View source for Maurice Duplessis

{{Short description|Premier of Quebec from 1936 to 1939 and 1944 to 1959}}
{{good article}}
{{Use Canadian English|date=November 2021}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=November 2023}}
{{Infobox officeholder
| honorific_prefix     = [[The Honourable]]
| honorific-suffix     = {{post-nominals|country=CAN|QC|size=100%}}
| image                = Duplessis 1947.jpg
| alt                  = Maurice Duplessis, a photography portrait from 1947.
| caption              = Duplessis in 1947
| order                = 16th
| office               = Premier of Quebec
| term_start           = August 30, 1944
| term_end             = September 7, 1959
| monarch              = {{ubl|[[George VI]]|[[Elizabeth II]]}}
| lieutenant_governor  = {{ubl|[[Eugène Fiset]]|[[Gaspard Fauteux]]|[[Onésime Gagnon]]}}
| predecessor          = [[Adélard Godbout]]
| successor            = [[Paul Sauvé]]
| term_start1          = August 26, 1936
| term_end1            = November 8, 1939
| monarch1             = {{ubl|[[Edward VIII]]|George VI}}
| lieutenant_governor1 = [[Ésioff-Léon Patenaude]]
| predecessor1         = Adélard Godbout
| successor1           = Adélard Godbout
| office2              = [[Attorney General of Quebec]]
| term_start2          = August 30, 1944
| term_end2            = September 7, 1959
| predecessor2         = [[Léon Casgrain]]
| successor2           = [[Antoine Rivard]]
| term_start3          = August 26, 1936
| term_end3            = November 8, 1939
| predecessor3         = [[Charles-Auguste Bertrand]]
| successor3           = [[Wilfrid Girouard]]
| office4              = [[Transports Québec|Minister of Roads of Quebec]]
| term_start4          = July 7, 1938
| term_end4            = November 30, 1938
| predecessor4         = [[François Leduc]]
| successor4           = [[Anatole Carignan]]
| office5              = [[Ministry of Energy and Natural Resources (Quebec)|Minister of Lands and Forests of Quebec]]
| term_start5          = February 23, 1937
| term_end5            = July 27, 1938
| predecessor5         = [[Oscar Drouin]]
| successor5           = [[John Samuel Bourque]]
| office6              = Member of the [[Legislative Assembly of Quebec]] for [[Trois-Rivières (provincial electoral district)|Trois-Rivières]]
| term_start6          = May 16, 1927
| term_end6            = September 7, 1959
| predecessor6         = [[Louis-Philippe Mercier]]
| successor6           = [[Yves Gabias]]
| office7              = [[Leader of the Official Opposition of Quebec]]
| term_start7          = November 8, 1939
| term_end7            = August 30, 1944
| predecessor7         = [[Télesphore-Damien Bouchard]]
| successor7           = Adélard Godbout
| term_start8          = November 7, 1932
| term_end8            = August 26, 1936
| predecessor8         = [[Charles Ernest Gault]]
| successor8           = Télesphore-Damien Bouchard
| office9              = 70th President of the [[Bar of Quebec]], {{interlanguage link|nobold=1|v=ib|Barreau de la Mauricie|lt=Bar of Trois-Rivières|fr}}
| term_start9          = 1937
| term_end9            = 1938
| predecessor9         = [[Lucien Moraud]]
| successor9           = {{Interlanguage link|v=ib|Paul Lacoste (lawyer)|lt=Paul Lacoste|fr|Paul Lacoste}}
| birth_name           = Maurice Le Noblet Duplessis{{efn|Baptized Joseph Maurice Stanislas Le Noblet Duplessis}}
| birth_date           = {{Birth date|1890|4|20|mf=y}}
| birth_place          = [[Trois-Rivières]], Quebec, Canada
| death_date           = {{nowrap|{{death date and age|1959|09|07|1890|04|20}}}}
| death_place          = [[Schefferville]], Quebec, Canada
| resting_place        = {{ill|v=ib|Cimetière Saint-Louis (Trois-Rivières)|lt=Saint-Louis Cemetery|fr}}, Trois-Rivières
| party                = [[Union Nationale (Quebec)|Union Nationale]]
| otherparty           = [[Conservative Party of Quebec (historical)|Conservative Party of Quebec]] (pre-1936)
| father               = [[Nérée Le Noblet Duplessis|Nérée Duplessis]]
| alma_mater           = [[Université de Montréal|Université Laval de Montréal]]
| profession           = Lawyer
| signature            = Signature de Maurice Duplessis.png
| nickname             = 
}}

'''Maurice Le Noblet Duplessis''', {{post-nominals|country=CAN|QC|size=100%}} ({{IPA|fr|mɔʁis lə nɔblɛ dyplɛsi}}; April 20, 1890 – September 7, 1959), [[byname]] "'''Le Chef'''" ({{IPA|fr|lə ʃɛf|}}, "The Boss"),{{efn|Sometimes rendered in French as "Cheuf" to reflect the particularities of pronunciation of [[Quebec French]]; see also {{linktext|cheuf|pref=wikt:fr}} on French Wiktionary}} was a Canadian lawyer and politician who served as the 16th [[premier of Quebec]]. A [[Conservatism in Canada|conservative]], [[Quebec nationalism|nationalist]], [[Populism in Canada|populist]], [[anti-communist]], [[Union busting|anti-unionist]] and fervent [[Catholic]], Duplessis and his party, the [[Union Nationale (Quebec)|Union Nationale]]'','' dominated [[Politics of Quebec|provincial politics]] from the 1920s to the 1950s. With a total of 18 years and 82 days in office, he remains the [[List of premiers of Quebec by time in office|longest-serving premier in Quebec history]].<ref name=":1">{{Cite book |last=Stevenson |first=Garth |title=Community besieged: the anglophone minority and the politics of Quebec |publisher=McGill-Queen's University Press |year=1999 |isbn=978-0-7735-6775-7 |location=Montreal |pages=47–48 |oclc=180704153}}</ref>

Son of [[Nérée Duplessis]], a lawyer who served as a [[Conservative Party of Quebec (historical)|Conservative]] member of the [[Legislative Assembly of Quebec|Legislative Assembly]] (MLA), Maurice studied law in Montreal and became a member of the [[Bar of Quebec]] in 1913. He then returned to his home town of [[Trois-Rivières]], where he founded a successful legal consultancy. Duplessis narrowly lost his first campaign for the [[Trois-Rivières (electoral district)|Trois-Rivières]] seat in the [[1923 Quebec general election|1923 election]], but managed to get elected [[1927 Quebec general election|in 1927]] as a Conservative MLA. His rhetorical skills helped him become the [[Leader of the Official Opposition (Quebec)|leader of the Official Opposition]] in the Legislative Assembly in 1933 in the place of [[Camillien Houde]]. As opposition leader, he agreed to a coalition with [[Paul Gouin]]'s [[Action libérale nationale]] (ALN), which they called the Union Nationale. It lost [[1935 Quebec general election|in 1935]] but gained a majority [[1936 Quebec general election|the following year]] as Gouin retired from politics and Duplessis took over the leadership, thus breaking almost 40 years of uninterrupted rule by the [[Quebec Liberal Party]]. In addition to his premiership duties, Duplessis served as [[Attorney General of Quebec|attorney general]] and briefly held other ministerial posts as well.

The first three years in government were difficult for Duplessis as the government struggled to respond to the ongoing hardships of the [[Great Depression]]. That term saw the introduction of several key welfare policies (such as the universal [[minimum wage]] and [[old-age pension]]s), but the effort to strengthen his rule by calling a [[1939 Quebec general election|snap election in 1939]] failed as his campaigning on the issue of [[World War II]] backfired and his government left the economy in a poor state. However, the [[Conscription Crisis of 1944]] propelled him back to power in [[1944 Quebec general election|that year's election]]. Duplessis then served as premier until his death. As was [[Post–World War II economic expansion|the general trend of the time]], he presided over a period of robust economic growth due to the rising demand in resources, which the province used to develop [[Côte-Nord]] and rural areas. Duplessis was a strong proponent of [[economic liberalism]] and implemented [[pro-business]] policies by keeping taxes low, refraining from regulation and adopting pro-employer labour policies, in particular by [[Opposition to trade unionism|cracking down on trade unions]]. "Le Chef" usually met the federal government's initiatives with strong resistance due to his convictions on [[Autonomism in Quebec|provincial autonomy]]. In the social domain, Duplessis maintained and protected the traditional role of the [[Catholic Church]] in Quebec's society, notably in healthcare and education. He was ruthless to the perceived enemies of the Church or of the Catholic nature of the province, [[Persecution of Jehovah's Witnesses in Canada|such as Jehovah's Witnesses]], whom he harassed using his government's apparatus. [[Communist]]s were persecuted under the [[Padlock Law]], which Duplessis authored in 1937.

Duplessis's legacy remains controversial more than 60 years after his death. Compared to the [[English-speaking Quebecers|Anglophones]], the [[French Canadians]] remained worse off in the province where they constituted a majority just as his government was courting Anglophone and out-of-province businessmen to invest. This [[clientelist]] relationship with the business spheres often morphed into outright corruption. "Le Chef"'s authoritarian inclinations, his all-powerful electoral machine, staunch conservatism and nationalism, a cozy relationship with the Catholic Church, the mistreatment of [[Duplessis Orphans]] and the apparent backwardness of his model of development were also subject of criticism. Thus his critics labelled the period the {{lang|fr|[[Grande Noirceur]]}} ({{gloss|Great Darkness}}), which stuck in Quebec's society in a large degree thanks to the efforts of those who led the [[Quiet Revolution]] in the 1960s. This was also the initial general opinion of historians and intellectuals, but since the 1990s, academics have revisited Duplessism and concluded instead that this assessment required nuancing and placement in the contemporary perspective and, in some cases, advocated outright rejection of that label.

==Biography==

=== Early life ===

==== Family ====
Maurice Le Noblet Duplessis was born on April 20, 1890, in [[Trois-Rivières]] to a religious family that was quite wealthy.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Vaugeois |first=Denis |date=October 23, 2010 |title=La Grande Noirceur inventée |url=https://www.lapresse.ca/opinions/201010/21/01-4334837-la-grande-noirceur-inventee.php |access-date=February 1, 2023 |website=La Presse |language=fr}}</ref> He was the second child and only son of [[Nérée Le Noblet Duplessis]], a [[Conservative Party of Quebec (historical)|Conservative]] member of the [[Legislative Assembly of Quebec]] (MLA) for [[Saint-Maurice (provincial electoral district)|Saint-Maurice]]. Maurice's father, who came from a family of peasants residing in nearby [[Yamachiche]], was a kind but busy man and spent little time with the family, which was typical at the time.{{Sfn|Rumilly|1973|p=14-15}} Two of Nérée's sisters married politicians who would also sit in the Legislative Assembly. Maurice's mother was Berthe Genest, who had [[Scottish people|Scottish]] and [[Irish people|Irish]] origins on her maternal side.{{Sfn|Black|1977|p=12}}<ref>{{Cite web|date=March 2009|title=Nérée Le Noblet Duplessis|url=https://www.assnat.qc.ca/fr/deputes/duplessis-neree-le-noblet-3059/biographie.html|url-status=live|access-date=November 28, 2021|website=National Assembly of Quebec|language=fr|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100611111454/http://www.assnat.qc.ca/fr/deputes/duplessis-neree-le-noblet-3059/biographie.html|archive-date=June 11, 2010}}</ref> The family of the future premier was well-disposed to [[English-speaking Quebecers|Anglophones]]; Duplessis would even joke that he was "one of them".{{Sfn|Black|1977|p=12}}

At the end of the 19th century, the Duplessis family of Trois-Rivières was active in the political and religious life of the region, and the members of the family could often be found among [[Conservatism in Canada|conservative]] and [[Ultramontanism|ultramontanist]] sympathizers, with whom they would often debate current political events. Some of the influential figures of the time, including [[Louis-Olivier Taillon]], [[Edmund James Flynn]], [[Joseph-Mathias Tellier]], [[Louis-Philippe Pelletier]] and [[Thomas Chapais]], could be found there. Moreover, Maurice's father, a deeply pious person, maintained close relations with [[Louis-François Richer Laflèche]], the bishop of the [[Diocese of Trois-Rivières]], where he worked as [[legal counsel]].{{Sfn|Black|1977|p=11}} The bishop supported his electoral bid for the [[Saint-Maurice (provincial electoral district)|Saint-Maurice]] seat in [[1886 Quebec general election|1886]], which Nérée won. Maurice was born during his father's [[1890 Quebec general election|reelection campaign]], who chose to name his son for the electoral district he was the MLA for. The newborn boy was then baptized by Laflèche himself.{{Sfn|Rumilly|1973|p=14-15}}<gallery widths="160" heights="160" caption="Close relatives of Maurice Duplessis">
File:Maurice Duplessis et ses soeurs.png|alt=A black-and-white photo of five little children posing in front of a camera|Maurice Duplessis with his sisters, Marguerite, Jeanne, Étiennette and Joséphine-Gabrielle, 1897
File:Samuel Genest, ca. 1925.jpg|alt=A black-and-white photograph of a man in a suit with a tie|[[Samuel Genest]], president of the ''[[Assemblée de la francophonie de l'Ontario|Association canadienne-française d'éducation de l'Ontario]]'' (1932–33), a [[Franco-Ontarian]] advocacy organization, uncle of Maurice Duplessis
File:Richard-Stanislas Cooke.jpg|alt=A black-and-white photograph of a man in a suit with a bow tie|[[Richard-Stanislas Cooke]], mayor of Trois-Rivières (1896–98), [[Quebec Liberal Party|Liberal]] MLA for [[Trois-Rivières (provincial electoral district)|Trois-Rivières]], uncle of Maurice Duplessis
File:William-Pierre Grant, ca. 1930.jpg|alt=A black-and-white photograph of a man in a suit with a tie|[[William-Pierre Grant]], Liberal MLA for [[Champlain (provincial electoral district)|Champlain]], uncle of Maurice Duplessis
</gallery>

{{ahnentafel
|collapsed=yes |align=center
|title=Ancestry of Maurice Duplessis<ref name=":9">{{Cite journal|last=Tremblay|first=Sylvie|date=1990|title=L'énigme de la famille Le Noblet Duplessis|url=https://www.erudit.org/fr/revues/cd/1990-v5-n4-cd1041559/7560ac/|journal=Cap-aux-Diamants: La revue d'histoire du Québec|language=fr|volume=5|issue=4|pages=66|issn=0829-7983}}</ref><ref name="Genealogie_Yamachiche">{{Cite book|last=Lesieur Désaulniers|first=François Sévère|url=https://www.patrimoinequebec.ca/Archive/BIBLIOTHEQUE/familleyamachiche3.pdf|title=Les vieilles familles d'Yamachiche|publisher=A. P. Pigeon|year=1900|location=Montreal|pages=154–168|language=fr}}</ref><ref name="Genealogie_Bureau">{{Cite journal|last=Lefebvre|first=Jean-Jacques|date=1961|title=Lignée canadienne de l'hon. M. Duplessis|url=https://collections.banq.qc.ca/ark:/52327/2657630|journal=Le bulletin des recherches historiques |location=Lévis|pages=33–35|via=Bibliothèque et Archives nationales du Québec}}</ref>
|boxstyle_1=background-color: #fcc;
|boxstyle_2=background-color: #fb9;
|boxstyle_3=background-color: #ffc;
|boxstyle_4=background-color: #bfc;
|[[File:Maurice Duplessis, 1907.png|60px|alt=A black-and-white photograph of a young man in a suit with a tie]] '''Maurice Le Noblet Duplessis''' (1890–1959), <small>photographed 1907</small>
|[[File:L. T. N. Le Noblet Duplessis CROP.png|60px|alt=A black-and-white photograph of a man in a suit with a tie]] [[Nérée Le Noblet Duplessis]] (1855–1926), <small>second oldest of 4 children of Joseph Duplessis Jr.; lawyer for the [[Diocese of Trois-Rivières]], [[Conservative Party of Quebec|Conservative]] MLA for [[Saint-Maurice (provincial electoral district)|Saint-Maurice]] (1886–1900), later mayor of Trois-Rivières (1904–05) and judge of the Superior Court of Quebec</small>
|[[File:Berthe Genest.png|60px|alt=A black-and-white photo of a woman]] Berthe Genest (1861–1921){{Efn|Her full name was Marie Catherine Camille Berthe Genest.}}
|Joseph Le Noblet Duplessis Jr. (1820–1896), <small>second oldest of 7 children of Joseph Duplessis Sr.</small>
|Marie-Louise Descoteaux-Lefebvre (1826–{{circa}} 1900)
|Laurent-Ubald Genest, <small>''[[greffier]]'' (clerk) of Trois-Rivières</small>
|Emma MacCallum{{Efn|Her full name was Marie Esther Charlotte Emma MacCallum}} <small>of [[Montreal]]</small>{{Sfn|Black|1977|p=12}}
|Joseph Le Noblet Duplessis Sr. (1795–1865), <small>oldest of 6 children of Isidore Le Noblet Duplessis</small>
|Marie-Rose Caron (1797–1866)
|
|
|
|
|John MacCallum (1795–1864), <small>police mayor</small>
|Flavie Raymond (1804–1877)
}}

==== Studies ====
In 1898, Duplessis left his home city to study at the [[Collège Notre-Dame du Sacré-Cœur|Collège Notre-Dame]] in [[Montreal]], which was run by the [[Congregation of Holy Cross]]. There he met André Bessette (better known as [[Brother André]]), then [[Porter (monastery)|porter]] of the college. He came to like young Duplessis and handed him over the task of finding students whom the [[Rector (ecclesiastical)|rector]] wished to see.{{Sfn|Black|p=12|1977}}{{Efn|In the 1950s, when Duplessis was premier of Quebec, he was among the foremost people lobbying for the canonization of Brother André}} The relationship was so close that it was then that Duplessis developed the cult of [[Saint Joseph]], which he carried for the rest of his life and which sometimes would influence his political choices.{{Efn|For instance, Duplessis would always schedule his most important political events on Wednesdays due to the fact that in [[French Canada]], Saint Joseph's day was observed every week on that day.<ref name="TIME">{{Cite news|date=November 6, 1939|title=CANADA: Duplessis Out|language=en-US|magazine=Time|url=https://content.time.com/time/subscriber/article/0,33009,762735-2,00.html|access-date=December 25, 2021|issn=0040-781X}}</ref> Duplessis would also go to the [[Cathedral-Basilica of Notre-Dame de Québec]] on Wednesdays to pray to Saint Joseph.{{Sfn|Sarra-Bournet|2009}}}} The future premier was a bright student, excelling in [[French language|French]], history, [[Latin]] and philosophy; at the same time, he was known to be playful and sometimes mischievous (a "scamp", as [[Conrad Black]] suggests), which would often lead Duplessis into trouble.{{Sfn|Rumilly|p=21|1973}}{{Sfn|Black|p=15, 23|1977}}

