 17.

Although the ALN had won a larger share of the vote and more seats than Duplessis's Conservatives in 1935, it was Duplessis who took the leadership of the UN and dominated it. Although ALN leader Paul Gouin had a falling out with Duplessis and withdrew his support, most members of the ALN caucus sided with Duplessis, and the new Union Nationale party was formally created to run in the 1936 election, which it won.

The Union Nationale was strongly aligned with the clergy in the province, and dominated Quebec politics during the Duplessis years using repressive measures such as the Padlock Law to suppress opposition particularly the trade unions and Jehovah's Witnesses.

The victory of Jean Lesage's Liberals in the 1960 election ushered in the Quiet Revolution. While the Union Nationale won power once more in 1966 under Daniel Johnson, the province had changed irrevocably. The party was not able to modernize itself and adapt to the changes in Quebec society.

The party collapsed in the years following the death of Johnson in 1968. Johnson's successor Jean-Jacques Bertrand was unable to inspire voters, and his party was decisively defeated in the 1970 election. It won no seats in the National Assembly of Quebec in the 1973 election, despite collecting 5% of the popular vote.

From October 25, 1971 to January 14, 1973, the party was known as Unité Québec.

In 1974, former UN MNA and party veteran Maurice Bellemare won a by-election, and the party once again had a member in the National Assembly.

Bellemare had tried to flush out potential candidates for the leadership of the UN (such as former Liberal cabinet minister Jérôme Choquette) by calling a leadership convention for May 1976, but was unsuccessful.^[1] Only Rodrigue Biron and Jacques Tetrault became candidates. Biron, who was manager of his family’s sewer pipe factory in Sainte-Croix de Lôtbinière, was elected leader despite being a neophyte at the provincial level, and having been a member of the Liberal Party of Quebec until a few weeks before the convention.

Biron's impulsive policy statements and poor relations with the old guard of the party had led to resignations of party officials, including Jacques Tetrault, his sole opponent for the party leadership.^[2]

On May 31, 1975, the party merged with the tiny Parti présidentiel, led by Yvon Brochu, under the Union Nationale name.

In August 1976, the UN and the Parti nationale populaire party, led by Jérôme Choquette, announced the merger of their two parties, but the idea was abandoned by the Union Nationale one month later.^[3] (See Parti nationale populaire article for more information.)

Although the Union Nationale made a modest recovery in the 1976 election, winning 11 seats and 18.2% of the popular vote, it never won another seat in any subsequent election. Mounting demands for Quebec's independence from Canada had resulted in the nationalist vote moving towards the new separatist Parti Québécois, winner of the 1976 election.

On March 3, 1980, leader Rodrigue Biron quit the party to sit as an independent, and joined the Parti Québécois on November 11. He was replaced as leader by Michel Lemoignan (Gaspé).

On January 9, 1981, federal Progressive Conservative Member of Parliament (MP) Roch LaSalle was acclaimed leader of the Union Nationale. Following his failure to win election to the National Assembly, he resigned as leader, and returned to federal Parliament as a PC MP by winning a federal by-election that was called as a result of his resignation.

On June 19, 1989, Pierre F. Côté, the Director General of Elections for the Province of Quebec, withdrew the party's registration, bringing an end to the party after more than 50 years as a political force in the province. As a result of this decision, it was no longer able to receive contributions or make expenditures. The next day, the interim leader of the party, Michel Lebrun, told a reporter that he would contest the decision before the Quebec Superior Court, arguing that the decision was unfair, and a violation of both the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms and the Quebec Charter of Rights and Freedoms. It was the first time in Quebec that a party had lost its official status as a result of its debts.^[4]

Although an attempt was made to revive the Union Nationale in 1999, the party no longer exists.

Although the Quebec Liberal Party steadfastly co-opted the conservative vote since the early 1970s and is led since 1998 by Jean Charest, former cabinet minister of the Conservative federal Mulroney government (1984-1994) and subsequently leader of the federal Progressive Conservative Party (1994-1998), the demise of the Union Nationale left Quebec without a major conservative right-leaning party until the rise of the Action démocratique du Québec, which some observers note has attracted a similar voter profile.

• Maurice Duplessis (1935-1959) (premier 1936-1939, 1944-1959)
• Paul Sauvé (1959-1960) (premier 1959-1960)
• Antonio Barrette (1960) (premier 1960)
• Yves Prévost (interim) (1960-1961)
• Antonio Talbot (interim) (1961)
• Daniel Johnson, Sr. (1961-1968) (premier 1966-1968)
• Jean-Jacques Bertrand (1968-1971) (premier 1968-1970)
• Gabriel Loubier (1971-1974)
• Maurice Bellemare (parliamentary Leader) (1974-1976)
• Rodrigue Biron (1976-1980)
• Michel Lemoignan (interim) (1980 - 1981)
• Roch LaSalle (1981)
• Jean-Marc Béliveau (1982-1985)
• André Léveillé (1985-1986)
• Paul Poulin (1986-1987)
• Michel Lebrun (1987-1989)

1. ^ Montreal Gazette, “UN’s Bellemare lets Choquette do the dirty work”, 7 August 1976
2. ^ Montreal Gazette, “PNP, UN to join forces”, 4 August 1976, p.1
3. ^ Montreal Gazette, “PNP, UN to join forces”, 4 August 1976, p.1
4. ^ Radio-Canada archives

• Unité-Québec
• Parti conservateur du Québec
• Politics of Quebec
• List of Quebec general elections
• List of Quebec premiers
• List of Quebec leaders of the Opposition
• National Assembly of Quebec
• Timeline of Quebec history
• Political parties in Quebec

• National Assembly historical information
• La Politique québécoise sur le Web