Je me permets, si vous le voulez bien, de prendre quelques minutes de votre temps afin de vous demander de m'aider un peu. J'ai un oral qui compte pour 25% de ma session, en anglais de surcroît, à propos d'un homme qui m'a grandement inspiré. Après avoir longuement hésité entre Mike Tyson et Bryan Fogarty, j'ai finalement choisi René Lévesque. Je l'ai découvert plus en détail dans la dernière semaine seulement, et j'aimerais vous demander si vous pouvez lire ce texte et me donner vos commentaires, sur la pertinence de mes informations et s'il y a autre chose d'important sur l'homme ou le politicien que je n'ai pas mentionné. L'anglais est quelque peu torturé, mais ce n'est pas très grave; je peux toujours blâmer ma prononciation. 
Je sais que ce n'est pas particulièrement dans le sujet d'EU; j'te laisse libre de le déplacer où tu veux ou de l'effacer, Surcouf, mais laisse moi quelques heures, siou plait.
'It’s somewhat hard and unfair to talk in English about a man who dedicated his life to the promotion of the French Canadian culture and language. His life can be directly associated with the development of the development of the separatist movement in Quebec and the apparition of the province on the international scene. René Lévesque, who lived from 1922 to 1987, is now an emblematic figure of our history, along with such glorious names as Jacques Cartier, Samuel de Champlain, Louis-Joseph Papineau and Maurice Duplessis.
In a small village named New Carlisle situated in the Gaspésie, the August 24, 1922, came into the world the son of Dominique Lévesque and Diane Dionne; René. He was soon initiated to the communication world, and occupied is first job in a local radio at 14 years old. He moved to Quebec in 1937 after his father’s death, where he studied at the College St-Charles-Garnier and the Laval University. He soon engaged himself in the American army as a war correspondent during the Second World War, in 1944 and 1945. At the end of the war, he worked at Radio-Canada, from 1945 to 1959, except for a short period of time during which he worked as a war correspondent during the Korean War. He animated many shows, but really became famous only with Point de mire, that went into the airs from 1956 to 1959. He then entered politics as a minister for Jean Lesage, during what is today called the “Révolution tranquille”. His aggressive leadership led to the nationalization of the electricity, under the name Hydro-Québec. After leaving the Liberal Party because it wouldn’t consider the independence of Quebec, he was named president of the newly founded Parti Québécois, that he led to success in November 1976. He told after his victory: “I’ve never been so proud of being a Québécois.”
M. Lévesque has been Quebec’s Prime minister during more than 8 years, during which he adopted an amazing number of laws. In 1977, he created the Law 101 in order to preserve French amongst French Canadians. He also created car insurance, made many social measures and broke with the Duplessis methods by adopting a law supervising political parties funding, in order to prevent corruption and patronage. He even organized a referendum, asking the population about its desire to create a new nation. Unhappily, he has been defeated, but handled the situation with serenity and class by declaring: ”If I understand you, you’re telling me, see you next time!”. He remained Prime minister until 1985, when a dissension between members of the Parti Québécois led to his demission. He published an autobiography, named “Attendez que je me rappelled…”, that became instantly a best-seller.
Whether we agree or not with Quebec’s sovereignty, we have to admire René Lévesque’s achievements. While the separatist movement was in the ‘60s very violent (who hasn’t heard about the FLQ?), he founded a democratic party and insisted to hold a referendum on sovereignty rather than simply imposing it. If he hadn’t done that, the Quebec would probably be independent by now, but Lévesque was really impregnated by democratic ideals and wanted the population to have the last word. He was a fervent nationalist, who held sacred our culture; the catch-phrases “Maîtres chez nous (Masters in our land)” and “Les Québécois doivent cesser d’être des étrangers chez eux (Quebeckers have to stop feeling away in their own country)” are really representative of his ambitions. M. Lévesque was an honest man, fighting for a cause larger than his own life. When he entered the politic world in the 60’s, French Canadians were used as cheap labor and overwhelmed by English power; 25 years later, they were a proud and dynamic people. This is, in a large part, because of the major contribution of René Lévesque.'
Merci... et désolé pour le dérangement.
Je sais que ce n'est pas particulièrement dans le sujet d'EU; j'te laisse libre de le déplacer où tu veux ou de l'effacer, Surcouf, mais laisse moi quelques heures, siou plait.'It’s somewhat hard and unfair to talk in English about a man who dedicated his life to the promotion of the French Canadian culture and language. His life can be directly associated with the development of the development of the separatist movement in Quebec and the apparition of the province on the international scene. René Lévesque, who lived from 1922 to 1987, is now an emblematic figure of our history, along with such glorious names as Jacques Cartier, Samuel de Champlain, Louis-Joseph Papineau and Maurice Duplessis.
In a small village named New Carlisle situated in the Gaspésie, the August 24, 1922, came into the world the son of Dominique Lévesque and Diane Dionne; René. He was soon initiated to the communication world, and occupied is first job in a local radio at 14 years old. He moved to Quebec in 1937 after his father’s death, where he studied at the College St-Charles-Garnier and the Laval University. He soon engaged himself in the American army as a war correspondent during the Second World War, in 1944 and 1945. At the end of the war, he worked at Radio-Canada, from 1945 to 1959, except for a short period of time during which he worked as a war correspondent during the Korean War. He animated many shows, but really became famous only with Point de mire, that went into the airs from 1956 to 1959. He then entered politics as a minister for Jean Lesage, during what is today called the “Révolution tranquille”. His aggressive leadership led to the nationalization of the electricity, under the name Hydro-Québec. After leaving the Liberal Party because it wouldn’t consider the independence of Quebec, he was named president of the newly founded Parti Québécois, that he led to success in November 1976. He told after his victory: “I’ve never been so proud of being a Québécois.”
M. Lévesque has been Quebec’s Prime minister during more than 8 years, during which he adopted an amazing number of laws. In 1977, he created the Law 101 in order to preserve French amongst French Canadians. He also created car insurance, made many social measures and broke with the Duplessis methods by adopting a law supervising political parties funding, in order to prevent corruption and patronage. He even organized a referendum, asking the population about its desire to create a new nation. Unhappily, he has been defeated, but handled the situation with serenity and class by declaring: ”If I understand you, you’re telling me, see you next time!”. He remained Prime minister until 1985, when a dissension between members of the Parti Québécois led to his demission. He published an autobiography, named “Attendez que je me rappelled…”, that became instantly a best-seller.
Whether we agree or not with Quebec’s sovereignty, we have to admire René Lévesque’s achievements. While the separatist movement was in the ‘60s very violent (who hasn’t heard about the FLQ?), he founded a democratic party and insisted to hold a referendum on sovereignty rather than simply imposing it. If he hadn’t done that, the Quebec would probably be independent by now, but Lévesque was really impregnated by democratic ideals and wanted the population to have the last word. He was a fervent nationalist, who held sacred our culture; the catch-phrases “Maîtres chez nous (Masters in our land)” and “Les Québécois doivent cesser d’être des étrangers chez eux (Quebeckers have to stop feeling away in their own country)” are really representative of his ambitions. M. Lévesque was an honest man, fighting for a cause larger than his own life. When he entered the politic world in the 60’s, French Canadians were used as cheap labor and overwhelmed by English power; 25 years later, they were a proud and dynamic people. This is, in a large part, because of the major contribution of René Lévesque.'
Merci... et désolé pour le dérangement.