In 1902, Duplessis moved to the [[Séminaire de Trois-Rivières]] in order to pursue his study in a [[classical college]]. Maurice continued to excel in other subjects, including history, [[theology]], Latin and [[Greek language|Greek]], which helped him become the best student in his year. In particular, he sharpened his rhetorical skills while attending the debate club at the college's [[Saint Thomas Aquinas]] Society. Maurice would, as Conrad Black wrote, "enjoy, almost wallow in, extravagant but thin treatises on the founders of French Canada", where he would show his attachment to and admiration of his roots, the rural lifestyle and the Catholic faith.{{Sfn|Black|1977|p=14}} He was especially fond of [[Louis Hébert]], one of the first [[colonizer]]s of the [[New France]] and a pioneer of farming in the area.{{Efn|Here is an example of Duplessis's speech praising the Catholic heritage of French Canada: "How beautiful and meritorious was the act that had as its objective the establishment of Catholicism on unexplored shores in the bosom of barbarous nations plunged in the tenebrous thickets of idolatry! Ah! The sea! Ladies and gentlemen, it was not always a gentle expanse of limpid water in which the luminous rays of a resplendent sun were brightly reflected; these were not always undulating waves of symmetrical aspect on which a fragile and primitive vessel was maintained in buoyant tranquility. One required audacity to launch himself in a light caravelle on this pelagic immensity. [...] In light of all his glorious acts, tell me that Louis Hebert wasn't a great Christian, tell me that he wasn't a devoted and impassioned lover of the [[Fleur-de-lis|fleur-de-lys]] flag."{{sfn|Black|1977|p=14}}

Duplessis further praised Hébert and his advocacy of the rural way of life: "Louis Hébert understood that with the honest and good fortune of health of soul and of body, life in the fields brings real happiness. This intelligent man had understood that agriculture is the most solid foundation of a nascent colony. In our days, unhappily, the imitators of Louis Hébert, the lawyers, notaries, apothecaries, who transform themselves into cultivators, have become very rare, and the countryside witnesses the departure from their homesteads of legions of young men strong and vigorous, who leave to encumber the offices of great cities."{{sfn|Black|1977|p=15}}}}

Duplessis's interest for politics appeared at a very young age. As early as at the age of ten, Maurice expressed strong interest in the [[Politics of Quebec|electoral statistics of Quebec]], and later in his adolescence, he was already engaging in political meetings and was speaking with the voters. The future premier was preparing for public life by working for a political organization of [[Joseph-Arthur Barrette]], a [[Conservative Party of Canada|Conservative]] serving as [[Member of Parliament (Canada)|member of Parliament]] for [[Berthier (federal electoral district)|Berthier]]. Duplessis understood from that experience that he preferred the practical aspects of politics rather than the theory.{{Sfn|Black|1977|p=15-16}}

When finishing school, Maurice Duplessis was thinking of either further engaging in public life or becoming a priest in the Catholic Church. Even though the clerical career was typical of the young people like Duplessis and it would give him influence, Maurice ultimately rejected the priesthood as he thought that this job bore too many constraints. He would later confide to his secretary that "[[priesthood|sacerdocy]] [was] too much for me." He was not interested in becoming a businessman, either, because at that time English Canadians had much better conditions for pursuing that path. Thus, in autumn of 1910, he enrolled in the faculty of law at the [[Université Laval]] in Montreal, which is now a separate university called [[Université de Montréal]]. Finishing law school was then a standard way to get into politics. In parallel to his studies, he trained in the offices of [[Rodolphe Monty]] et [[Alfred Duranleau]], two nationalist conservatives and friends of Duplessis's family, where Maurice was referred to by his father.{{Sfn|Black|1977|p=16-17}}

While studying, he was noted for his liveliness, sharp responses and socializing.{{Sfn|Rumilly|1973|p=26}} Duplessis, sitting in the opposition, was a local star within the [[model parliament]] organized by the university.{{Sfn|Black|1977|p=27}} Outside his field of studies and political engagement, he followed professional baseball standings and occasionally went to opera, but that was where his hobbies ended.{{Sfn|Black|1977|p=16}}{{multiple image
| align = right
| direction = vertical
| image1 = Collège_Notre-Dame,_Montreal,_en_face_de_l'oratoire_St._Joseph.jpg
| alt1 = A postcard showing a building housing a scholarly institution
| caption1 = A [[postcard]] showing the Collège Notre-Dame in Montreal, {{circa|1910}}
| width1 = 172
| image2 = Séminaire de Trois-Rivières.png
| alt2 = A black-and-white photo of a building housing a scholarly institution
| caption2 = The [[Séminaire Saint-Joseph de Trois-Rivières|Séminaire de Trois-Rivières]], photographed sometime between 1903 and 1914
| width2 = 172
| image3 = Carte postale Université Laval à Montréal, 1911.jpg
| alt3 = A postcard showing a building housing a scholarly institution
| caption3 = A postcard showing the [[Université Laval]] Montreal branch, now known as the [[Université de Montréal]], 1911
| width3 = 172
}}

=== Entry into politics ===
[[File:Maurice Duplessis étudiant 1911.png|thumb|Maurice Duplessis in 1911, as a law student]]

==== Law practice ====
{{See also|Bar of Quebec|Law in Quebec}}
After three years of studies, Duplessis was admitted to the [[Bar of Quebec]] in September 1913.{{efn|The biographical notice of Maurice Duplessis on the webpage of the National Assembly of Quebec gives the date of September 4.<ref name="MLABio">{{Quebec MNA biography}}</ref> Conrad Black suggests it happened on September 14.{{sfn|Black|p=17|1977}}}} Maurice returned to his home town to practice law at the {{Interlanguage link|Barreau de Trois-Rivières|lt=Bar of Trois-Rivières|fr}}, whose member he would stay until his death.<ref name="Directory">{{Cite web|title=Duplessis, Maurice|url=https://www.patrimoine-culturel.gouv.qc.ca/rpcq/detail.do?methode=consulter&id=8688&type=pge#.UfJoc1MRNuU|url-status=live|access-date=November 28, 2021|website=[[Quebec Cultural Heritage Directory]]|language=fr|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210424162020/https://www.patrimoine-culturel.gouv.qc.ca/rpcq/detail.do?methode=consulter&id=8688&type=pge |archive-date=April 24, 2021 }}</ref> He first worked together with his father, but this was cut short as on June 15, 1914, Nérée was nominated as judge of the [[Superior Court of Quebec]]. The future Premier then opened his own consultancy, ''Duplessis, Langlois & Lamothe, Avocats et Procureurs'', on Hart Street, behind his parents' house. Langlois was an old friend of his from the Séminaire who became husband of Duplessis's sister, Gabrielle.{{Sfn|Rumilly|p=29|1973}} Together with another lawyer from Trois-Rivières, Léon Lamothe, they formed a partnership which lasted well into the 1930s.<ref name="MLABio" /><ref name=":0">{{Cite web|title=Expositions du Service des archives du Séminaire St-Joseph de Trois-Rivières {{!}} Ces terres qui portent fruits. {{!}} 0757-A-5-a-45|url=http://archives.ssj.qc.ca/expositions/index.php?album=ces-terres-qui-portent-fruits-&image=0757-A-5-a-45.jpg|access-date=December 5, 2021|website=archives.ssj.qc.ca}}</ref> Duplessis did not serve in the [[Canadian Armed Forces]] during [[Military history of Canada during World War I|World War I]] as he was exempt from conscription.<ref name=":23">{{Cite journal |last=Swan |first=George Steven |date=1984 |title=A Preliminary Comparison of Long's Louisiana and Duplessis' Quebec |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/4232361 |journal=Louisiana History: The Journal of the Louisiana Historical Association |volume=25 |issue=3 |pages=289–319 |issn=0024-6816 |jstor=4232361}}</ref>

Practising [[Civil law in Canada|civil law]] more than [[Criminal law of Canada|criminal law]], Duplessis developed a large client base among the ordinary people, who were attracted due to his arguments in court that often proved persuasive. He was quickly recognized as a sociable and competent lawyer who approached his cases carefully, and thus became a popular figure in the town. The young lawyer engaged in various activities of his area, notably directing of a local baseball team, and became a fixture in high-end taverns of his town. His professional success, briefly interrupted by the death of his mother in 1921, let him buy a personal [[Winton Motor Carriage Company|Winton]] on a loan (to great dismay of his father).{{Sfn|Black|p=17-18|1977}} Duplessis suspended his law career in early 1934 amid mounting duties in the Legislative Assembly, though he would still be mentioned as a member of the bar.{{sfn|Black|p=70|1977}}

==== First electoral successes ====
{{See also|1923 Quebec general election|1927 Quebec general election|1931 Quebec general election|label 1=1923|label 2=1927|label 3=1931 Quebec general elections}}
Despite a promising start to his legal career, Duplessis did not lose sight from his political ambitions. He made his first attempt to get to the Legislative Assembly of Quebec in 1923 as a Conservative, seeking to oust the incumbent Liberal MLA, [[Louis-Philippe Mercier]], from his [[Trois-Rivières (provincial electoral district)|Trois-Rivières]] seat.{{Sfn|Black|1977|p=22-23}} The campaign was a heated one. Mercier benefited from a well-organized political structure in the area directed by his mentor, [[Jacques Bureau]], who at the time served as a member of Parliament for [[Three Rivers and St. Maurice]] and the federal [[Minister of Customs and Excise|minister of customs and excise]].{{Efn|Étiennette Duplessis, sister of Maurice, would marry Édouard Bureau, Jacques's son, in the April following the election}} Maurice counted on the solidarity of his fellow lawyers, the good reputation among his clients as well as his father's acquaintances' support (notably Louis-Olivier Taillon). Some of them made speeches in Duplessis's favour. His campaign focused on the criticism of what Duplessis alleged was Premier [[Louis-Alexandre Taschereau]]'s contempt towards provincial autonomy and municipal rights as well as of the mismanagement of the judiciary.{{Sfn|Sarra-Bournet|2009}}{{Sfn|Black|1977|p=22-23}} Despite a rather close race, Maurice lost to the incumbent, 1,328 to 1,612 votes. Duplessis at the time did not expect to win the riding anyway, but hoped that his good initial showing would make him a viable candidate as the opposition leader in the region.{{Sfn|Black|1977|p=23-24}}

Four years later, Duplessis attempted a second run to the Legislative Assembly, campaigning among working- and middle-class families by paying personal visits to them.{{Sfn|Sarra-Bournet|2009}} His resolve to get to the provincial parliament increased even further after his father died in 1926.{{Sfn|Black|1977|p=26}} At election time, Duplessis flipped the seat for the first time in 27 years, winning 2,622 to Mercier's 2,496 votes. This happened even as the Conservatives only captured 9 out of 85 seats.{{Sfn|Rumilly|1973|p=57}} In his victory speech, Duplessis reportedly declared that "[here] stands before you a future Premier of Quebec".{{Sfn|Black|1977|p=28}}

At the time when Duplessis was elected, the Legislative Assembly was only in session for two months in a year, which allowed Duplessis to spend more time in his electoral district. Duplessis became immediately active on the parliament floor once the parliament convened on January 10, 1928. In his maiden speech on January 19, the Legislative Assembly freshman decried the overemphasis on industrial development, as opposed to rural and small-business interests and called to stop increasing taxes and to respect the religious nature of Sundays. He also proposed to make an inventory of the forest industry (it was suspected at the time that the resources were being overexploited) and to reorganize the provincial police.{{Sfn|Sarra-Bournet|2009}}{{Sfn|Black|1977|p=30-31}} The first speech left Premier Taschereau impressed, who allegedly remarked that "this young man [...] [would] go far".{{Sfn|Sarra-Bournet|2009}} Duplessis's rhetorical skills and the knowledge of the law on the books made him a rising star in the opposition. When Arthur Sauvé left the leadership of the Conservatives, it was suggested that Duplessis could take the steers of the battered party, but Duplessis refused as he was not ready yet.{{Sfn|Black|1977|p=31-32}} [[Camillien Houde]], [[Mayor of Montreal]], was nominated instead, but he often had to leave the parliament sessions because of his other demanding job. Therefore, Duplessis, whom the Conservative caucus already saw as a safe alternative to Houde should the leader's policies fail,{{Sfn|Dirks|1991|p=23}} was able to informally lead the caucus in Houde's absence.{{Sfn|Black|1977|p=33-34}}

Arthur Sauvé, in his resignation speech, asked his successor "to reestablish order in our ravaged ranks". Even though the new leader liked Duplessis, the future premier did not trust Houde's organizational capabilities, finding him "a verbose, blustering [and] impetuous man". He also said to his party colleague, [[Antonio Barrette]], who would briefly serve as Premier in 1960: "You're going to see Houde get to the top of the mountain and then be over the hill". Conrad Black characterized his relationship with Houde, together with his political views, in the following way:{{Sfn|Black|1977|p=32-33}}
{{Blockquote|text=Maurice Duplessis was in many ways fundamentally conservative; he mistrusted the flamboyant and doubted the improbable. Family counted with him. So did a man's sense of process. Camillien Houde he considered an unmethodical multiple-bankrupt without background of family or profession, untried at everything except tubthumping; an extraordinary personality and an original character, but impulsive, self-indulgent, and superficial. He did not think that this endomorphic gadfly would prove a match for the crafty, magisterial, and thorough M. Taschereau.{{Sfn|Black|1977|p=32-33}}}}
Later events seemed to confirm Duplessis's intuition. In the 1931 election, the Conservatives were again resoundingly defeated, winning only 11 seats out of 90 despite the fact that the Conservatives got a markedly larger share of votes provincially. Houde lost his own riding; Duplessis got reelected with a razor-thin margin of 41 votes (3,812 votes versus 3,771 for Liberal Louis-Philippe Bigué).{{Sfn|Rumilly|1973|p=96}} Upon learning the results, Taschereau declared that "this outcome [meant] the end of Houdism".{{Sfn|Saint-Aubin|1979|p=58}}

<gallery widths="160" heights="160" caption="Quebec politics of 1920s and 1930s">
File:Maurice Duplessis 1927.jpg|alt=A black-and-white photograph of a man in a suit with a tie.|Maurice Duplessis in 1927, the year of his first successful election
File:Louis-Alexandre Taschereau - 1930.png|alt=A sepia photo of a man in a suit with a tie.|Louis-Alexandre Taschereau, MLA for [[Montmorency (provincial electoral district)|Montmorency]], leader of the Quebec Liberal Party and [[premier of Quebec]] in 1920–1936
File:Arthur Sauvé, ca. 1930.jpg|alt=A black-and-white photograph of a man in a suit with a tie.|[[Arthur Sauvé]], MLA for [[Deux-Montagnes (provincial electoral district)|Deux-Montagnes]], leader of the Conservative Party of Quebec in 1916–1929 and father of [[Paul Sauvé]], who would replace Duplessis as premier of Quebec after his death in 1959
File:Camillien Houde, ca. 1930.png|alt=A sepia photo of a man in a suit with a tie.|[[Camillien Houde]], the penultimate leader of the Conservative Party of Quebec in 1929–1931, MLA for [[Montréal–Sainte-Marie]] and [[mayor of Montreal]]
File:Assemblée législative du Québec 1933-04-05.jpg|alt=A black-and-white photograph of a parliament in session, with MLAs sitting in their places|A Legislative Assembly session in the [[Parliament Building (Quebec)#Parliamentary debate rooms|Blue Room]] on April 5, 1933. Duplessis, elected from the oldest continuous provincial riding in Quebec,<ref>{{Cite web|last=Desjardins|first=Joseph|date=1902|title=Guide parlementaire historique de la province de Québec, 1792 à 1902|url=https://www.canadiana.ca/view/oocihm.72593/121?r=0&s=1|url-status=live|access-date=2021-12-05|website=Canadiana Online|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211205174938/https://www.canadiana.ca/view/oocihm.72593/121?r=0&s=1 |archive-date=December 5, 2021 }}</ref> is seated in the third position from the background in the first row, directly opposite Taschereau.
</gallery>

=== Rise to power ===

==== Leader of the Official Opposition ====
The 1931 election saw the Conservatives' internal strife, already present in Sauvé years, intensify.{{Sfn|Jones|2000|p=3}} The party members could not even agree to a common strategy of dealing with the results of the election. Houde wanted to challenge 63 electoral results in the province, but Duplessis was against this idea because of his thin margin. The plan was frustrated by the government because a change in electoral law made the recounts too expensive.{{Sfn|Sarra-Bournet|2009}} The Conservatives increasingly grew fed up with Houde's performance, and since he was no longer an MLA, lost his Montreal mayorship election in April 1932 and had trouble maintaining his newspaper, he had little real power in the caucus. Therefore, when in an effort to appease the Anglophone community, Houde unexpectedly designated an ageing [[Charles Ernest Gault]], his ally and long-time MLA from [[Montréal–Saint-Georges]], as the new leader of the parliamentary caucus, the party overrode the decision.<ref name=":1" />{{Sfn|Black|1977|p=50-52}} Thus, on November 7, Duplessis became leader of the opposition. This choice was formally confirmed during a party congress in [[Sherbrooke]] on October 4–5, 1933, when Duplessis got 332 votes of the delegates (including from 7 out of 10 MLAs and all but one federal minister from Quebec) to 214 cast for a more moderate [[Onésime Gagnon]], an MLA from [[Dorchester (provincial electoral district)|Dorchester]].{{Sfn|Saint-Aubin|1979|p=60,65}} During the convention, Duplessis gained most support from young members advocating for provincial autonomy; federal and Anglophone Conservatives as well as supporters for Houde tended to vote for his opponent.{{Sfn|Sarra-Bournet|2009}} The choice was well-received by the high clergy and [[Henry George Carroll]], the [[Lieutenant Governor of Quebec]], but Houde was bitter at his ouster and would only reconcile with him after World War II.{{Sfn|Saint-Aubin|1979|p=65}}

The governing Liberals also had problems of their own. Quebec was in the midst of the [[Great Depression]], which left [[Great Depression in Canada|Canada's economy declining]]. The Liberal Party, which had been in power for more than 35 years, was suffering from internal tensions, too, but also from the ''[[laissez-faire]]'' economic policies that proved inadequate for the crisis.{{sfn|Dirks|1991|p=26-28}} Conrad Black additionally attributed the party's woes to its inflexibility and population's weariness of the government that had been in power for too long (by the 1935 election, Taschereau had been ruling the province for 15 years).{{Sfn|Black|p=59, 97|1977}} Duplessis repeatedly questioned the government on its failure to make a turnaround. He pointed to the [[Overcapitalisation|overcapitalization]] of companies and to the general chaos in the province's industry and resource exploitation. Duplessis further alleged unjust treatment of municipalities, lack of respect for traditions and unnecessary confrontations with the [[Government of Canada|federal government]]. The leader of the opposition also decried the government's policy of prioritizing big business interests instead of developing rural areas.{{Sfn|Black|p=59|1977}}{{Sfn|Dirks|1991|p=38}} Some of the Liberal MLAs eventually became disillusioned with Taschereau and created a new party, the Action libérale nationale (ALN).

