Charles de Gaulle's infamous 'Vive le Qubec libre' speech feted, 50 years on

It has been 50 years since four wordsuttered by then French President Charles de Gaullegave an internationalvoice to Quebec'sburgeoning sovereignist movement and causeda diplomatic incident.

There are a host of events planned across the province to mark July 24, 1967, the dayde Gaulle stoodon a balcony at Montreal cityhall and shouted"Vive leQubeclibre!" to a crowd gathered below.

Prime Minister Lester B. Pearson criticized thespeech, saying deGaulle's"statements were unacceptable to the Canadian people." The French presidentskipped his planned events in Ottawa and returned to France early.

Relations between the two countriesremained touchy for years,but the speech left a mark on Quebec society, where the impact of deGaulle'swords lingers.

'A feeling of pride'

The Mouvement national des Qubcoises et Qubcois, a federation of groups that promote French language and culture, is holding a banquet at theChteauFrontenacin Quebec City, a callback to a dinner held there during deGaulle'strip.

The federation's president,MartineDesjardins,said deGaulle'svisit and his comments gaveQuebecersa "feeling of pride."

"For the first time, Quebec was cited and recognized on the international scene," she said.

Earlier this spring, the Socit Saint-Jean Baptiste de Montreal (SSJB) had to scale back plans to recreate de Gaulle's speech on the famous balcony after a spokesperson for Montreal MayorDenis Coderresaid city hall is "neutral and apolitical."

• Montreal nixes sovereignist group's plan to mark Charles de Gaulle's 'Vive le Quebec libre!" speech

Nevertheless, the cityis holding its own celebration to mark de Gaulle'sspeechby opening the balcony to the public Monday and offering tours in French and English.

It is also hosting an exhibition of archival documents andphotos marking deGaulle's1960 and 1967 visits.

Sovereignist movement grows

One notable person who was inspired by de Gaulle's remarks was RenLvesque, then a high-rankingLiberal member of Quebec's National Assembly.

He wrote a letterto then Premier JeanLesagenot long after thevisit,saying deGaulle'smessage had provided a "formidable injection of pride," the "bestoccasionwe've ever had to break our isolation."

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In November 1967, Lvesque quit the Liberals to pursue his goal of sovereignty. He started the Mouvement souverainet-association (MSA) and merged it with another nationalist party the following yearto form the Parti Qubcois.

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Lvesquevaulted the PQ to power in 1976, winning 71 seats out of 110. Since then, there have beentwo referendums, with the second putting Canada on the brink of breaking up.

But in the most recent provincial election, just the idea of an independent Quebec was enough to cause serious trouble for the PQ.

Observers have argued that the infamous Pierre Karl Pladeaufist pump, when he declared he wanted to make Quebec a country,stirred a referendum threat that may have cost then-leader Pauline Marois the 2014 election.

The Liberals, led by Philippe Couillard, won a majority government. Marois stepped down as leader, beginning a period of tumult for the party.