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Anne Dorval, actress, show host and dubbing artist (born 8 November 1960 in Rouyn-Noranda, QC). Known for her acting abilities and for her irresistible humour during public appearances, she has been in some thirty theatre plays, approximately twenty television series and made-for-television movies, and over ten feature films, including some produced by Xavier Dolan and for which she has won many performance awards. She has also lent her voice to dubbing for almost 80 characters in motion pictures and animated films.

The Quiet Revolution (Révolution tranquille) was a time of rapid change experienced in Québec during the 1960s. This vivid yet paradoxical description of the period was first used by an anonymous writer in The Globe and Mail.

The Québec referendum of 1980, on the Parti Québécois government’s plans for sovereignty-association, was held in fulfilment of a promise that the party had made to do so, during the 1976 election campaign that brought it to power. In this referendum, the government asked the people of Québec to give it a mandate to “negotiate a new constitutional agreement with the rest of Canada, based on the equality of nations.” When the votes were counted, nearly 60% of Quebecers had voted against this plan, and it was thereby rejected. If the “Yes” side had won, the results of the negotiations would have been submitted to a second referendum. The 1980 referendum was followed by constitutional negotiations that have left an indelible mark on the Canadian political scene.

Held on 30 October 1995, the referendum on Québec sovereignty was settled by a narrow victory for the “No” camp — as had been the case in the 1980 referendum.

The Quebec of the 1960s was synonymous with the Quiet Revolution. The mandate of the Liberal government led by Jean Lesage, which began with the election on 22 June 1960, marked a period of significant reforms. Political, economical, social, cultural — these reforms had major repercussions on the people of Quebec and drastically changed the lives of women. With the creation of a Ministry of Education, women obtained the same right to higher education as men. Additionally, Bill 16 conferred in principle full legal capacity to married women. The reformist spirit was also at work within the Union Nationale governments of Daniel Johnson, Sr., from 1966 to 1968 and Jean-Jacques Bertrand from 1968 to 1970. Finally, it was during the Quiet Revolution that women in Quebec began to use contraceptive pills to control their fertility, entered the workforce in large numbers and demanded maternity leave as well as the right to equality with men in all areas of public life.

Sherbrooke, Quebec, incorporated as a city in 1852, population 161,323 (2016 census), 154, 601 (2011 census). Located 147 km east of Montreal, Sherbrooke is the principal city of the Eastern Townships. Situated in the heart of a region of lakes and mountains near Mont-Orford provincial park, it was for many years a commercial, industrial and railway centre. During the 1960s it also became a service centre. Sherbrooke is home to the region’s Catholic archdiocese and headquarters of the judicial district of Saint-François.

Separatism refers to the advocacy of separation or secession by a group or people from a larger political unit to which it belongs. In modern times, separatism has frequently been identified with a desire for freedom from perceived colonial oppression.

Marcelle Ferron, OQ, artist (born 29 January 1924 in Louiseville, QC; died 18 November 2001 in Montreal). Marcelle Ferron was an active participant in Les Automatistes, led by Paul-Émile Borduas. She pursued an innovative artistic career including noteworthy public art works in stained glass. She was made a Knight of the National Order of Québec in 1985 and was promoted to Grand Officer in 2000. She was the sister of writers Jacques Ferron and Madeleine Ferron.

Samuel de Champlain, cartographer, explorer, colonial administrator (born circa 1567 in Brouage, France; died 25 December 1635 in Québec City). Champlain played a major role in founding New France from 1603 to 1635.

Canada’s second deadliest road disaster was a single-vehicle bus crash that killed 40 people near Eastman, Quebec on 4 August 1978.

Thetford Mines, Quebec, incorporated as a city in 1905, population 16,174 (2016 census), 16,440 (2011 census). The city of Thetford Mines is located on the Bécancour River in the Appalachian Mountains, 107 km south of Quebec City. It was named after the town of Thetford in Norfolk, England. During the 20th century, it was one of the world’s largest asbestos mining and production centres.

Laval, Quebec, incorporated as a city in 1965, population 422,993 (2016 census), 401,553 (2011 census). Laval was formed by the merger of 14 municipalities: Chomedey, Duvernay, Laval-des-Rapides, Laval-Ouest, Pont-Viau, Sainte-Rose, Auteuil, Fabreville, Îles-Laval, Laval-sur-le-lac, Sainte-Dorothée, Saint-François, Saint-Vincent-de-Paul and Vimont. Laval is the third largest city in Quebec. It is located on Île Jésus, north of Île de Montréal. Laval is separated from Île de Montréal by the Rivière des Prairies and from the mainland to the north by the Rivière des Mille Îles. The city is named after François de Laval, the first Roman Catholic bishop of Quebec (1674-88) and onetime seigneur (1675-80) of Île Jésus.

Yves-François Blanchet (born 16 April 1965) is leader of the Bloc Québécois, a federal political party that promotes Quebec’s interests and Quebec sovereignty in the House of Commons.

Tadoussac, Quebec, incorporated as a village in 1899, population 799 (2016 census), 813 (2011 census). Tadoussac is located at the confluence of the Saguenay and St. Lawrence rivers, 210 km northeast of Quebec City. In the Innu language, Totouskak means "breasts," a reference to the rounded hills found near the village.

In 1971, Hydro-Québec and the Québec government initiated the James Bay Project, a monumental hydroelectric-power development on the east coast of James Bay. Over the course of two phases they built a total of eight generating stations, allowing for the pollution-free production of a significant portion of Québec's electricity. However, the projects also profoundly disrupted the environment and the Indigenous communities living in the region, the effects of which are still felt today.

Montreal, Quebec, incorporated as a city in 1832, population 1,704,694 (2016 c), 1,649,519 (2011 c). Montreal is Canada’s second largest city and is home to nearly half of the province of Quebec’s population. It is the metropolis of the province and was the most populous city in Canada for a century and a half. It is located in southwestern Quebec on Île de Montreal at the confluence of the St. Lawrence and Ottawa rivers. Montreal is a major industrial centre, commercial and financial metropolis, railway and maritime bridgehead, and one of the centres of francophone culture in North America. It is one of the world's great cities and enjoys international acclaim.

Quebec is the largest province in Canada. Its territory represents 15.5 per cent of the surface area of Canada and totals more than 1.5 million km2. Quebec shares borders with Ontario, New Brunswick and Newfoundland. The province also neighbours on four American states: Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont and New York. The name Quebec was inspired by an Algonquian word meaning “where the river narrows.” The French in New France used it solely to refer to the city of Quebec. The British were the first to use the name in a broader sense.

The Charlottetown Accord of 1992 was a failed, joint attempt by the government of Prime Minister Brian Mulroney and all 10 provincial premiers to amend the Canadian Constitution, specifically to obtain Quebec's consent to the Constitution Act of 1982.

French fishermen, settlers, fur traders, missionaries and colonial agents were among the earliest Europeans to have sustained contact with ​Indigenous peoples in what is now Canada and North America. The relationship between French and Indigenous people of the Eastern Woodlands in the early colonial period was complex and interdependent. France saw Indigenous nations as allies, and relied on them for survival and fur trade wealth. Indigenous people traded for European goods, established military alliances and hostilities, intermarried, sometimes converted to Christianity, and participated politically in the governance of New France. With the transfer of New France to Britain in 1763, diplomatic relations between the French and Indigenous people in Canada ceased. Naturally, social and economic interaction between the European and Indigenous inhabitants of New France continued.

In 1987 the Progressive Conservative government of Prime Minister Brian Mulroney attempted to win Québec's consent to the revised Canadian Constitution — following the Québec government's rejection of it in 1981.