==== Coalition with the ''Action libérale nationale'' ====
{{Main|Action libérale nationale|1935 Quebec general election}}
[[File:Gouin-Duplessis_1935.jpg|alt=A black-and-white photo of two men in hats with a woman between them.|left|thumb|182x182px|Paul Gouin (right) and Maurice Duplessis (left) on a political rally of the Conservative–ALN coalition, November 1935]]
The new party, which in particular despised the big business's interests in the province, consisted of [[Quebec nationalism|nationalist]] and [[Progressivism|progressive]] MLAs led by [[Paul Gouin]] and included some other figures, such as [[Philippe Hamel]], [[Joseph-Ernest Grégoire]] and [[Oscar Drouin]]. The members of the new political force drew heavily from the ''Programme de restauration sociale,'' a social policy document drafted by the Catholic clergy in 1933. It advocated [[corporatism]] as an alternative for [[capitalism]] and [[communism]]<ref name=":2">{{Cite web|title=Action libérale nationale|url=http://bilan.usherbrooke.ca/bilan/pagesPartis.jsp?parti=ALN|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210426044124/http://bilan.usherbrooke.ca/bilan/pagesPartis.jsp?parti=ALN|archive-date=April 26, 2021|access-date=December 14, 2021|website=University of Sherbrooke}}</ref> and sought to improve the position of French Canadians in the province by expanding the social welfare net, breaking (and, if needed, nationalizing) [[Trust (business)|business trusts]] and revitalizing rural areas.<ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Bouchard|first1=Marie J|last2=Lévesque|first2=Benoît|date=June 3, 2010|title=Économie sociale et innovation. L'approche de la régulation, au coeur de la construction québécoise de l'économie sociale|journal=Communication aux Xe rencontres du Réseau interuniversitaire de l'économie sociale et solidaire|url=http://rgdoi.net/10.13140/2.1.4869.7120|language=en|doi=10.13140/2.1.4869.7120}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal|last=Arès|first=Richard|date=1982|title=Le Père Joseph-Papin Archambault, S.J. et l'École Sociale Populaire: témoignage|url=https://www.erudit.org/en/journals/haf/1982-v35-n4-haf2325/304012ar.pdf|journal=Revue d'histoire de l'Amérique française|language=fr|volume=35|issue=4|pages=563–587|doi=10.7202/304012ar|s2cid=143626993 |issn=0035-2357}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|last=Blais|first=Christian|title=Introduction historique – 18e législature, 2e session (10 janvier 1933 au 13 avril 1933)|url=http://www.assnat.qc.ca/fr/travaux-parlementaires/assemblee-nationale/18-2/introduction-historique.html?retourVersHistoire=oui|url-status=live|access-date=December 14, 2021|website=National Assembly of Quebec|language=fr|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150403054018/http://www.assnat.qc.ca/fr/travaux-parlementaires/assemblee-nationale/18-2/introduction-historique.html?retourVersHistoire=oui |archive-date=April 3, 2015 }}</ref>{{Sfn|Dirks|1991|p=35-36}} In particular, the party was critical of the energy trusts and advocated for bringing the [[hydroelectricity]] companies under state control.<ref name=":2" />

Initially, Maurice Duplessis was skeptical of the third political force, saying that "two [parties] are enough: one good and one bad".{{Sfn|Black|p=73|1977}} He was then preparing for the upcoming [[1935 Quebec general election|1935 election]], starting a tour across the province more than a year before the voters were to go to the ballots.{{Sfn|Black|p=74|1977}} To a large extent, Duplessis's arguments during the campaign mirrored those of the ALN even if Duplessis tried to assure that the Conservatives were less extreme and that "honest" capital would remain untouched in the province.{{Sfn|Dirks|1991|p=61, 71–73}} Still, Duplessis remained distrustful of the ALN members, seeing them as unreliable men who would join the Liberals after the election and ruin his dream of heading the government himself. For that reason, he resisted all efforts to sign a coalition agreement with them, but was forced to yield on November 7, 1935. Several factors played a role. In October, the Liberals had an impressive showing in [[1935 Canadian federal election|that year's federal election]], and Taschereau called a [[Snap election|snap provincial election]] in [[1935 Quebec general election|November]] to capitalize on this victory. [[Vote splitting]] issues in the [[First-past-the-post voting|first-past-the-post]] system also contributed to the overwhelming support for a coalition among party members and donors. Under the agreement, the Conservatives ran on the ALN's platform, joined a coalition called the Union Nationale and ceded two-thirds of ridings to the breakaway Liberals.{{Sfn|Dirks|1991|p=73-80}} The coalition narrowly failed to displace the Liberals from power, gaining 42 out of 90 seats (of which 16 were Conservative), but it managed to severely reduce the governing majority. Duplessis got safely reelected with a margin of 14 percentage points (1,202 votes).{{Sfn|Saint-Aubin|1979|p=105}}

==== Ascendancy of the Union Nationale ====
{{See also|1936 Quebec general election}}
[[File:Le catéchisme des électeurs, édition de 1935.pdf|thumbnail|''Le catéchisme des électeurs'' (''The Voters' [[Catechism]]'') was a question-and-answer booklet issued by the Union Nationale (in this case, the second edition in 1936) that presented the party's agenda while bashing the Liberals for corruption.{{Sfn|Saint-Aubin|1979|p=117}}|alt=Cover of a book titled ''Le catéchisme des électeurs''|289x289px]]

Maurice Duplessis continued his offensive in spring 1936, when he succeeded in having the parliamentary public accounts committee start an inquiry into the management of public funds by the Taschereau government.<ref name=":3">{{Cite journal |last=Sarra-Bournet |first=Michel |date=Spring 2003 |title=Maurice Duplessis entre en scène |url=https://www.erudit.org/en/journals/cd/2003-n73-cd1045728/7406ac.pdf |journal=Cap-aux-Diamants: La revue d'histoire du Québec}}</ref>{{Sfn|Saint-Aubin|1979|p=110}} Numerous irregularities were uncovered as various Liberal government officials acknowledged having used the public money inappropriately.{{Sfn|Saint-Aubin|1979|p=111}} For example, Antoine Taschereau, premier's brother and accountant of the [[Quebec Legislature]], was forced to resign when he admitted having pocketed interest from the government's [[bank deposits]].{{Sfn|Saint-Aubin|1979|p=112}} The fact that the newspapers reported on all the smallest details of the inquiry made the committee job a political goldmine for Duplessis.{{Sfn|Saint-Aubin|1979|p=111}} Taschereau resigned amid the corruption scandals on June 11, 1936, and handed over the premiership to [[Adélard Godbout]], who was forced to call an election on August 17.{{Sfn|Saint-Aubin|1979|p=113}}

The political situation during that year changed dramatically. Even though Duplessis entered the election as a junior coalition partner, his charisma, rhetorical skills and grilling of the Liberal officials has earned him support from most of ALN deputies, which could not be said of Gouin.<ref name=":3"/>{{Sfn|Dirks|1991|p=93-94}} On the organizational level, the Conservatives succeeded in capturing the Union Nationale brand for them.{{Sfn|Dirks|1991|p=93-94}} Moreover, the corruption inquiry severely weakened the governing party, which gave Duplessis a chance to single-handedly win the premiership. Therefore, on June 17, Duplessis announced his refusal to renew the coalition agreement even though the [[election writ]]s had already been issued.{{Sfn|Sarra-Bournet|2009}} Despite Gouin trying to campaign independently of Duplessis, 35 out of 42 Union Nationale coalition MLAs at a caucus meeting in Sherbrooke backed Duplessis's takeover of the coalition, and most of ALN's members joined the newly created Union Nationale party.<ref name=":3"/> Eventually, Gouin announced his "temporary" retirement from politics, which confirmed Duplessis's leadership.{{Sfn|Saint-Aubin|1979|p=119}} When the voters came to the polls, they delivered a landslide victory for the Union Nationale, handing it 76 out of 90 seats and ending the Liberal rule over Quebec that lasted for 39 years.{{Sfn|Saint-Aubin|1979|p=120}}

=== First term (1936–1939) ===
{{Further|Premiership of Maurice Duplessis#First government (1936–1939)}}
Duplessis immediately embarked on fulfilling some of the electoral promises. Among the programs that are credited with the longevity of the Union Nationale is the creation of the Farm Credit Bureau, which sent low-interest loans to rural areas and which proved popular with what would be the electoral base of his party. However, Duplessis emphatically refused to nationalize the producers of electricity and largely continued the economical policies of his predecessor.{{Sfn|Sarra-Bournet|2009}} This provoked an exodus of former ALN members but it did not threaten Duplessis's majority.{{Sfn|Saint-Aubin|1979|p=129-130}}

Duplessis first rose to the highest office in the province in a difficult time, as the Great Depression ravaged through the province, leaving hundreds of thousands of people unemployed. Increased expenditures on social programs and lack of growth in the 1930s caused a severe budgetary crisis, as debt nearly doubled within his three years in office.<ref name=":24">{{Cite journal |last=Dupré |first=Ruth |date=1988 |title=Un siècle de finances publiques québécoises: 1867–1969 |journal=L'Actualité économique |language=fr |volume=64 |issue=4 |pages=559–583 |doi=10.7202/601470ar |issn=0001-771X|doi-access=free }}</ref> The federal government started intervening in the province's finances to stabilize them, but Duplessis resisted these attempts as he thought they violated the principle of the [[Autonomism in Quebec|provincial autonomy]].{{Sfn|Jones|2000|p=8-9}}

The Quebec government started handing out old-age pensions and approved workplace accident protections in its first year in office. [[Public works]] projects, such as the completion of the [[Montreal Botanical Garden]], were also initiated.{{Sfn|Sarra-Bournet|2009}} It was during this term that the legislation first recognized the right to a minimum salary for everyone (the "fair wage" standard, as it was known back then, previously applied to women only), but this law saw several problems in its implementation due to lack of uniformity and reluctance of trade unions to embrace it.<ref name=":42">{{Cite journal |last=Ledoux |first=Denis |date=Autumn 2010 |title=L'histoire du salaire minimum au Québec |url=https://www.travail.gouv.qc.ca/fileadmin/fichiers/Documents/regards_travail/vol07-01/L_histoire_du_salaire_minimum.pdf |journal=Régards sur le Travail |volume=7 |issue=1}}</ref> In line with the Church's teaching, Duplessis launched a program of assistance to needy mothers (but not unwed, divorced or separated women), as well as to the blind and the [[orphan]]ed.<ref name=":52">{{Cite journal |last=Genest |first=Jean-Guy |date=1971 |title=Aspects de l'administration Duplessis |journal=Revue d'histoire de l'Amérique française |language=fr |volume=25 |issue=3 |pages=389–392 |doi=10.7202/303094ar |issn=0035-2357|doi-access=free }}</ref> This cabinet saw the first [[Ministry of Health (Quebec)|Ministry of Health]] in Quebec, and it also financed the new {{Interlanguage link|INRS-Institut Armand-Frappier|lt=Institute of Microbiology and Hygiene of Montreal|fr}}, a research facility similar to Paris's [[Pasteur Institute]].{{Sfn|Livernois|2018|p=63}}

The themes that unite both the pre-war and the post-war administration were [[Union busting|anti-unionism]] and [[anti-communism]]. Duplessis introduced and had the Legislative Assembly pass the so-called [[Padlock Law]]. It granted Duplessis, in his capacity as [[Attorney General of Quebec|Attorney General]], the right to prosecute those arranging for, distributing or promoting communist materials and propaganda and lock down their properties. Due to the law's vagueness, it often was arbitrarily used against anyone considered an enemy of the administration, such as trade unions.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Jones |first=Richard |date=1985 |title=Le cadenas sur la porte! |url=https://www.erudit.org/fr/revues/cd/1985-v1-n3-cd1040841/6383ac/ |journal=Cap-aux-Diamants: La revue d'histoire du Québec |language=fr |volume=1 |issue=3 |pages=9–12 |issn=0829-7983}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last=Robinson |first=Ira |date=December 31, 1969 |title=Reflections on Antisemitism in French Canada |url=https://cjs.journals.yorku.ca/index.php/cjs/article/view/39911 |journal=Canadian Jewish Studies / Études juives canadiennes |volume=21 |doi=10.25071/1916-0925.39911 |issn=1916-0925|doi-access=free }}</ref> Another law granted Duplessis's government the right to unilaterally amend any contract between the trade union and the employer, and yet another regulation banned [[closed shop]]s and [[union shop]]s.<ref name=":16">{{Cite journal |last=David |first=Hélène |date=1975 |title=L'état des rapports de classe au Québec de 1945 à 1967 |journal=Sociologie et sociétés |language=fr |volume=7 |issue=2 |pages=33–66 |doi=10.7202/001171ar |issn=0038-030X|doi-access=free }}</ref>

On September 1, 1939, [[Germany invaded Poland]] in what is commonly recognized as the beginning of [[World War II]]. Duplessis decided to seize that opportunity and announced a [[1939 Quebec general election|snap election]] to cement his grip on power by rallying the population around the fears of [[conscription]] (which [[Conscription Crisis of 1917|French Canadians overwhelmingly opposed]] in World War I). However, his gamble failed as the Liberals, whom he accused of wanting to send French Canadians to the frontline, declared their opposition to the plan.{{Sfn|Sarra-Bournet|2009}} As the Union Nationale was also seen as unable to implement a coherent set of policies and it disappointed voters with the lack of reforms, the party's representation shrank to 15 out of 86 seats.{{Sfn|Linteau|Durocher|Robert|1991|p=5, 93, 108}}

=== Return to the Official Opposition ===
[[File:Adélard Godbout, vers 1945.jpg|alt=An en face black-and-white photo of a man in a suit with a tie|thumb|Adélard Godbout, leader of the Quebec Liberal Party 1936–1949, Premier of Quebec 1939–1944]]
The defeat of the Union Nationale meant that Duplessis's leadership was in danger. Some of his fellow MLAs were mad at his starting the election in an unfortunate moment, and the party was at the brink of implosion. [[Joseph-Damase Bégin]] called to convene a caucus meeting to consider changing the leader, with Onésime Gagnon and [[Hormisdas Langlais]] as possible contenders, but Duplessis successfully quashed the effort.{{Sfn|Saint-Aubin|1979|p=142}} Another challenge to his leadership came in 1942, when Duplessis was criticised for his alcoholic tendencies, as he would sometimes participate in parliamentary debates while completely drunk.{{Sfn|Dion|1993|p=35}} That challenge was rebuffed as well as after his surgery on strangulated [[hernia]] in 1942, the leader of opposition decided to quit drinking altogether on his doctor's advice.{{Sfn|Saint-Aubin|1979|p=142-143}}

The Liberals introduced some progressive policies during their five years in power. In 1940, the Godbout administration [[Women's suffrage|granted women suffrage]] in provincial elections, which they already had on the federal level since [[1917 Canadian federal election|1917]].{{Sfn|Saint-Aubin|1979|p=145}} Duplessis had previously considered the issue several times, but, unlike some of his colleagues, largely avoided discussing it and generally either abstained on the legislation or opposed it by voting "nay" or by trying to block the bill in committee.<ref name=":11">{{Cite book|last=Dumas|first=Alexandre|url=https://escholarship.mcgill.ca/downloads/tm70mz31p?locale=en|title=L'Église face à Duplessis: le clergé catholique face à la politique québécoise de 1930 à 1960|publisher=Université McGill|year=2016|location=Montreal|pages=218–220|language=fr|type=doctor thesis}}</ref> The 1940 vote was no different. Duplessis and most of his caucus voted "nay"{{Efn|Three people from his caucus: Gagnon, Langlais from the Legislative Assembly and [[Martin Fisher]] in the Legislative Council, broke ranks}} as the leader of the Union Nationale aired concerns about an increase in government expenditures and [[electoral fraud]] that he connected to women's suffrage.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Tremblay |first=Manon |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=dqB2QwoEZK0C&dq=women%27s+rights+maurice+duplessis&pg=PA42 |title=Quebec Women and Legislative Representation |publisher=UBC Press |year=2010 |isbn=978-0-7748-5905-9 |pages=42 |language=en}}</ref> He also accused Godbout of hypocrisy, as the Liberal leader previously opposed similar bills seven times.{{Sfn|Saint-Aubin|1979|p=145}}

Another landmark policy of the Liberals, the introduction of compulsory schooling from age six to fourteen in 1943, was prompted by a report noting high dropout rates after four years of formal schooling.{{Sfn|Saint-Aubin|1979|p=145-147}} As with the women's suffrage, the Union Nationale opposed the bill (only [[Camille-Eugène Pouliot|Camille Pouliot]] voted with the Liberals) and later on would not enforce its provisions during Duplessis's fifteen years in power.{{Sfn|Saint-Aubin|1979|p=145-147}} Finally, in 1944, Godbout created [[Hydro-Québec]] from the nationalization of [[Montreal Light, Heat & Power]] and its subsidiary Beauharnois Power, but Duplessis again opposed the initiative, saying that its timing just before the [[1944 Quebec general election|1944 election]] suggested that it was a [[political campaign]] trick.{{Sfn|Sarra-Bournet|2009}} He further disagreed with the details of its implementation – in his opinion, the takeover should have been made by Montreal rather than the provincial government.{{Sfn|Gagnon|Sarra-Bournet|1997|p=63}} He also did not want to allocate taxpayer money to the nationalization and believed that negotiating prices between the government and the electricity companies was a better way to decrease them than assuming state ownership.{{Sfn|Sarra-Bournet|2009}}

==== 1944 election ====
Just as with the 1935 elections, a third political force wanted to enter Quebec politics: the anti-conscriptionist [[Bloc populaire]]. It was a brainchild of such figures as [[Lionel Groulx]] and {{Interlanguage link|Georges Pelletier (journalist)|fr|Georges Pelletier (journaliste)|lt=Georges Pelletier}}, the editor-in-chief of ''[[Le Devoir]]'', and centered around [[André Laurendeau]] and [[Maxime Raymond]],<ref name=":12">{{Cite journal|last=Behiels|first=Michael|date=January 1, 1984|title=The Bloc Populaire Canadien: Anatomy of Failure, 1942–1947|url=https://utpjournals.press/doi/10.3138/jcs.18.4.45|journal=Journal of Canadian Studies|volume=18|issue=4|pages=45–74|doi=10.3138/jcs.18.4.45|s2cid=151664349|issn=0021-9495|url-access=subscription}}</ref> who were instrumental in what was effectively the defeat of the [[1942 Canadian conscription plebiscite|1942 conscription plebiscite]].<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Granatstein|first=J. L.|date=1973|title=Le Québec et le plébiscite de 1942 sur la conscription|journal=Revue d'histoire de l'Amérique française|language=fr|volume=27|issue=1|pages=43–62|doi=10.7202/303231ar|issn=0035-2357|doi-access=free}}</ref> A nationalist formation, it supported the nationalization of hydroelectricity and argued for more autonomy for Quebec; at the same time it drew inspirations from [[Catholic social teaching]], corporatism and [[syndicalism]].<ref name=":12" /> The party thus sought to compete for nationalist and anti-war votes with the Union Nationale, but at the same time advertising itself as a reform party to get Liberal votes.{{Sfn|Linteau|Durocher|Robert|1991|p=258-259, 268}}

Duplessis based his campaign on portraying the religious minorities, the federal government and the trade unions as threatening the province's interests, autonomy, traditions and identity.{{Sfn|Sarra-Bournet|2009}} He also attacked Godbout's reforms as threatening the Church and the Catholic faith ([[Cardinal Villeneuve]] indeed disapproved of the legislation).{{Sfn|Dumas|2019|p=149}} During the campaign, Duplessis floated a false [[Antisemitism|anti-Semitic]] [[conspiracy theory]] that asserted that the federal government, ruled by the [[Liberal Party of Canada|Liberals]], and the Quebec Liberals struck a secret deal with the so-called "International Zionist Brotherhood" to settle 100,000 [[Holocaust]] refugees in Quebec in exchange for campaign contributions.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Knowles |first=Valerie |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=1HokCQAAQBAJ |title=Strangers at Our Gates: Canadian Immigration and Immigration Policy, 1540–2015 |date=March 5, 2016 |publisher=[[Dundurn Press]] |isbn=978-1-4597-3287-2 |language=en |quote=One of the most strident and cynical notes...}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last1=Anctil |first1=Pierre |url= |title=[[History of the Jews in Quebec]] |last2=Woodsworth |first2=Judith |date=2021 |publisher=[[University of Ottawa]] Press |isbn=978-0-7766-2951-3 |location=[[Ottawa]] |pages=211–213 |oclc=1273427474}}</ref> While Max Beer argues that this story did not influence the election result very much,<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Beer |first=Max |date=December 3, 2007 |title=The Montreal Jewish Community and the Holocaust |url=https://link.springer.com/10.1007/s12144-007-9017-3 |journal=Current Psychology |language=en |volume=26 |issue=3–4 |pages=191–205 |doi=10.1007/s12144-007-9017-3 |s2cid=143822838 |issn=0737-8262|url-access=subscription }}</ref> the public and the press was enthusiastic about a leader who would not let any refugees arrive in ''[[La Belle Province (nickname)|la belle province]].''<ref>{{Cite book |last=Abella |first=Irving M. |title=None is too many: Canada and the Jews of Europe, 1933–1948 |date=1986 |publisher=Lester & Orpen Dennys |others=Harold Martin Troper |isbn=0-88619-064-9 |edition= |location=Toronto |pages=162–164 |oclc=16043516}}</ref> The business community, in its turn, was assured by his pledge to pursue development driven by private investments and opposition to state takeovers of companies. In the [[1944 Quebec general election|1944 election]], the Union Nationale received just over 38% of votes – the smallest share of votes in any election during his leadership – and finished behind the Liberals in the popular vote count. Still, Duplessis was able to form the government as vote splitting between the Bloc populaire and Godbout's party let the Union Nationale win 48 out of 91 seats.{{Sfn|Sarra-Bournet|2009}}

=== Second to fifth terms (1944-1959) ===
{{Main|Premiership of Maurice Duplessis#Second government (1944–1959)}}[[File:Camillien Houde et Maurice Duplessis 1948.jpg|thumb|right|Public reconciliation of Camillien Houde (left) and Maurice Duplessis (centre) during a political assembly at Montreal's Saint-Jacques market in July 1948. Houde had previously come to good terms with Duplessis in 1944, when the long-time mayor of Montreal was arrested for [[Conscription Crisis of 1944|resisting conscription]].{{Sfn|Sarra-Bournet|2009}}|alt=A photo of two men and a woman standing on a stage]] [[File:KingPremiers1945.jpg|thumb|right|Duplessis (4th to the right) at the Dominion-Provincial Conference on Reconstruction, 1945 or 1946]]Even though the majority of the Union Nationale seemed tenuous to his Liberal opponents, it eventually led to 15 years of uninterrupted rule over the province.{{Sfn|Saint-Aubin|1979|p=150}} This was common in post-war Canada as the incumbent governments were able to take credit for the [[Post–World War II economic expansion|strong economic performance]] and were often reelected on this basis.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Duplessis: A product of his time |url=https://www.historymuseum.ca/blog/duplessis-a-product-of-his-time/ |access-date=May 23, 2022 |website=Canadian Museum of History |language=en-US}}</ref> Several other factors specific to Quebec also helped in the longevity of his rule. The first was his personal charisma, which was so strong that the figure of Duplessis mattered much more than the party he represented. Another reason was his media-savvy team of talented campaign managers led by [[Joseph-Damase Bégin]], his minister of colonization.<ref name=":17">{{Citation |title=La pub de Duplessis enfin décodée | date=March 28, 2021 |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f7SkMjHg5NM |language=en |access-date=July 6, 2022}}</ref> The fact that the party secured a steady source of income from [[kickbacks]] from business entities helped implement the lavish campaign styles that the managers proposed.<ref name=":162">{{Cite journal |last=Panneton |first=Jean-Charles |date=2012 |title=Les moyens de l'ambition / Alain Lavigne, Duplessis, pièce manquante d'une Légende. L'invention du marketing politique, Sillery, Septentrion, 2012, 200 pages |url=https://www.erudit.org/fr/revues/lecture/2012-v7-n1-lecture0359/67915ac/resume/ |journal=Les Cahiers de lecture de l'Action nationale |language=fr |volume=7 |issue=1 |pages=17 |issn=1911-9372}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last=Heintzman |first=Ralph |date=1983 |title=The Political Culture of Quebec, 1840–1960 |url=https://www.cambridge.org/core/product/identifier/S0008423900027992/type/journal_article |journal=Canadian Journal of Political Science |language=en |volume=16 |issue=1 |pages=3–60 |doi=10.1017/S0008423900027992 |issn=0008-4239 |s2cid=154428610|url-access=subscription }}</ref> Threats to withdraw funds if the riding did not support the Union Nationale's candidate, [[malapportionment]] in favour of rural areas, which were the party's stronghold,{{Sfn|Jones|2000|p=11-12, 14–15}} and support from the high clergy<ref name=":28">{{Cite book |last=Côté |first=Pauline |title=Regulating religion: case studies from around the globe legacy |publisher=Springer |year=2004 |isbn=978-0-306-47886-4 |editor-last=Richardson |editor-first=James T. |page=425 |chapter=Public Management of Religious Diversity in Canada |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=U6opyVE_IYkC&pg=PA425}}</ref> further cemented the long reign of Duplessis.

The reign itself had some authoritarian tendencies. Even though the Legislative Assembly deliberated with all the usual organs, Duplessis was the ''de facto'' rulemaker in parliament. "Le Chef" enforced party discipline very strictly and, with very few exceptions, decision autonomy in the cabinet or in the Legislative Assembly was nonexistent.<ref name=":23" />{{Sfn|Black|1977|p=308}} Duplessis, in his capacity as Attorney General, enforced censorship of creations deemed immoral, whether by statutory authorization or simply at his will. Media outlets suspected of sympathizing with the communists would be closed down and the property confiscated by virtue of the Padlock Act.<ref>{{Cite thesis |title=Between friends: Censorship of Canada's media in World War II |url=https://ruor.uottawa.ca/handle/10393/29861 |publisher=University of Ottawa (Canada) |date=2009 |degree=PhD |doi=10.20381/ruor-13180 |language=en |first=Mark |last=Bourrie}}, p. 118</ref>{{Sfn|Gélinas|Ferretti|Bédard|2010|p=219, 230}} As for newspapers, they would be ordered not to report on the Union Nationale's wrongdoings for fear of retribution from Duplessis.<ref name="DuplessisCensor++2">{{Cite book |last1=Hébert |first1=Pierre |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=kpPCydTC8IwC |title=Dictionnaire de la censure au Québec: littérature et cinéma |last2=Landry |first2=Kenneth |last3=Lever |first3=Yves |date=2006 |publisher=Les Editions Fides |isbn=978-2-7621-2636-5 |pages=221–222 |language=fr}}</ref> In order to appeal to the Catholic majority, Duplessis also engaged in a fight against [[Jehovah's Witnesses]], whom he equated to Communists and the [[Nazism|Nazis]], though he ultimately lost court cases connected to them in the [[Supreme Court of Canada]], notably ''[[Roncarelli v Duplessis]]''.<ref name=":19">{{Cite book |last=Clément |first=Dominique |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=elteDAAAQBAJ&dq=roncarelli+bankrupt&pg=PA61 |title=Human Rights in Canada: A History |date=March 31, 2016 |publisher=Wilfrid Laurier Univ. Press |isbn=978-1-77112-164-4 |pages=49, 61 |language=en}}</ref>

Duplessis's rule was socially conservative. The regime generally enjoyed strong support from the high echelons of the Catholic Church, though lower-tier priests did not necessarily endorse him.<ref name=":18">{{Cite journal |last=Dumas |first=Alexandre |date=2016 |title=« Les évêques mangent dans ma main »: les relations entre l'Église et l'État sous Maurice Duplessis (1944–1959) |journal=Revue d'histoire de l'Amérique française |language=fr |volume=69 |issue=4 |pages=47–69 |doi=10.7202/1036514ar |issn=0035-2357|doi-access=free }}</ref> The Church played an outsized influence in the lives of Quebeckers since it provided most healthcare and education services, something that would only change after 1960.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Seljak |first=David |date=1996 |title=Why the Quiet Revolution was "Quiet": The Catholic Church's Reaction to the Secularization of Nationalism in Quebec after 1960 |url=https://www.cchahistory.ca/journal/CCHA1996/Seljak.pdf |journal=Canadian Catholic Historical Association: Historical Studies |volume=62 |pages=106}}</ref><ref name="EHAGeloso">{{Cite web |last=Emery |first=Herb |date=2017 |title=Vincent Geloso, Rethinking Canadian Economic Growth and Development since 1900: The Quebec Case |url=https://eh.net/book_reviews/rethinking-canadian-economic-growth-and-development-since-1900-the-quebec-case/ |access-date=July 17, 2022 |website=[[Economic History Association]]}}</ref> A very able speaker who resorted to [[populism]] when necessary, he emphasized the importance of the preservation of what he believed were French Canadian values: the Catholic faith, the local traditions and the French language.<ref name="Pop">{{Cite journal |last=Boily |first=Frédéric |date=2002 |title=Le duplessisme ou le populisme inachevé |url=https://www.erudit.org/fr/revues/ps/2002-v21-n2-ps405/000481ar/ |journal=Politique et Sociétés |language=fr |volume=21 |issue=2 |pages=101–122 |doi=10.7202/000481ar |issn=1203-9438|url-access=subscription }}</ref> In order to preserve them, he argued, Quebec had to defend its provincial autonomy from the encroachment of the federal government.<ref name=":26">{{Cite journal |last=Desrosiers |first=Richard |date=1971 |title=Duplessis et l'idéologie dominante |journal=Revue d'histoire de l'Amérique française |language=fr |volume=25 |issue=3 |pages=385–388 |doi=10.7202/303093ar |issn=0035-2357|doi-access=free }}</ref> It was usually done by means of refusing to participate in [[Canadian federalism|federal-provincial programs]], which at that time mostly consisted of new welfare policies, but also through asserting its power to taxation, which Duplessis successfully did in 1955.<ref name=":102">{{Cite journal |last=Sarra-Bournet |first=Michel |date=2007 |title=La société civile devant la Commission Tremblay |journal=Bulletin d'histoire politique |language=fr |volume=16 |issue=1 |pages=43–64 |doi=10.7202/1054590ar |issn=1201-0421|doi-access=free }}</ref>

The post-war economic expansion defined the economic development of Quebec under Duplessis. [[Full employment]] stayed in the province for over a decade<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Rousseau |first=Jean-Romain |year=1967 |title=Regional analysis of unemployment: the Province of Quebec, 1946–1966 |url=https://dr.lib.iastate.edu/entities/publication/4000bb72-bb03-4668-a328-7c752d2d32e0 |journal=Iowa State University |pages=35–36, 138 |doi=10.31274/rtd-180813-7762|doi-access=free }}</ref> and average wages rose slightly faster than in the rest of Canada.{{Sfnm|Rouillard|2004|1p=128|Geloso|2017|2pp=29–35}} [[GDP]] growth was fairly strong and was in a large degree as a result of a large stream of investment and general improvements in efficiency.{{Sfn|Quinn|1979|p=81}} The way Duplessis solicited the investments was consistent with [[economic liberalism]].<ref name="Mines">{{Cite journal |last=Bernier |first=Emmanuel |date=2021 |title=« Duplessis donne sa province »: exploitation minière et valeurs au Québec sous l'Union nationale (1945–1956) |journal=Bulletin d'histoire politique |language=fr |volume=29 |issue=3 |pages=37–62 |doi=10.7202/1084746ar |issn=1201-0421|doi-access=free }}</ref> Quebec refused state intervention in resource extraction itself and thus relied heavily on out-of-province (English Canadian or American) capital to develop its rich natural resources.{{sfn|Aranoff|1984|p=7, 25, 43–47}}<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Blake |first1=Raymond B. |author-link1=Raymond B. Blake |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=44kwDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA202 |title=Conflict and Compromise: Post-Confederation Canada |last2=Keshen |first2=Jeffrey |last3=Knowles |first3=Norman J. |last4=Messamore |first4=Barbara J. |date=May 18, 2017 |publisher=University of Toronto Press |isbn=978-1-4426-3557-9 |pages=202–203 |language=en}}</ref> Duplessis attracted the money by using a combination of low taxes, low regulation and pro-employer labour policies. Trade unions in particular were a target of Duplessis's interventions. Duplessis had a consistent position of disincentivizing collective bargaining by passing unfavourable regulations for organized labour, which at the time was unique in Canada.{{sfn|Rouillard|2004|p=122}} When strike action did occur, the police were immediately deployed to break it (as was the case in [[Asbestos strike|Asbestos in 1949]]).<ref>{{Cite book |last=Tardif |first=Guy |url=http://archive.org/details/policeetpolitiqu0000tard |title=Police et politique au Québec |date=1974 |publisher=Montréal: L'Aurore: distribution, Maison de Diffusion-Québec |isbn=978-0-88532-003-5 |pages=199–201 |via=Internet Archive}}</ref>

Quebec's management of the budget was [[Fiscal conservatism|fiscally conservative]]. The budget was balanced and provincial debt was decreasing.<ref name=":242">{{Cite journal |last=Dupré |first=Ruth |date=1988 |title=Un siècle de finances publiques québécoises: 1867–1969 |journal=L'Actualité économique |language=fr |volume=64 |issue=4 |pages=559–583 |doi=10.7202/601470ar |issn=0001-771X|doi-access=free }}</ref> Even though the size of the budget increased substantially, "Le Chef" derided most attempts at welfare state in Quebec as "Anglo-Saxon and Protestant socialism";{{Sfn|Vaillancourt|1988|p=163}} instead, he called for charity to fill in the gaps. Ironically, by the end of Duplessis's rule, it was the federal government which footed most of the welfare bill in Quebec.{{Sfn|Vaillancourt|1988|p=595-598}} The main investments of the era were the construction of hospitals and schools across the province,<ref name=":25">{{Cite journal |last=Harvey |first=Fernand |date=2014 |title=Le gouvernement Duplessis, l'éducation et la culture, 1944–1959 |url=https://www.erudit.org/fr/revues/cdd/2014-n68-cdd01774/1029294ar/ |journal=Les Cahiers des dix |language=fr |issue=68 |pages=169–247 |doi=10.7202/1029294ar |issn=0575-089X|doi-access=free }}</ref>{{Sfn|Vaillancourt|1988|p=192, 230–238, 251–254}} the increase of electricity supply via [[Hydro-Québec]]<ref>{{Cite web |title=1945–1959 – Hydro-Québec's First Triumphs {{!}} History of Electricity in Québec |url=http://www.hydroquebec.com/history-electricity-in-quebec/timeline/hydro-quebec-first-triumphs.html |access-date=September 22, 2022 |website=Hydro-Québec |language=en}}</ref> and development in rural areas (particularly through the Rural Electrification Office).{{Sfn|Quinn|1979|p=85-86}}{{Sfn|Linteau|Durocher|Robert|1991|p=185-186, 198–209}} Despite these investments, rural areas remained much poorer and less developed than urban areas, so Duplessis oversaw an exodus of rural population towards Montreal.{{Sfn|Gagnon|Sarra-Bournet|1997|p=209-210}} Additionally, the situation of majority French Canadians still remained worse than that of the Anglophone minority. The reason was that the Anglophones dominated the business world of Montreal, the financial centre of Canada at the time, took most of the top jobs available and had substantial autonomy within the province.{{Sfn|Linteau|Durocher|Robert|1991|p=147-149}}

=== Death, funeral and the end of the dominance of the Union Nationale ===
[[File:Schefferville-septembre2007.jpg|alt=A village on a lake surrounded by barren land|thumb|Schefferville as seen from the iron mine, September 2007]]Duplessis suffered from numerous health problems throughout his life. He underwent two surgeries for a strangulated hernia in 1930 and 1942, which each ended in several-month-long stays in the hospital due to complications or other diseases slowing down his recovery. Duplessis was also hospitalized for a shorter period in 1929 for injuries he had sustained in a car accident.{{Sfn|Sarra-Bournet|2009}} Duplessis had also been a heavy drinker,<ref name=":6">{{Cite web |author=Black, Conrad M. |year=2011 |title=Duplessis, Maurice Le Noblet |url=http://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/maurice-le-noblet-duplessis/ |access-date=January 31, 2011 |publisher=[[The Canadian Encyclopedia]], Historica Foundation, Toronto}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Mann |first=Susan |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=86HWyB8xPY0C&dq=maurice+duplessis+alcoholism&pg=PA253 |title=Dream of Nation |date=July 30, 2002 |publisher=McGill-Queen's Press – MQUP |isbn=978-0-7735-7031-3 |pages=253 |language=en}}</ref> but on the advice of his doctor,<ref name=":7">{{Cite book |last=Guttman |first=Frank |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=IrwOQZkjgZ4C&dq=maurice+duplessis+diabetes&pg=PA258 |title=The Devil from Saint-Hyacinthe: Senator Télesphore-Damien Bouchard |date=May 24, 2007 |publisher=[[iUniverse]] |isbn=978-0-595-84678-8 |location=[[Bloomington, Ind.]] |pages=258 |language=en}}</ref>{{Sfn|Paulin|2005|p=142}} pressure from his party and Adélard Godbout's suggestion that this "weakness was going to ruin [Duplessis]",{{Sfn|Saint-Aubin|1979|p=142-143}} became a [[teetotaller]] after his second surgery. Also in 1942, doctors diagnosed Duplessis with [[diabetes]],<ref name=":7" /> which particularly caused trouble in the last years of his life.{{Sfn|Sarra-Bournet|2009}}
[[File:Monument funéraire de Maurice Le Noblet Duplessis 02.jpg|alt=A white marble cross on a cemetery|thumb|A memorial cross on the Duplessis family grave on the {{Ill|Saint Louis Cemetery (Trois-Rivières)|lt=Saint Louis Cemetery|fr|Cimetière Saint-Louis (Trois-Rivières)}} of Trois-Rivières. The flag of Quebec, adopted by Duplessis's [[Order in Council|order in council]] in 1948, can be seen to the right.]]By the end of 1958, in the middle of his fourth term, Duplessis's health started to deteriorate significantly and he struggled to keep on with the prior habits of his premiership. Doctors warned him that he was overstretching himself and needed some rest, but "Le Chef" went on with his duties.{{Sfn|Black|1977|p=681-682}} Sometime before September 2, 1959, Duplessis accepted an invitation from Quebec Iron, a subsidiary of the [[Iron Ore Company of Canada]], to travel to [[Schefferville]] to see its mines.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Bilan du siècle – Décès du premier ministre du Québec, Maurice Duplessis |url=https://bilan.usherbrooke.ca/bilan/pages/evenements/1315.html |access-date=January 24, 2023 |website=University of Sherbrooke}}</ref> The flight to Sept-Îles and then the mining town was uneventful, but at about lunch time on September 3, while staying in the company's guesthouse, Duplessis suffered a bleeding [[stroke]], which paralyzed his right leg and arm and sent him into a barely conscious state; three more strokes occurred by September 4.{{Sfn|Black|1977|p=683-686}} After balancing on the verge of life for two more days, Duplessis died on September 7 at 12:01 AM [[EDT (time)|EDT]].<ref>{{Cite web |date=September 10, 1959 |title=Funerailles de M. Duplessis a Trois-Rivieres, ce matin |url=https://numerique.banq.qc.ca/patrimoine/details/52327/3703592 |access-date=January 24, 2023 |website=Le Clairon Maskoutain |language=fr |via=Bibliotheque et Archives Nationales du Quebec}}</ref>
{{External media|float=right|video1=[https://www.dailymotion.com/video/xadgp2 ''Les funérailles de Duplessis''], video about the funeral of the Premier, Radio-Canada, September 10, 1959|video2=[https://ici.radio-canada.ca/nouvelle/1286719/deces-maurice-duplessis-union-nationale-quebec-archives ''La revue de l'année 1959''], video reviewing the most important events of 1959, Radio-Canada, January 1, 1960|audio1=[https://www.cbc.ca/player/play/1743792223 Remembering "Le Chef" Duplessis] – a eulogy by Prime Minister John Diefenbaker, September 1959}}
The body was placed in a coffin covered by the flag of Quebec, which he had introduced by an [[Order in Council]] in 1948. The coffin arrived to Quebec City by plane at 6:10 am. Duplessis's body was then [[embalmed]] and [[laid in state]] in the building of the Legislative Assembly.<ref name=":4">{{Cite web |date=September 8, 1959 |title=Un avion ramène le chef de I'U.N. dans son cercueil |url=https://numerique.banq.qc.ca/patrimoine/details/52327/2829517 |access-date=January 24, 2023 |website=[[La Presse (Canadian newspaper)|La Presse]] |pages=1, 20 |language=fr |via=Bibliotheque et Archives nationales du Quebec}}</ref> About 100,000 people arrived to pay homage for the late premier until September 10, when the body was transported to his hometown of Trois-Rivières. The funeral service in the [[Assumption Cathedral (Trois-Rivières)|Assumption Cathedral]] of that city, officiated by Cardinal [[Paul-Émile Léger]], [[Archbishop of Montreal]], and Archbishop [[Maurice Roy]] of [[Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Quebec|Quebec]], was attended by eleven members of the federal cabinet, including Prime Minister [[John Diefenbaker]], all of the provincial cabinet and the Lieutenant Governor of Quebec, three fellow premiers, nine bishops and archbishops and other high officials. Another 50,000 people paid respects to Duplessis in his hometown, after which he was buried alongside his parents.{{Sfn|Black|1977|p=686}}<ref name=":5">{{Cite web |date=September 11, 1959 |title=Ultime homage à M. Duplessis |url=https://numerique.banq.qc.ca/patrimoine/details/52327/2792567 |access-date=January 24, 2023 |website=Le Devoir |pages=1, 10 |language=fr |via=Bibliothèque et Archives nationales du Québec}}</ref>

On the evening of September 10, 1959, the caucus of the Union Nationale proposed to the Lieutenant Governor that Paul Sauvé be sworn in as premier, which he was on the morning of the following day.<ref name=":5" /> The time of his rule is widely known as that of "''désormais''" (from now on) and seen as a break from his predecessor.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Turgeon |first=Alexandre |date=2013 |title=Et si Paul Sauvé n'avait jamais prononcé le " Désormais… " ? |url=https://www.erudit.org/en/journals/haf/1964-v17-n4-haf01516/1026615ar/ |journal=Revue d'histoire de l'Amérique française |language=fr |volume=67 |issue=1 |pages=33–56 |doi=10.7202/1026615ar |issn=0035-2357|url-access=subscription }}</ref> That said, despite the several reforms that have been implemented in the short "100 days", as the period is also known, Sauvé stressed his loyalty to the legacy of Duplessis and portrayed his rule as the continuation of what Duplessis was doing. Antonio Barrette, who succeeded Sauvé after the latter's death in January 1960, also continued the same policies.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Turgeon |first=Alexandre |date=December 1, 2017 |title=De la création à la commémoration: le « Désormais… » de Paul Sauvé dans l'histoire du Québec, 1959–2010 |url=https://utpjournals.press/doi/10.3138/chr.98.4.rn |journal=Canadian Historical Review |volume=98 |issue=4 |pages=765–797 |doi=10.3138/chr.98.4.rn |s2cid=165324501 |issn=0008-3755|url-access=subscription }}</ref> However, the frequent changes of power threw the Union Nationale into disarray just before the planned [[1960 Quebec general election|election in June]], which [[Jean Lesage]]'s Liberals won. This defeat of the Union Nationale started the [[Quiet Revolution]].

=== Private life ===
Duplessis was a lifelong bachelor and had no children.{{Sfn|Sarra-Bournet|2009}} In fact, "Le Chef" would tell people that he had no family and that his only responsibility was the welfare of his province, to which he said he belonged.{{Sfn|Laporte|1960|p=33}} For most of his political life, Duplessis lived alone in [[Château Frontenac]].{{Sfn|Black|1977|p=132, 142, 221, 271, 660}} Conrad Black suggests that during World War I Duplessis courted Augustine Delisle, a daughter of a prosperous coal trader, but his family disapproved of a connection that would unite them with a family of merchants. This upset him and it was probably then that he decided never to marry anyone.{{Sfn|Black|1977|p=18}} Duplessis still remained close to his sisters as well as their husbands. He also became a [[Godparent|godfather]] to a daughter of [[Antonio Talbot]], the minister of roads in his post-war government.<ref>{{Cite news |date=November 30, 1950 |title=L'Honorable M. Duplessis, parrain |language=fr |page=1 |work=Progrès du Saguenay |url=https://numerique.banq.qc.ca/patrimoine/details/52327/2619028 |access-date=December 29, 2021 |via=[[Bibliothèque et Archives nationales du Québec]]}}</ref>

In his later life, his relationships with other women were quite idiosyncratic. He believed that he had to behave in a strictly aristocratic and gentlemanly manner towards them but his convictions did not prevent him from making risqué comments about women in their presence. In general, Duplessis would more and more feel as if he were part of aristocracy and behave and dress accordingly even though he had no blood relation with it.{{Sfn|Black|1977|p=664-665}} Conrad Black suggests that [[hypospadias]] could also have affected his relationships with women.{{Sfn|Black|1977|p=683-4}}

Despite a populist image "Le Chef" created in public and rumours that persisted even after his death, his hobbies included opera and literature. He enjoyed historical or political books the most, but he also read classical French or English-language authors, such as [[Rudyard Kipling]], [[Tennyson]] and [[Shakespeare]].{{Sfn|Rumilly|1973|p=30}}{{efn|For the contents of his library and suggestions about the typical books he read, see<ref name="BibDup">{{Cite journal |last1=Livernois |first1=Jonathan |last2=Noël |first2=Alex |date=2021 |title=La bibliothèque de Maurice Duplessis, le non‑lecteur |journal=Mémoires du livre / Studies in Book Culture |language=fr |volume=12 |issue=1 |doi=10.7202/1077809ar |s2cid=238006039 |issn=1920-602X|doi-access=free |hdl=20.500.11794/68899 |hdl-access=free }}</ref>}} Later in his life, Duplessis developed a taste for paintings and started collecting them. At his death, his sister Jeanne-L. Balcer-Duplessis inherited the works of art, which she donated to the provincial government in exchange for the cancellation of the inheritance tax. Most of the paintings, including those by [[Clarence Gagnon]], [[Cornelius Krieghoff]], [[J. M. W. Turner]], [[Auguste Renoir]], [[Charles Jacque]], [[Cornelis Springer]] and [[Johan Jongkind]], are stored in the [[Musée national des beaux-arts du Québec|National Museum of Fine Arts of Quebec]].<ref>{{Cite book |last=Karel |first=David |title=La collection Duplessis |publisher=Musée du Québec |year=1991 |isbn=978-2-551-12600-2 |location=Quebec City |language=French |oclc=24540448}}</ref> On the other hand, his love of sport was not unequivocal. In fact, Duplessis has not practised any in his life, except for [[croquet]].{{Sfn|Black|1977|p=15}} However, he was a fan of the [[Montreal Canadiens]] and was also an avid supporter of the [[New York Yankees]].{{Sfn|Black|1977|p=613-614}}

<!-- === Electoral history ===

==== Trois-Rivières provincial electoral district ====

{{Election results
|caption= 1923 election in Trois-Rivières provincial electoral district 
| party1=[[Quebec Liberal Party|Liberal]]
| cand1  = '''Louis-Philippe Mercier''' ''(incumbent)''
| color1 = #EA6D6A
| votes1 = 1612

| party2=[[Conservative Party of Quebec (historical)|Conservative]]
| cand2  = Maurice Duplessis
| color2 = #9999FF
| votes2 = 1328

| source = National Assembly of Quebec<ref name="AssnatResultats">{{cite web |title=Les résultats électoraux depuis 1867, Taillon à Trois-Rivières|publisher=National Assembly of Quebec|location=Belgrade|language=fr |url=https://www.assnat.qc.ca/fr/patrimoine/resultatselec/t.html}}</ref>
}}

{{Election results
|caption= 1927 election in Trois-Rivières provincial electoral district 
| party1=[[Conservative Party of Quebec (historical)|Conservative]]
| cand1  = '''Maurice Duplessis'''
| color1 = #9999FF
| votes1 = 2622
| party2=[[Quebec Liberal Party|Liberal]]
| cand2  = Louis-Philippe Mercier ''(incumbent)''
| color2 = #EA6D6A
| votes2 = 2496

| source = National Assembly of Quebec<ref name="AssnatResultats"/>
}}

{{Election results
|caption= 1931 election in Trois-Rivières provincial electoral district 
| party1=[[Conservative Party of Quebec (historical)|Conservative]]
| cand1  = '''Maurice Duplessis''' ''(incumbent)''
| color1 = #9999FF
| votes1 = 3812
| party2=[[Quebec Liberal Party|Liberal]]
| cand2  = Philippe Bigué
| color2 = #EA6D6A
| votes2 = 3771

| source = National Assembly of Quebec<ref name="AssnatResultats"/>
}}

{{Election results
|caption= 1935 election in Trois-Rivières provincial electoral district 
| party1=[[Conservative Party of Quebec (historical)|Conservative]]
| cand1  = '''Maurice Duplessis''' ''(incumbent)''
| color1 = #9999FF
| votes1 = 4873
| party2=[[Quebec Liberal Party|Liberal]]
| cand2  = Léon Lajoie
| color2 = #EA6D6A
| votes2 = 3671

| source = National Assembly of Quebec<ref name="AssnatResultats"/>
}}

{{Election results
|caption= 1936 election in Trois-Rivières provincial electoral district 
| party1=[[Union Nationale (Quebec)|Union Nationale]]
| cand1  = '''Maurice Duplessis''' ''(incumbent)''
| color1 = #0088C2
| votes1 = 5628
| party2=[[Quebec Liberal Party|Liberal]]
| cand2  = Philippe Bigué
| color2 = #EA6D6A
| votes2 = 2492

| source = National Assembly of Quebec<ref name="AssnatResultats"/>
}}

{{Election results
|caption= 1939 election in Trois-Rivières provincial electoral district 
| party1=[[Union Nationale (Quebec)|Union Nationale]]
| cand1  = '''Maurice Duplessis''' ''(incumbent)''
| color1 = #0088C2
| votes1 = 5278
| party2=[[Quebec Liberal Party|Liberal]]
| cand2  = Atchez Pitt
| color2 = #EA6D6A
| votes2 = 3565

| source = National Assembly of Quebec<ref name="AssnatResultats"/>
}}

{{Election results
|caption= 1944 election in Trois-Rivières provincial electoral district 
| party1=[[Union Nationale (Quebec)|Union Nationale]]
| cand1  = '''Maurice Duplessis''' ''(incumbent)''
| color1 = #0088C2
| votes1 = 12576
| party2=[[Quebec Liberal Party|Liberal]]
| cand2  = Léopold Pinsonnault
| color2 = #EA6D6A
| votes2 = 5318
| party3=[[Bloc Populaire]]
| cand3  = Lucien Richard
| color3 = #87CEFA
| votes3 = 950

| source = National Assembly of Quebec<ref name="AssnatResultats"/>
}}

{{Election results
|caption= 1948 election in Trois-Rivières provincial electoral district 
| party1=[[Union Nationale (Quebec)|Union Nationale]]
| cand1  = '''Maurice Duplessis''' ''(incumbent)''
| color1 = #0088C2
| votes1 = 16091
| party2=[[Quebec Liberal Party|Liberal]]
| cand2  = Alexandre-Marcel Lajoie
| color2 = #EA6D6A
| votes2 = 5318
| party3=[[Union des électeurs]]
| cand3  = Paul-Henri Poliquin
| color3 = #90EE90
| votes3 = 950

| source = National Assembly of Quebec<ref name="AssnatResultats"/>
}}

{{Election results
|caption= 1952 election in Trois-Rivières provincial electoral district 
| party1=[[Union Nationale (Quebec)|Union Nationale]]
| cand1  = '''Maurice Duplessis''' ''(incumbent)''
| color1 = #0088C2
| votes1 = 15493
| party2=[[Quebec Liberal Party|Liberal]]
| cand2  = J.-Alfred Mongrain
| color2 = #EA6D6A
| votes2 = 10058

| source = National Assembly of Quebec<ref name="AssnatResultats"/>
}}

{{Election results
|caption= 1948 election in Trois-Rivières provincial electoral district 
| party1=[[Union Nationale (Quebec)|Union Nationale]]
| cand1  = '''Maurice Duplessis''' ''(incumbent)''
| color1 = #0088C2
| votes1 = 16263
| party2=[[Quebec Liberal Party|Liberal]]
| cand2  = Lorne Berlinguet
| color2 = #EA6D6A
| votes2 = 9936
| party3= Capital Familial
| cand3  = Henri-Georges Grenier
| votes3 = 93
| party4= [[Labor-Progressive Party|Labour-Progressive]]
| cand4  = Wilfrid-Édouard Terreault
| color4 = #FF6347
| votes4 = 52

| source = National Assembly of Quebec<ref name="AssnatResultats"/>
}}
-->

== Historical debate ==
Duplessis is recognized as one of the most colourful, if controversial, people in Canadian politics.<ref name=":27">{{Cite web |title=Duplessis, Maurice: National Historic Person |url=https://www.pc.gc.ca/apps/dfhd/page_nhs_eng.aspx?id=1464 |access-date=February 6, 2023 |website=[[Parks Canada]]: Directory of Federal Heritage Designations |language=en}}</ref> His figure already polarized the political landscape of Quebec during his life, and it continued to do so well after his death.{{sfn|Nish|1970|p=1}} Even today, few politicians dare to emphasize the continuity of their policies with those of Duplessis for fear of being ridiculed<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Turgeon |first=Alexandre |date=2019 |title=La Révolution dans l'ordre. Une histoire du duplessisme by Jonathan Livernois |url=https://muse.jhu.edu/article/743150 |journal=Histoire sociale/Social history |language=en |volume=52 |issue=106 |pages=400–403 |doi=10.1353/his.2019.0051 |s2cid=213390487 |issn=1918-6576|url-access=subscription }}</ref> as the rule of Duplessis generally has negative connotations in Quebec society.<ref name=":14" /><ref name=":13">{{Cite journal |last=Bouchard |first=Gérard |date=2005 |title=L'imaginaire de la grande noirceur et de la révolution tranquille: fictions identitaires et jeux de mémoire au Québec |url=https://www.erudit.org/en/journals/rs/2005-v46-n3-rs1050/012471ar/abstract/ |journal=Recherches Sociographiques |language=fr |volume=46 |issue=3 |pages=411–436 |doi=10.7202/012471ar |issn=0034-1282|url-access=subscription }}</ref><ref name="warts" /> Opinions about him are so strong that being compared to Duplessis may be considered an insult.<ref name=":22" /> This was already the case shortly after the Union Nationale's downfall in 1960, when [[Léon Dion]] urged the province to reject its heritage and undergo a revolution.<ref name=":15" /> The new generation of adults which emerged in the 1980s, who did not have appreciable contact with either Duplessis or the events of the 1960s, associated Duplessis with negative phenomena much more than the positive ones.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Létourneau |first=Jocelyn |date=1988 |title=L'imaginaire historique des jeunes Québécois |journal=Revue d'histoire de l'Amérique française |language=fr |volume=41 |issue=4 |pages=553–574 |doi=10.7202/304616ar |issn=0035-2357|doi-access=free }}</ref>

=== Duplessis as the incarnation of the ''Grande Noirceur'' ===
{{External media|audio1=[https://www.cbc.ca/player/play/1743796405 Battle of the historians], a discussion on the legacy of Maurice Duplessis between Conrad Black and [[Léandre Bergeron]], CBC, 1974 (22m 44s)|video1=[https://www.cbc.ca/player/play/1743556942 Re-evaluating Duplessis], a CBC report, 1999 (2m 51s)|audio2=[https://www.cbc.ca/player/play/1743793835 CBC interviews] Montrealers about the news that René Lévesque wants to place a monument to Duplessis, together with an interview of a journalist of ''[[Le Soleil (Quebec)|Le Soleil]]'', 1977|audio3=[https://www.cbc.ca/player/play/1743794842 CBC interviews] inhabitants of Trois-Rivières about Duplessis, 1974|video2=[https://ici.radio-canada.ca/nouvelle/1360281/duplessis-quebec-politique-histoire-archives Radio-Canada] interviews with several political opponents of Duplessis}}{{Further|Grande Noirceur}}

Intellectual circles were not kind to Duplessis, even during his life. [[Pierre Trudeau]] would write in ''[[Cité Libre]]'' that Duplessis did not tax enough on the provincial level and this enabled the federal government's invasion of provincial autonomy and deprived Quebeckers of the needed social services.{{Sfn|Black|1977|p=689}} In ''Le Devoir,'' [[André Laurendeau]] penned an editorial, ''{{Ill|La théorie du roi nègre|lt=|fr|}}'' (''The Theory of the Negro King''). It posited that foreign capital allowed Duplessis to stay in power so that he could officially allow to ruthlessly exploit the province of Quebec. The role of Duplessis was along the lines of the "Negro Kings", the local chieftains whom the British allowed some control over their area but who had to recognize the supremacy of their overlords.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Bélanger |first=Claude |date=September 2006 |title="The Negro-King Theory" [La théorie du roi nègre] |url=http://faculty.marianopolis.edu/c.belanger/quebechistory/events/nking.htm |access-date=January 26, 2023 |website=[[Marianopolis College]]}}</ref>

Criticism of "Le Chef" intensified following his death. Shortly before the 1960 elections, Pierre Laporte published the first biography after Duplessis's death,{{Sfn|Laporte|1960}} which portrayed him as an intelligent but ruthless politician who would stay in power through corruption and repression of political opponents. Leslie Roberts' book{{Sfn|Roberts|1963}} outright called Duplessis a "Latin-American dictator" who would cater to the simplistic desires of French Canadians but failed to lift them from the state of inferiority with respect to the Anglophones.<ref name=":20">{{Cite book |last1=Behiels |first1=Michael D. |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=-3GEtIsei78C&pg=PA17 |title=Contemporary Quebec: Selected Readings and Commentaries |last2=Hayday |first2=Matthew |date=November 30, 2011 |publisher=McGill-Queen's Press – MQUP |isbn=978-0-7735-3890-0 |pages=11–17 |language=en |chapter=The Duplessis interregnum: a conundrum}}</ref> The Quiet Revolution was viewed as an enlightened response to the politics embodied by Duplessis, to the degree that the Duplessis era is associated with the label ''Grande Noirceur'' (Great Darkness).<ref name=":14">{{Cite journal |last=Rouillard |first=Jacques |date=2019 |title=Sortir de la Grande Noirceur grâce aux documents d'archives |journal=Archives |language=fr |volume=48 |issue=1 |pages=107–143 |doi=10.7202/1060817ar |s2cid=202451802 |issn=0044-9423|doi-access=free }}</ref>

Interpretations behind the label and even the dates of the beginning of this "shameful" period<ref name=":13" /> vary, but generally revolve around the criticism of defending a regressive model of society, blocking progress and leaving patronage and corruption entrenched.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Durocher |first=René |date=July 30, 2013 |title=Quiet Revolution |url=https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/quiet-revolution |access-date=January 30, 2023 |website=The Canadian Encyclopedia}}</ref><ref name=":15">{{Cite web |last=Dupuis |first=Serge |date=December 15, 2020 |title=La Grande Noirceur (the Great Darkness) |url=https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/grande-noirceur |access-date=January 30, 2023 |website=The Canadian Encyclopedia}}</ref> In defending the label, [[Jacques Godbout]] described the period of Duplessis as that of "perverse control of sexuality, contempt for the industry, art, economy and rejection of the scientific thought" and said that in intellectual circles, the ''Grande Noirceur'' was also a period of ''grand silence'' (great silence) and of ''grande peur'' (great fear).<ref>{{Cite web |date=September 28, 2010 |title=Pour éclairer la "grande noirceur" |url=https://www.ledevoir.com/opinion/idees/297019/pour-eclairer-la-grande-noirceur |access-date=January 30, 2023 |website=Le Devoir |language=fr}}</ref> Among other supporters of this interpretation were trade unionist [[Madeleine Parent]],{{Sfn|Gagnon|Sarra-Bournet|1997|p=19-22}} who was imprisoned for her advocacy in 1955 and ultimately acquitted of the charge of "[[seditious conspiracy]]";<ref>{{Cite web |date= |title=Inauguration du parc en hommage à Madeleine Parent |url=http://ville.montreal.qc.ca/portal/page?_pageid=7757,85167633&_dad=portal&_schema=PORTAL&id=15606&ret=http://ville.montreal.qc.ca/pls/portal/url/page/arrond_sou_fr/rep_annonces/rep_actualites/coll_actualites |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161018220907/http://ville.montreal.qc.ca/portal/page?_pageid=7757,85167633&_dad=portal&_schema=PORTAL&id=15606&ret=http://ville.montreal.qc.ca/pls/portal/url/page/arrond_sou_fr/rep_annonces/rep_actualites/coll_actualites |archive-date=October 18, 2016 |website=[[Le Sud-Ouest]] borough}}</ref> [[Gérard Pelletier]], also a union organizer, who described Duplessis's views as those of a "19th-century rural [[Civil law notary|notary]]";{{Sfn|Gagnon|Sarra-Bournet|1997|p=23-26}} and [[Jacques Hébert (Canadian politician)|Jacques Hébert]].{{Sfn|Hébert|2000}} Yves Vaillancourt, who analyzed the period from the perspective of administration of welfare, stated that [[social justice]] was in disrepair and that the government of Duplessis was at fault for causing this problem.{{Sfn|Vaillancourt|1988|p=593}} The ''Grande Noirceur'' view is also present in some English-language scholarly books that describe that era.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Hueglin |first=Thomas O. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=XhMuEAAAQBAJ&pg=PA177 |title=Federalism in Canada: Contested Concepts and Uneasy Balances |date=2021 |publisher=University of Toronto Press |isbn=978-1-4426-3647-7 |pages=177 |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Foran |first=Charles |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ZUE8uCLet4EC&pg=PA268 |title=Mordecai: The Life & Times |date=October 19, 2010 |publisher=Knopf Canada |isbn=978-0-307-37602-2 |pages=268 |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Webber |first=Jeremy H. A. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=xJbwn4x9OLUC&pg=PA41 |title=Reimagining Canada: Language, Culture, Community, and the Canadian Constitution |date=1994 |publisher=McGill-Queen's Press – MQUP |isbn=978-0-7735-1146-0 |pages=41 |language=en}}</ref>

=== Challenging the ''Grande Noirceur'' label ===
{{Further information|Quiet Revolution}}
In the 1970s, despite an overwhelmingly negative coverage of "Le Chef", two biographies cast him in a very positive light.<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Nemni |first1=Max |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=fd-nSGK8c1QC&pg=PA161 |title=Trudeau Transformed: The Shaping of a Statesman 1944–1965 |last2=Nemni |first2=Monique |date=October 17, 2011 |publisher=McClelland & Stewart |isbn=978-0-7710-5126-5 |pages=161 |language=en}}</ref> {{Ill|Robert Rumilly|fr}}, who defended Duplessis's policies throughout his life, including by writing propaganda pieces on the Union Nationale's behalf,<ref name=":22">{{Cite web |last=Fraser |first=Graham |date=June 2021 |title=Alive and Kicking |url=https://reviewcanada.ca/magazine/2021/06/alive-and-kicking/ |access-date=February 1, 2023 |website=Literary Review of Canada |language=en-US}}</ref> penned a biography of Duplessis published in 1973.{{Sfn|Rumilly|1973}} Conrad Black's biography, published in 1977,{{Sfn|Black|1977}} just like Rumilly's, received substantial criticism from the historians of the time.{{efn|For a contemporary example of such criticism, see {{Cite journal |last=Durocher |first=René |date=1977 |title=L'histoire partisane: Maurice Duplessis et son temps vus par Robert Rumilly et Conrad Black |journal=Revue d'histoire de l'Amérique française |language=fr |volume=31 |issue=3 |pages=407–426 |doi=10.7202/303636ar |issn=0035-2357|doi-access=free }}}} However, with time, the 1977 biography became more and more accepted.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Galt |first=George |date=December 2007 |title=Conrad Black: A Scribe's Progress |url=https://reviewcanada.ca/magazine/2007/12/conrad-black-a-scribes-progress/ |access-date=February 1, 2023 |website=Literary Review of Canada |language=en-US}}</ref> Today, the books are either considered reliable even if they are biased and have some methodological issues,<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Dumas |first=Alexandre |date=2021 |title=Pierre B. Berthelot, Duplessis est encore en vie, Québec, Septentrion, 2021, 408 p. |journal=Bulletin d'histoire politique |language=fr |volume=29 |issue=3 |pages=70–74 |doi=10.7202/1084748ar |issn=1201-0421|doi-access=free }}</ref> or, alternatively, flawed but usable, particularly given that no historian wrote a similar biography after them.{{Sfn|Livernois|2018|p=84}} In short, Rumilly praised his devotion to the Catholic Church and defended his fight against "subversive" organizations, such as trade unions. Black, on the other hand, believed that Duplessis was an able politician who managed to modernize the province even while defending traditional values;<ref name=":21">{{Cite journal |last=Dumas |first=Alexandre |date=2019 |title=Maurice Duplessis (1890–1959) – Anti-héros national |url=https://www.erudit.org/en/journals/hq/2019-v25-n1-hq04864/91753ac/abstract/ |journal=Histoire Québec |language=fr |volume=25 |issue=1 |pages=30–32 |issn=1201-4710 |ref=none}}</ref> the latter then further clarified that in his view, the Québécois owe their prosperity to Duplessis as he used the money saved from underpaying teachers and nurses to make infrastructural investments.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Black |first=Conrad |date=February 26, 2021 |title=The hard truth that Quebec's intelligentsia never admit |url=https://nationalpost.com/opinion/conrad-black-the-hard-truth-that-quebecs-intelligentsia-never-admit |access-date=February 1, 2023 |website=[[National Post]] |language=en-CA}}</ref>

The next wave of change came with the researchers of the 1980s and the 1990s, who challenged the then dominant idea of Duplessism as something awful and to be avoided, which was how historians who personally witnessed the Quiet Revolution often viewed it.{{Sfn|Gagnon|Sarra-Bournet|1997|p=15}} The movement did not want to revise history as in rewriting the facts about that period, but rather changing the perspectives on it, giving different interpretations and assigning different weights to the events.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Meunier |first=E.-Martin |date=2016 |title=La Grande Noirceur canadienne-française dans l'historiographie et la mémoire québécoises: Revisiter une interprétation convenue |url=http://www.cairn.info/revue-vingtieme-siecle-revue-d-histoire-2016-1-page-43.htm |journal=Vingtième Siècle. Revue d'histoire |language=fr |volume=129 |issue=1 |pages=43 |doi=10.3917/ving.129.0043 |issn=0294-1759|url-access=subscription }}</ref> This started with the publication of the synthesis of the history of Quebec by Linteau ''et al.'' (named ''Quebec Since 1930''{{Sfn|Linteau|Durocher|Robert|1991}} in the English edition). It emphasized that Quebec, in fact, was developing in line with the rest of North America and the West in general; issues specific to Quebec, like the dominant influence of Catholic Church, were not as important as previously assumed or reported.{{Sfn|Gélinas|Ferretti|Bédard|2010|p=24}} In 1994, Bourque ''et al.'' published another book that argued that, contrary to common belief, the Duplessis government was actually liberal in its outlook as it embraced economic progress and modern capitalism and did not oppose [[liberal democracy]], all while pushing back against the welfare state and staying within traditional values of Quebec.{{Sfn|Bourque|Duchastel|Beauchemin|1994}} This interpretation was challenged by numerous historians, who variously argued that the regime was conservative if not [[Illiberal democracy|illiberal]] in its nature.<ref name=":20" /> Among those who changed their opinion of the regime in the course of the years was Léon Dion, who wrote in 1993 that the assessment of the period as the ''Grande Noirceur'' (as he and like-minded scholars proposed in the 1960s) was unreasonably harsh and his policies on the economy, such as the development of Northern Quebec, were reasonable or at least justifiable. He also argued that the blame for the regime's regressiveness should be also laid on the Catholic Church and on society, which wanted order and security and thus tolerated oppression.{{Sfn|Dion|1993|p=13, 155–171}} Dion also tends to agree on the validity of Duplessis's defence of provincial autonomy, in line with other historians, such as Yves Vaillancourt and Xavier Gélinas.{{Sfn|Dion|1993|p=13, 155–171}}{{Sfn|Gélinas|Ferretti|Bédard|2010|p=392}}{{Sfn|Vaillancourt|1988|p=599}}

In today's historiography of Quebec (at least since the 1990s), most scholars express the opinion that the notion of ''Grande Noirceur'' was a myth invented by those who embraced or spearheaded the Quiet Revolution in the 1960s.<ref name=":13" /><ref>{{Cite web |last=Bernard |first=Jean-Philippe |date=November 14, 2019 |title=La " Grande noirceur " catholique et duplessiste au Québec: entre mémoire et histoire. Note critique sur l'ouvrage ''L'Église et la politique québécoise, de Taschereau à Duplessis'' d'Alexandre Dumas |url=https://histoireengagee.ca/la-grande-noirceur-catholique-et-duplessiste-au-quebec-entre-memoire-et-histoire-note-critique-sur-louvrage-leglise-et-la-politique-quebecoise-de-taschereau-a-duples/ |access-date=January 26, 2023 |website=Histoire Engagée |language=fr-CA}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Laniel |first1=Jean-François |last2=Thériault |first2=Joseph |date=2018 |title=Comment se débarrasser de la Grande Noirceur sans se débarrasser du passé québécois ? |journal=Mens: Revue d'histoire intellectuelle et culturelle |language=fr |volume=18 |issue=2 |pages=67–107 |doi=10.7202/1066261ar |issn=1492-8647|doi-access=free }}</ref> Alexandre Dumas writes that the notion of the Quiet Revolution can only live with the "anti-hero" Duplessis and the association with the Great Darkness.<ref name=":21" /> Michel Sarra-Bournet<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Sarra-Bournet |first=Michel |date=2015 |title=L'économie du Québec et le modèle libéral duplessiste dans une perspective comparée |journal=Bulletin d'histoire politique |language=fr |volume=24 |issue=1 |pages=56–74 |doi=10.7202/1033393ar |issn=1201-0421|doi-access=free }}</ref> and Gérard Bouchard<ref>{{Cite book |last=Bouchard |first=Gérard |url= |title=Genèse des nations et cultures du nouveau monde: essai d'histoire comparée |date=2001 |publisher=Boréal |isbn=2-7646-0110-7 |location=Montréal |pages=56 |oclc=46629380}}</ref> suggested that the portrayal of Duplessis's era as a Great Darkness unique to Quebec may be unjustified as contemporary governments of [[Ontario]], [[Manitoba]] and [[New Zealand]] shared many characteristics with Duplessis's rule, such as resistance to the welfare state, anti-communism, corruption scandals and the focus on rural development. A similar opinion was expressed by Jocelyn Létourneau.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Létourneau |first=Jocelyn |url= |title=1968 in Canada: a year and its legacies |publisher=Mercury-Mercure |year=2021 |isbn=978-0-7766-3661-0 |editor-last=Hawes |editor-first=Michael K. |location=Ottawa |pages=51 |language=fr |chapter=1968, vue du Québec |oclc=1224258239 |editor-last2=Holman |editor-first2=Andrew C. |editor-last3=Kirkey |editor-first3=Christopher John}}</ref> Yet other historians emphasize in their opinions that the "rupture" between the Quiet Revolution and Duplessis is not present in every aspect of Quebec's life,<ref>{{Cite book |last=Rejean |first=Pelletier |title=Le Québec en jeu: comprendre les grands défis |publisher=Presses de l'Université de Montréal |year=1992 |isbn=978-2-7606-3491-6 |editor-last=Daigle |editor-first=Gérard |location=Montreal |pages=605–622 |language=fr |chapter=La Révolution tranquille |oclc=1139249373 |editor-last2=Rocher |editor-first2=Guy |chapter-url=https://classiques.uqac.ca/contemporains/pelletier_rejean/revolution_tranquille/revolution_tranquille.html}}</ref> is generally exaggerated or even artificially created,{{Sfn|Gélinas|Ferretti|Bédard|2010|p=174}} or else that it should be better thought of as a transitionary period.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Jean |first=Michèle |date=2006 |title=Mot de présentation: au seuil de la Révolution tranquille |url=https://www.erudit.org/en/journals/cd/2006-n84-cd1045838/7028ac/ |journal=Cap-aux-Diamants: La revue d'histoire du Québec |language=fr |issue=84 |pages=9 |issn=0829-7983}}</ref>{{Sfn|Gélinas|Ferretti|Bédard|2010|p=285-6}} Some authors go as far as rejecting the label altogether as a "gross caricature",{{Sfn|Berthelot|2021|p=12-15}} framing this period as that of the "Great Catch-Up", in comparison to the "Quiet Decline" that followed the death of "Le Chef",{{Sfn|Geloso|2017|p=29-35}} or even, as in the case with Éric Bedard, merging the periods of Duplessis and that of the Quiet Revolution into a single "Quiet Reconquest".<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Turgeon |first=Alexandre |date=2013 |title=Se déchirer sur la Révolution tranquille. Les nouveaux visages du nationalisme conservateur au Québec, de Jean-Marc Piotte et Jean-Pierre Couture, Québec Amérique, 2012 |journal=Bulletin d'histoire politique |language=fr |volume=21 |issue=3 |pages=150 |doi=10.7202/1015329ar |issn=1201-0421|doi-access=free }}</ref>

=== Attempts at comparison ===
The ideology of Duplessis and the Union Nationale between 1936 and 1959 was subject to numerous studies, and several comparisons have been proposed. A 1984 paper by George Steven Swan found many similarities between the policies of Duplessis and those of [[Huey Long]], a left-populist American politician from [[Louisiana]], and of [[Juan Perón]] of [[Argentina]], in particular as they related to authoritarian practices.<ref name=":23" /> Léon Dion, in some similarity to Leslie Roberts, argued that his rule could be compared to that of Latin American dictators, though occasional comparisons to [[fascism]], in his opinion, were wrong.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Dion |first=Léon |date=1978 |title=La Prochaine Révolution |url=https://classiques.uqac.ca/contemporains/dion_leon/prochaine_revolution/prochaine_rev.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180719024155/http://classiques.uqac.ca/contemporains/dion_leon/prochaine_revolution/prochaine_revolution.pdf |archive-date=July 19, 2018 |access-date=February 8, 2023 |website=Université du Québec à Chicoutimi |pages=15–16}}</ref> Frédéric Boily dismissed that reasoning as simplistic, because it implied that Duplessis was a populist along the lines of Perón and Brazil's [[Getúlio Vargas]]. Instead, he argues that Duplessis was not truly populist but simply made good use of populist rhetoric.{{Sfn|Gélinas|Ferretti|Bédard|2010|p=76-97}} Jean-Philippe Warren wrote that his style of governance could be compared to a type of regime called "authoritarian democracy".<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Warren |first=Jean-Philippe |date=2014 |title=Note de recherche. Religion et politique dans les années 1950: une pièce de plus à notre compréhension de la supposée Grande Noirceur |journal=Revue d'histoire de l'Amérique française |language=fr |volume=67 |issue=3–4 |pages=403–420 |doi=10.7202/1030040ar |issn=0035-2357|doi-access=free }}</ref> However, Gilles Bourque opined that the comparison is inaccurate as the rule of Duplessis bears little similarity to the regime of [[Vladimir Putin]] in [[Russia]], which would also be an "authoritarian democracy" under Warren's definition.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Bourque |first=Gilles |date=2018 |title=La Grande Noirceur encore et toujours |journal=Mens: Revue d'histoire intellectuelle et culturelle |language=fr |volume=18 |issue=2 |pages=39–65 |doi=10.7202/1066260ar |issn=1492-8647|doi-access=free }}</ref> Catherine Frost saw many similarities between Duplessis and [[Éamon de Valera]] in comparing the [[Irish nationalism|nationalism in Ireland]] and that of Quebec.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Frost |first=Catherine |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=47yd5avJPYUC&pg=PA157 |title=Morality and nationalism |publisher=Taylor & Francis |year=2006 |isbn=978-0-203-08617-9 |pages=160–161, 191–192}}</ref> Greame Orr and Ron Levy found that Duplessis's and [[Queensland]] Premier [[Joh Bjelke-Petersen]]'s regimes have so much in common that they suggest that Bjelke-Petersen might have studied Duplessis's politics before implementing his policies in that [[Australia]]n state. They noted the heavy-handed approach both used for trade unions and communists, their strong anti-federalist rhetoric (even if Duplessis stopped short of advocating [[Quebec sovereignty movement|separatism]]) and extensive malapportionment that they conclude was gratuitous.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Orr |first1=Graeme |last2=Levy |first2=Ron |date=January 2009 |title=Electoral Malapportionment: Partisanship, Rhetoric and Reform in the Shadow of the Agrarian Strong-man |url=http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/10854659.2009.10854659 |journal=Griffith Law Review |language=en |volume=18 |issue=3 |pages=638–665 |doi=10.1080/10854659.2009.10854659 |s2cid=145695031 |issn=1038-3441|url-access=subscription }}</ref> With respect to Duplessis's staunch anti-communism, his policies were also likened to those of US Senator [[Joseph McCarthy]].<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Marcuse |first1=Gary |url=https://www.degruyter.com/view/books/9781442673045/9781442673045/9781442673045.xml |title=Cold War Canada: The Making of a National Insecurity State, 1945–1957 |last2=Whitaker |first2=Reginald |date=December 31, 1996 |publisher=University of Toronto Press |isbn=978-1-4426-7304-5 |location=Toronto |pages=296–309 |doi=10.3138/9781442673045-008}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Kagedan |first=Allan Laine |chapter-url=https://link.springer.com/10.1007/978-3-030-52444-9_6 |chapter=Cold War: Othering on the Home Front |date=2020 |title=The Politics of Othering in the United States and Canada |publisher=Springer International Publishing |isbn=978-3-030-52443-2 |place=Cham |pages=97 |language=en |doi=10.1007/978-3-030-52444-9_6 |s2cid=226550013 |access-date=March 7, 2023}}</ref>

In the context of Quebec, some historians compared [[Mario Dumont]], with his [[Action démocratique du Québec]] (ADQ), to Duplessis. Among the suggested similarities were the party's program mirroring that of the Union Nationale,<ref>{{Cite web |date=July 11, 2002 |title=L'Action démocratique du Québec – Un tiers parti en quête de pouvoir |url=https://www.ledevoir.com/opinion/idees/5097/l-action-democratique-du-quebec-un-tiers-parti-en-quete-de-pouvoir |access-date=February 6, 2023 |website=Le Devoir |language=fr}}</ref> ADQ's emphasis on provincial autonomy<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Boily |first=Frederic |date=2009 |title=L'ACTION DÉMOCRATIQUE DU QUÉBEC DE MARIO DUMONT: ENTRE RUPTURE ET CONTINUITÉ AVEC LE MODÈLE QUÉBÉCOIS |url=https://www.afec33.asso.fr/sites/default/files/66.pdf |journal=Études canadiennes/Canadian Studies |volume=66 |pages=77–89}}</ref> and the (rather successful) usage of populist rhetoric at times when the electorate was tired of the prior state of politics.{{Sfn|Gélinas|Ferretti|Bédard|2010|p=95-97}} Dumont himself said he was flattered by the comparison, though he also suggested that he preferred Jean Lesage references.<ref>{{Cite web |last= |first= |date=March 9, 2007 |title=Duplessis et Lesage revisités |url=https://ici.radio-canada.ca/nouvelle/344305/dumont-landry-lessage |access-date=February 8, 2023 |website=Radio-Canada |language=fr-ca}}</ref> More recently, the current premier of Quebec, [[François Legault]], has been compared to Duplessis,<ref name=":22" /> and his [[Coalition Avenir Québec]] party to the Union Nationale.<ref name="CAQ-UN">{{Cite journal |last=Bélanger |first=D. C. |date=June 2017 |title=À la défense de Maurice Duplessis Martin Lemay, Québec Amérique, Montréal, 2016, 165 pages |url=https://www.cambridge.org/core/product/identifier/S0008423917000555/type/journal_article |journal=Canadian Journal of Political Science |language=en |volume=50 |issue=2 |pages=634–636 |doi=10.1017/S0008423917000555 |s2cid=157470343 |issn=0008-4239|url-access=subscription }}</ref> In fact, in 2014, Legault underlined that his party bore resemblance to the Union Nationale, though he assured voters they would not be returning to the ''grande noirceur''.<ref>{{Cite web |date=April 10, 2014 |title=François Legault évoque l'Union nationale |url=https://www.tvanouvelles.ca/2014/04/10/francois-legault-evoque-lunion-nationale |access-date=September 1, 2023 |website=TVA Nouvelles}}</ref> When CAQ won a majority of seats, Legault participated in a heated parliamentary debate defending Duplessis's legacy. In this incident from 2021, the co-leader of the left-wing [[Québec solidaire]] party, [[Gabriel Nadeau-Dubois]], meant to demean the leader of the CAQ by comparing him to Duplessis and accused Legault of excluding those Quebec residents who opposed [[Bill 21]] from the definition of who is [[Québécois people|Québécois]] and of assuming the role of "the father of the Quebec nation". The premier retorted that while, in his opinion, Duplessis had many faults, he defended Quebec, unlike the "[[woke]]" Nadeau-Dubois.<ref>{{Cite web |date=September 15, 2021 |title=Premier Legault mocks Quebec Solidaire leader Nadeau-Dubois by calling him 'woke' |url=https://www.ctvnews.ca/montreal/article/premier-legault-mocks-quebec-solidaire-leader-nadeau-dubois-by-calling-him-woke/ |access-date=January 26, 2023 |website=CTV News Montreal |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=September 15, 2021 |title=Journal des débats de l'Assemblée nationale: 42e législature, 1re session (27 novembre 2018 au 13 octobre 2021) |url=https://www.assnat.qc.ca/fr/travaux-parlementaires/assemblee-nationale/42-1/journal-debats/20210915/305661.html#_Toc83047461 |access-date=January 26, 2023 |website=National Assembly of Quebec}}</ref>

== Commemoration ==
=== In culture and collective memory of the Québécois ===
Immediately after the death of Duplessis, provincial politicians took pains to preserve the memory of "Le Chef". A [[Duplessis (electoral district)|provincial riding]] was created in 1960 from parts of [[Saguenay (provincial electoral district)|Saguenay]] (now René-Lévesque) electoral district. The following year, Boulevard Champigny, a major thoroughfare in Quebec City, was renamed after Duplessis, and is now alternatively known as [[Quebec Autoroute 540|Autoroute 540]]. {{Ill|Boulevard Maurice-Duplessis|fr}} in the northeastern part of the [[Island of Montreal]] was named that way in 1967.{{Sfn|Livernois|2018|p=230}} The government was also interested in building a monument, but it did not go according to plan. In December 1959, Paul Sauvé passed a law in the Quebec Legislature that envisaged building a monument to Maurice Duplessis and placing it somewhere in the city of Quebec.<ref>{{Cite web |date=December 18, 1959 |title=An Act to pay tribute to the memory of the Honourable Maurice L.-Duplessis |url=https://www.bibliotheque.assnat.qc.ca/DepotNumerique_v2/AffichageFichier.aspx?idf=106152 |access-date=October 17, 2023 |website=Library of the National Assembly of Quebec}}</ref> This was unusual at the time as before 1980, it was the government (via the Ministry of Public Works) that decided on the decorations next to the [[Parliament Building (Quebec)|Parliament Building]], and also since [[Honoré Mercier]] was the only provincial politician with a statue in front of the Legislative Assembly. By summer 1961, [[Joseph-Émile Brunet]], who had already sculpted a bust of Duplessis, made the monument ready, but the government of Jean Lesage ordered to hide it. When journalists inquired about the statue, the government asserted that this was an effort to avoid political tensions. Therefore, the first statue of Le Chef was unveiled in 1964 in Trois-Rivières by the ''Société des amis de Maurice L. Duplessis'', a private organization dedicated to the preservation of Duplessis's heritage. The Society was then commemorating the fifth anniversary of his death.{{Sfn|Gélinas|Ferretti|Bédard|2010|p=389-396}}{{efn|The Society also maintains a recreation of Duplessis's work cabinet in the nearby {{Ill|Boucher-De Niverville Mansion|fr|Manoir Boucher-De Niverville}}.<ref name="BibDup" /> In addition to that, this organization holds the private collections and archives of Duplessis, but access to them is restricted.<ref name=":22" /> As of 2018, they are stored in the building of the Séminaire de Trois-Rivières, where Duplessis was a student.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Montpetit |first=Caroline |date=August 15, 2018 |title=Les trésors du séminaire Saint-Joseph |url=https://www.ledevoir.com/culture/534502/temoin-du-passe |access-date=February 6, 2023 |website=Le Devoir |language=fr}}</ref>}}

Government commemoration of Duplessis lost steam as the Quiet Revolution progressed and the general populace evolved a negative view of the Duplessis's reign. By the time [[Jean-Jacques Bertrand]], also of the Union Nationale, became premier in 1968, even the party's supporters relegated Duplessis to the subconscious.{{Sfn|Livernois|2018|p=231}} "Le Chef" came again under the spotlight in the 1970s, with numerous books about his rule for academic and general public circulation alike (including the two biographies by Rumilly and Black). A very successful play called {{Interlanguage link|Charbonneau et le Chef|lt=''Charbonneau et le Chef''|fr}} by John Thomas McDonough, describing the Asbestos strike, appeared in Quebec City's theatres in 1971. [[Denys Arcand]] treated him extensively in his early film career: in 1972, he [[Film director|directed]] ''Québec: Duplessis et après'' for the [[National Film Board of Canada]], and, six years later, he was a [[screenwriter]] for the TV series ''[[Duplessis (TV series)|Duplessis]]'', which was released on the screens of [[Ici Radio-Canada Télé|Radio-Canada]]. Both proved quite sympathetic to "Le Chef" and minimized the supposed rupture between Duplessis and the events that happened after his death.{{Sfn|Gélinas|Ferretti|Bédard|2010|p=366-388}} In 1974, [[Parks Canada]] designated Duplessis as a [[Persons of National Historic Significance|Person of National Historic Significance]].<ref name=":27" /> Three years later, and 18 years after the Legislative Assembly decreed so, Premier [[René Lévesque]] retrieved Brunet's monument from storage and unveiled it next to the Parliament Building. Lévesque's [[Parti Québécois]] held this event to attract Union Nationale supporters.<ref name="warts">{{Cite web|last=Authier|first=Philip|date=May 22, 1999|title=Duplessis, warts and all|url=http://www.wednesday-night.com/Duplessis.asp|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171022094238/http://www.wednesday-night.com/Duplessis.asp|archive-date=October 22, 2017|access-date=November 28, 2021|website=The Gazette}}</ref> The preparation copies of the monument are stored in the Museum of Fine Arts of Quebec.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Monument à Maurice Le Noblet Duplessis de Québec (fragment) – Brunet, Émile |url=https://collections.mnbaq.org/fr/oeuvre/600012407 |access-date=February 7, 2023 |website=Collections {{!}} MNBAQ}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Maurice Le Noblet Duplessis – Brunet, Émile |url=https://collections.mnbaq.org/fr/oeuvre/600012442 |access-date=February 7, 2023 |website=Collections {{!}} MNBAQ}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Modèle préparatoire du " Monument à Maurice Le Noblet Duplessis " de Québec (fragment) – Brunet, Émile |url=https://collections.mnbaq.org/fr/oeuvre/600038928 |access-date=February 7, 2023 |website=Collections MNBAQ}}</ref>

<gallery widths="160" heights="160" caption="Landmarks associated with, or named after, Maurice Duplessis">
File:Pierre placée lors de l'inauguration de l’Hôpital Reine Elizabeth par Maurice Duplessis.jpg|alt=A stone saying "This stone was laid by the honourable MAURICE L. DUPLESSIS QC LLD, Prime Minister of the Province of Quebec. August 22nd, 1959"|A stone laid by Maurice Duplessis during the inauguration of the Queen Elizabeth II Hospital in Montreal, August 1959
File:Statue Maurice Duplessis Trois Rivieres.JPG|alt=A statue of a man on a white pedestal|Statue of Maurice Duplessis in Trois-Rivières (1964). The French on the bottom of the pedestal says "Cooperation always – assimilation never!".
File:Maurice Duplessis Quebec 09.jpg|alt=A statue of a man on a small pedestal, saying "DUPLESSIS"|Statue of Maurice Duplessis next to the National Assembly building (1977)
File:Maison Maurice-Duplessis 02.jpg|alt=A small brick building with a side porch during winter|A building that belonged to Maurice Duplessis, at 240 Bonaventure Street in Trois-Rivières. His law office was located in the basement.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Maison Maurice-Duplessis |url=https://www.patrimoine-culturel.gouv.qc.ca/rpcq/detail.do?methode=consulter&id=96509&type=bien |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211205111424/https://www.patrimoine-culturel.gouv.qc.ca/rpcq/detail.do?methode=consulter&id=96509&type=bien |archive-date=December 5, 2021 |access-date=2021-12-05 |website=[[Quebec Cultural Heritage Directory]]}}</ref>
File:Autoroute Duplessis - Chemin des Quatre-Bourgeois.jpg|alt=A limited-access highway in a suburban area|Autoroute 540 (alternatively Autoroute Maurice-Duplessis) in Quebec City
File:Flying over Sept Iles, Quebec.jpg|Sept-Îles is the largest city within the provincial riding of Duplessis, located in the [[Côte-Nord]] region of Quebec.
File:Pont-maurice-duplessis-beaucanton.jpg|alt=The interior part of Maurice Duplessis Bridge [fr], located near Villebois, Quebec. Apart from this, several streets, parks and other objects across the province are named in his honour|The interior part of {{Ill|Maurice Duplessis Bridge|fr|Pont Maurice-Duplessis}}, located near [[Villebois, Quebec]]. Apart from this, several streets, parks and other objects across the province are named in his honour.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Recherche multicritères: Maurice Duplessis |url=https://toponymie.gouv.qc.ca/ct/ToposWeb/recherche.aspx?s=Maurice+Duplessis |access-date=2023-02-08 |website=Commission de toponymie - Quebec}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Recherche multicritères: Duplessis |url=https://toponymie.gouv.qc.ca/ct/ToposWeb/recherche.aspx?s=Duplessis |access-date=2023-02-08 |website=Commission de toponymie - Quebec}}</ref>
</gallery>
[[File:Grande_Noirceur_beer_Maurice_Duplessis.jpg|alt=A man, surrounded by churches, holding people on the strings|thumb|248x248px|The ''Grande Noirceur'' beer label]]
In the 1980s, the negative coverage of Duplessis in the arts still continued. Among these works was a collection of feminist articles by [[Andrée Yanacopoulo]], ''Au nom du père, du fils et de Duplessis'', and a TV series called ''Asbestos''. [[Michel Tremblay]]'s ''Le gars de Québec'' (1985), set in 1952, draws inspiration from [[Gogol]]'s ''[[The Government Inspector]]'' and has rather critical references to the era.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Brisset |first=Annie |date=1990 |title=Tremblay, traducteur lauréat |url=https://www.erudit.org/en/journals/jeu/1990-n56-jeu1071826/232ac/ |journal=Jeu: Revue de théâtre |language=fr |issue=56 |pages=103–107 |issn=0382-0335}}</ref> In the words of Pierre Berthelot, a simple mention of his name was enough to create his invisible yet oppressive presence that made characters stuck in their hardships and which treated them to government agents' abuses.{{sfn|Berthelot|2021|p=290}} Quebec did not become interested in Duplessis's heritage in the 1980s despite the otherwise favourable climate for conservative politicians. The Union Nationale, then under the stewardship of [[Roch La Salle]], distanced itself from the heritage of Maurice Duplessis and lost all seats in the [[1981 Quebec general election|1981 election]]. After that, the party maintained a nominal presence in provincial politics before being finally disbanded in 1989.{{sfn|Berthelot|2021|p=292-95}} The 1990s proved even worse for his memory as a documentary in 1997, ''Les Orphelins de Duplessis'', made the abuses committed against the [[Duplessis Orphans]] known to a wide public and further entrenched the image of Duplessis's era as that of the Great Darkness.{{Sfn|Berthelot|2021|p=299-300}}

In the 21st century, with the exception of some non-scholarly authors like [[Martin Lemay]],{{Sfn|Lemay|2016}} a former Parti Québécois member of the [[National Assembly of Quebec|National Assembly]], the negative image of the era persisted. The student protests of 2012, often known as "[[Maple Spring]]", were a manifestation of that trend. Gabriel Nadeau-Dubois, then one of the leaders of the protests, suggested that the government's [[Bill 78]], which aimed to suppress protests, was a return to the times of Duplessis.<ref name="Printempserable2">{{Cite journal |last=Turgeon |first=Alexandre |date=April 1, 2018 |title=Research Note – "It's just a tweet": History, Memory, and Social Media |url=https://vc.bridgew.edu/br_rev/vol37/iss1/7 |journal=Bridgewater Review |volume=37 |issue=1 |pages=19–21 |issn=0892-7634}}</ref> Participants in the demonstrations also painted a graffiti saying, in rough translation: "Come back Duplessis, you've left your [[wiktionary:pig|pigs]]!", in protest against the use of [[riot police]].<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Jarosz |first=Krzysztof |date=2015 |title=Des provinciaux et des procrastinateurs |url=https://www.erudit.org/fr/revues/vi/2013-v38-n2-vi01835/1030205ar/ |journal=Voix et Images |language=fr |volume=40 |issue=2 |pages=123–128 |doi=10.7202/1030205ar |issn=0318-9201|url-access=subscription }}</ref> A microbrewery called Dieu du Ciel! of [[Saint-Jérôme]] produces a variety of dark beer called ''Grande Noirceur'' with suggestive imagery – a caricature appearance of "Le Chef" manipulating the assembled population with strings (as if they were puppets), with church towers behind him.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Everett-Green |first=Robert |date=January 8, 2016 |title=Quebec's microbreweries tap into province's culture with beer labels |language=en-CA |work=The Globe and Mail |url=https://www.theglobeandmail.com/life/food-and-wine/food-trends/quebecs-microbreweries-tap-into-provinces-culture-with-beer-labels/article28079387/ |access-date=February 7, 2023}}</ref>

=== Honorary titles ===

Duplessis held some top positions in relation to his law career. On December 30, 1931, he received the title of [[King's Counsel]] due to his achievements in the field of law.<ref name="Directory2">{{Cite web |title=Duplessis, Maurice |url=https://www.patrimoine-culturel.gouv.qc.ca/rpcq/detail.do?methode=consulter&id=8688&type=pge#.UfJoc1MRNuU |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210424162020/https://www.patrimoine-culturel.gouv.qc.ca/rpcq/detail.do?methode=consulter&id=8688&type=pge |archive-date=April 24, 2021 |access-date=November 28, 2021 |website=[[Quebec Cultural Heritage Directory]] |language=fr}}</ref> In addition to that, he was elected President ({{Interlanguage link|President of the Bar of Quebec|lt=''bâtonnier''|fr|Bâtonnier du Québec}}) of the Bar of Quebec and President of the Bar of Trois-Rivières for the 1937–1938 term,<ref name="Directory2" /> which, in addition to conferring prestige to the Premier, gave him some influence over the internal order of the bar. Several universities granted him honorary degrees, including Université Laval (three times: apart from a law degree in 1937 and forestry sciences in 1955, a general honorary doctorate was granted in 1952),<ref>{{Cite web |title=Doctorats honoris causa |url=https://www.ulaval.ca/notre-universite/prix-et-distinctions/doctorats-honoris-causa?tid=40 |access-date=February 7, 2023 |website=Université Laval}}</ref> [[McGill University]] (law, 1948),<ref>{{Cite web |date=2022 |title=List of McGill Honorary Degree Recipients from 1935 to June 2022 |url=https://www.mcgill.ca/senate/files/senate/list_of_mcgill_honorary_degree_recipients_from_1935_to_present.pdf |website=McGill University |access-date=February 7, 2023 |archive-date=February 7, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230207195320/https://www.mcgill.ca/senate/files/senate/list_of_mcgill_honorary_degree_recipients_from_1935_to_present.pdf |url-status=dead }}</ref> Université de Montréal (law, 1953),<ref>{{Cite web |title=Liste des doctorats honorifiques 1920–2013 (ordre chronologique) |url=https://collation.umontreal.ca/fileadmin/collations_des_grades/documents/DHC/Listes/Liste_chrono_dhc.pdf |website=University of Montreal}}</ref> [[Université de Sherbrooke]] (law, 1956),<ref>{{Cite web |title=Signer un livre d'or pour témoigner d'un événement |url=https://www.usherbrooke.ca/biblio/archives/histoire-udes/capsules-historiques/signer-un-livre-dor-pour-temoigner-dun-evenement |access-date=February 7, 2023 |website=Service des bibliothèques et archives – Université de Sherbrooke}}</ref> as well as from [[Bishop's University]] and the [[University of Caen Normandy|University of Caen]] in France.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Rothe |first=Anna |url=http://archive.org/details/currentbiography1948unse |title=Current Biography: Who's News and Why 1948 |date=1949 |publisher=H.W. Wilson Co. |location=New York |pages=169}}</ref>

Maurice Duplessis also received several decorations. In 1948, Argentine President Juan Perón gave Duplessis the highest decoration, the Grand Cross of the [[Order of the Liberator General San Martín]], which provoked a minor diplomatic incident as the government of Canada had advised foreign emissaries not to give any such distinctions to its citizens.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Vigeant |first=Pierre |date=September 9, 1948 |title=Le gouvernement argentin veut décorer M. Duplessis et Mgr. Maurault |url=https://numerique.banq.qc.ca/patrimoine/details/52327/2780876 |access-date=February 7, 2023 |website=Le Devoir |language=fr}}</ref> Other awards that "Le Chef" received include a golden star of the ''Ordre national du mérite agricole'' (1946), a provincial order for people who contributed to the development of agriculture, and the induction in the [[Commonwealth of Nations|Commonwealth]]'s [[Order of Saint John (chartered 1888)|Order of Saint John]].<ref name="MLABio"/>

== Notes ==
{{Notelist}}

==References==
{{Reflist}}

=== Books ===

====In English====

* {{Cite book|last=Laporte|first=Pierre|title=The True Face of Duplessis|publisher=Harvest House Limited|year=1960|location=Montreal|author-link=Pierre Laporte}}
* {{Cite book|last=Roberts|first=Leslie|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=QnglAAAAMAAJ|title=The Chief: A Political Biography of Maurice Duplessis|date=1963|publisher=Clarke, Irwin|language=en}}
*{{Cite book|last=Quinn|first=Herbert F.|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=JmwHAAAAMAAJ|title=The Union Nationale: A Study in Quebec Nationalism|year=1963|publisher=University of Toronto Press|isbn=978-0-8020-6040-2|language=en}}
* {{Cite book |last=Nish |first=Cameron |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=oyAVAAAAYAAJ |title=Québec in the Duplessis Era, 1935-1959: Dictatorship Or Democracy? |date=1970 |publisher=Copp Clark Publishing Company |isbn=978-0-7730-3114-2 |language=en}}
<!--* {{Cite book|last=Black|first=Conrad|url=https://escholarship.mcgill.ca/concern/theses/9g54xj98p?locale=en|title=Career of Maurice L. Duplessis as viewed through his correspondence, 1927-1939|publisher=[[McGill University]]|year=1973|location=[[Montreal]]|author-link=Conrad Black}} -->
*{{Cite book|last=Black|first=Conrad|title=Duplessis|date=1977|publisher=McClelland and Stewart|isbn=0-7710-1530-5|location=Toronto|oclc=3033534}}
*{{Cite book|last=Quinn|first=Herbert F.|title=The Union Nationale: Quebec Nationalism from Duplessis to Levesque|publisher=[[University of Toronto]] Press|year=1979|isbn=0-8020-2318-5|edition=2|location=[[Toronto]]}}
*{{Cite web|last=Aranoff|first=Susan B.|title=American investment in Quebec: a case study of the politics of foreign investment|url=https://www.proquest.com/docview/303286240|date=1984|access-date=September 21, 2022|work=[[Columbia University]] (PhD thesis)|id={{ProQuest|303286240}} |language=en}}
*{{Cite book |last=Behiels |first=Michael D. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=9bk4WiV7L10C|title=Prelude to Quebec's Quiet Revolution: Liberalism versus Neo-Nationalism, 1945–1960 |year=1985|publisher=McGill-Queen's Press|isbn=978-0-7735-6095-6 |language=en}}
*{{Cite book|last=Dirks|first=Patricia G.|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=eo1TNHmHMAAC&dq=Houde&pg=PA24|title=Failure of L'Action Libérale Nationale|publisher=McGill-Queen's Press|year=1991|isbn=978-0-7735-0831-6|location=Montreal|language=en}}
*{{cite book |last1=Linteau |first1=Paul-André |title=Quebec since 1930 |date=1991 |publisher=Boréal |location=[[Montreal]]|oclc=20357831|last2=Durocher|first2=René|last3=Robert|first3=Jean-Claude |isbn=978-1550282962 |edition=}}
* {{Cite book|last=Paulin|first=Marguerite|url=https://archive.org/details/mauriceduplessis0000paul|title=Maurice Duplessis: Powerbroker, Politician|publisher=XYZ Publishing|year=2005|isbn=1-894852-17-6|location=Montreal}}
* {{Cite book|last=Geloso|first=Vincent|title=Rethinking Canadian economic growth and development since 1900: the Quebec case|date=2017|publisher=Palgrave Macmillan|others=Conrad Black|isbn=978-3-319-49950-5|location=[[Cham, Switzerland]]|oclc=993526903}}

==== In French ====

*{{Cite book |last=Rumilly |first=Robert |title=Maurice Duplessis et son temps |date=1973 |publisher=Fides |isbn=0-7755-0708-3 |volume=1-2 |location=Montreal |trans-title=Maurice Duplessis and his times |oclc=5838209}} (vol. 1: 1890–1944, vol. 2: 1944–1959)
*{{Cite book |last=Roy |first=Jean-Louis |url=http://classiques.uqac.ca/contemporains/roy_jean_louis/marche_des_quebecois/roy_jl_marche_quebecois.pdf |title=La marche des Québécois: Le temps des ruptures (1945–1960) |publisher=Les Éditions Leméac |year=1976 |location=Montreal |trans-title=The march of the Quebeckers: the time of ruptures (1945–1960) |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180720171738/http://classiques.uqac.ca/contemporains/roy_jean_louis/marche_des_quebecois/roy_jl_marche_quebecois.pdf |archive-date=July 20, 2018}}
<!--*{{Cite book |last=Paradis |first=Raymond |title=Nous avons connu Duplessis |date=1977 |publisher=Editions Marie-France |location=Montreal |trans-title=We knew Duplessis |oclc=798850056}} -->
*{{Cite book |last=Saint-Aubin |first=Bernard |title=Duplessis et son époque |date=1979 |publisher=La Presse |isbn=2-89043-019-7 |location=Montreal |trans-title=Duplessis and his epoch |oclc=6304966}}
*{{Cite book |last=Boismenu |first=Gérard |title=Le duplessisme: politique économique et rapports de force, 1944–1960 |publisher=Presses de l'Universite de Montreal |year=1981 |isbn=2-7606-0511-6 |location=Montreal |trans-title=Duplessism: economical politics and power relations, 1944-1960}}
<!--*{{Cite thesis |last=Benoît |first=André |url= |title=Maurice Duplessis et le duplessisme: bilan historiographique, 1959-1980 [Maurice Duplessis and Duplessism: historiographic summary] |publisher=Université de Montréal |year=1983 |location=Montreal |language=fr}} -->
*{{Cite book |last1=Bourque |first1=Gilles |last2=Duchastel |first2=Jules |url=http://classiques.uqac.ca/contemporains/bourque_gilles/restons_traditionnels/restons_traditionnels_et_progressifs.pdf |title=Restons traditionnels et progressifs: pour une nouvelle analyse du discours politique: le cas du régime Duplessis au Québec |date=1988 |publisher=Boreal Express |isbn=2-89052-227-X |location=Montreal |trans-title=Let's stay traditional and progressive: on a new analysis of political discourse: the case of Duplessis regime in Quebec |oclc=757072371 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130508154832/http://classiques.uqac.ca/contemporains/bourque_gilles/restons_traditionnels/restons_traditionnels_et_progressifs.pdf |archive-date=May 8, 2013}}
*{{Cite book |last=Vaillancourt |first=Yves |url=https://classiques.uqac.ca/contemporains/vaillancourt_yves/Pol_soc_et_travailleurs_t3/Pol_soc_et_travailleurs_t3.html |title=L'évolution des politiques sociales au Québec, 1940–1960. Les politiques sociales et les travailleurs: cahier 3 |date=1988 |publisher=Presses de l'Université de Montréal |trans-title=The evolution of social policy in Quebec, 1940–1960. Social policy and the workers: fascicle 3 |access-date= |via=[[Université du Québec à Chicoutimi]]}}
*{{Cite book |last=Pelletier |first=Réjean |url= |title=Partis politiques et société québécoise: de Duplessis à Bourassa, 1944–1970 |date=1989 |publisher=Québec/Amérique |isbn=2-89037-445-9 |location=Montreal |trans-title=Political parties and society of Quebec: from Duplessis to Bourassa, 1944-1970 |oclc=19396822}}
*{{Cite book |last=Dion |first=Léon |url=https://classiques.uqac.ca/contemporains/dion_leon/quebec_1945_2000_t2/quebec_1945_2000_t2.pdf |title=Québec 1945–2000: Les intellectuels et le temps de Duplessis |publisher=Les Presses de l’Université Laval |year=1993 |volume=2 |location=Quebec City |language=fr |trans-title=Quebec 1945–2000: Intellectuals and the times of Duplessis}}
*{{Cite book |last1=Bourque |first1=Gilles |url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/269457951 |title=La société libérale duplessiste, 1944–1960 |last2=Duchastel |first2=Jules |last3=Beauchemin |first3=Jacques |date=1994 |publisher=Presses de l'Université de Montréal |isbn=2-7606-1644-4 |location=Montreal |trans-title=The liberal society of Duplessis, 1944-1960 |oclc=31780340}}
*{{Cite book |url=https://classiques.uqac.ca/contemporains/gagnon_alain_g/Duplessis/duplessis.pdf |title=Duplessis: entre la grande noirceur et la société libérale |date=1997 |publisher=Éditions Québec Amérique |isbn=2-89037-935-3 |editor-last=Gagnon |editor-first=Alain-G. |location=Montréal |trans-title=Duplessis: between the ''Grande Noirceur'' and the liberal society |oclc=78036516 |editor-last2=Sarra-Bournet |editor-first2=Michel}}
<!-- *{{Cite book |last=Marcotte |first=Gilles |url= |title=La mort de Maurice Duplessis et autres récits |date=1999 |publisher=Boréal |isbn=2-89052-949-5 |location=Montreal |oclc=40735579}}
* {{Cite book |last=Fournier |first=Louis |url= |title=Histoire du mouvement ouvrier au Québec: 150 ans de luttes. |publisher=[[Confédération des syndicats nationaux]]/[[Centrale des syndicats du Québec]] |year=2001 |isbn=2-89061-084-5 |location=Quebec |oclc=300704036}} -->
*{{Cite book |last=Hébert |first=Jacques |url= |title=Duplessis, non merci! |date=2000 |publisher=Boréal |isbn=2-7646-0048-8 |location=Montréal |oclc=43847172}}
*{{Cite book|last=Rouillard|first=Jacques|title=Le syndicalisme québécois. Deux siècles d'histoire|publisher=Éditions Boréal|year=2004|isbn=978-2-7646-0307-9|location=Montreal}}
*{{Cite book |last1=Gélinas |first1=Xavier |url= |title=Duplessis: son milieu, son époque |last2=Ferretti |first2=Lucia |last3=Bédard |first3=Éric |date=2010 |publisher=Septentrion |isbn=978-2-89448-625-2 |location=Quebec |trans-title=Duplessis: characteristics of his era |oclc=705507561}}
*{{Cite book |last=Lavigne |first=Alain |url= |title=Duplessis: pièce manquante d'une légende: l'invention du marketing politique |date=2012 |publisher=Septentrion |isbn=978-2-89448-688-7 |location=Quebec |trans-title=Duplessis: a missing piece of a legend: the invention of political marketing |oclc=800754717}}
*{{Cite book |last=Berthelot |first=Pierre |date=September 29, 2014 |title=Maurice Duplessis: mises en récit d'un personnage historique, 1959–1980 |url=https://papyrus.bib.umontreal.ca/xmlui/bitstream/handle/1866/11095/Berthelot_Pierre_2014_memoire.pdf |publisher=[[Université de Montréal]] |location=Montreal |trans-title=Maurice Duplessis: perspectives on a historical figure, 1959–1980}}
*{{Cite book |last=Lemay |first=Martin |url= |title=À la défense de Maurice Duplessis |date=2016 |publisher=Éditions Québec Amérique |isbn=978-2-7644-3069-9 |location=Montreal |trans-title=The case for defending Maurice Duplessis |oclc=932844546}}
*{{Cite book |last=Livernois |first=Jonathan |url= |title=La révolution dans l'ordre: une histoire du duplessisme |date=2018 |publisher=Éditions Boréal |isbn=978-2-7646-2547-7 |location=Montreal |trans-title=A revolution within order: a history of Duplessism |oclc=1060593276}}
*{{Cite book |last=Dumas |first=Alexandre |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=9wSKDwAAQBAJ |title=L'Église et la politique québécoise, de Taschereau à Duplessis |date=March 22, 2019 |publisher=McGill–Queen's Press – MQUP |isbn=978-0-7735-5745-1 |language=fr |trans-title=The [Catholic] Church and Quebec politics, from Taschereau to Duplessis}}
*{{Cite book |last=Berthelot |first=Pierre B. |url= |title=Duplessis est encore en vie |date=2021 |publisher=Septentrion |isbn=978-2-89791-224-6 |location=Quebec City |trans-title=Duplessis is still alive |oclc=1240728083}}

=== Audiovisual materials ===

* {{Citation|title=The Royal Visit|date=1939|url=https://www.onf.ca/film/royal_visit/|type=documentary|publisher=[[National Film Board of Canada]]|language=|access-date=November 28, 2021}}
* {{Citation|title=Royal River|url=https://www.onf.ca/film/royal-river/|publication-date=1959|type=documentary|publisher=National Film Board of Canada|language=|access-date=November 28, 2021}} – the visit of the [[British royal family|Royal Family]] connected with the opening of the [[Saint Lawrence Seaway]]
* {{Citation|last=Arcand|first=Denys|title=Québec: Duplessis et après...|url=https://www.onf.ca/film/quebec_duplessis_et_apres/|publication-date=1972|publisher=National Film Board of Canada|language=fr|access-date=November 28, 2021|author-link=Denys Arcand}}
*''[[Duplessis (TV series)|Duplessis]]'', a seven-episode [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=olaJONzrVGc&list=PLRXt62CRJFZE2x2ru-Vl0oy10xlvzI94x series] by Denys Arcand (1978)
* Two series from the documentary ''{{Interlanguage link|Épopée en Amérique|lt=Épopée en Amérique|fr}}'' (1997), in French:
** [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YJpfpJlply0&list=PLXLp4GlJ9RZN7ViLhNAFmpk4atVM50N_a&index=4 Finally, the war (1929–1945)]
** [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KbBsf3yv6RA The times of Duplessis (1945–1959)]
*''{{Interlanguage link|Les Bâtisseurs d'eau|lt=Les Bâtisseurs d'eau|fr}}'' (1997)'','' a [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0T9AqGeQ-QA&list=PLJZbEqBZuuWeQuU_BwyZzvwb8mE3Knrkc documentary] about the origins of [[Hydro-Québec]] from [[Ici Radio-Canada Télé|Radio-Canada]], with first two series covering Duplessis's era, in French
*''{{Ill|Les Orphelins de Duplessis (TV series)|fr|Les Orphelins de Duplessis|lt=Les Orphelins de Duplessis}}'' (1997), a [https://web.archive.org/web/20230206175302/https://youtube.com/watch?v=yiwXW7mgxvs two-part] [https://web.archive.org/web/20230206175302/https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zMlwYTzuYLE documentary] about the Duplessis Orphans, Radio-Canada, in French
*Three episodes from the documentary ''{{Interlanguage link|Les 30 journées qui ont fait le Québec|lt=Les 30 journées qui ont fait le Québec|fr}}'' [''30 days that have shaped Quebec''], 2000, in French:
** [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9XX8g0dirw8 Maurice Duplessis gets to power – August 17, 1936]
** [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XrCdgp_kC-8 Maurice Duplessis's revenge – August 8, 1944]
** [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9dBisetskUY The beginning of the Asbestos strike – February 13, 1949]
* ''Les Orphelins de Duplessis'' (2003), a [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9WCKpKRsb_A documentary] by {{Interlanguage link|Marc Petitjean|lt=Marc Petitjean|fr}}, in French
* ''The Premiers,'' a documentary on provincial leaders, with an episode on Duplessis: part [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eu487xCWO2M 1], [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B16Ohr8GylQ 2], [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KRRP5pZR4U0 3]

=== Short biographical and bibliographical entries ===

* {{Quebec MNA biography}}
* {{Cite book |last=Jones |first=Richard |url=https://cha-shc.ca/_uploads/5c38ab26c382e.pdf |title=Duplessis and the Union Nationale Administration |publisher=[[Canadian Historical Association]] |year=2000 |isbn=0-88798-087-2 |location=[[Ottawa]]|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190601135123/https://cha-shc.ca/_uploads/5c38ab26c382e.pdf |archive-date=June 1, 2019 }}
* {{Cite encyclopedia|year=2009|title=Duplessis, Maurice le Noblet|encyclopedia=[[Dictionary of Canadian Biography]]|url=https://www.biographi.ca/en/bio/duplessis_maurice_le_noblet_18F.html|access-date=November 28, 2021|last=Sarra-Bournet|first=Michel|volume=XVIII (1951–1960)}}
* {{Cite book |last1=Pelletier |first1=Martin |date=2009 |title=L'Union nationale: bibliographie |last2=Lévesque |first2=Michel |url=http://www.assnat.qc.ca/fr/publications/fiche-bibliographie-union-nationale.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110213074637/http://www.assnat.qc.ca/fr/publications/fiche-bibliographie-union-nationale.html |archive-date=February 13, 2011 |url-status=live |access-date=November 28, 2021 |publisher=Library of the [[National Assembly of Quebec]] |language= |publication-place=Quebec}}
*{{Cite web |title=Duplessis Maurice |url=https://agora.qc.ca/dossiers/maurice_duplessis |access-date=February 7, 2023 |website=Encyclopédie de l'Agora|language=fr}}
* {{Cite web|title=Duplessis, Maurice|url=https://www.patrimoine-culturel.gouv.qc.ca/rpcq/detail.do?methode=consulter&id=8688&type=pge#.UfJoc1MRNuU|access-date=November 28, 2021|website=[[Quebec Cultural Heritage Directory]]|language=fr}}
* {{Cite web|last=Black|first=Conrad|date=December 17, 2020|title=Maurice Duplessis|url=https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/maurice-le-noblet-duplessis|access-date=December 1, 2021|website=[[The Canadian Encyclopedia]]}}

==External links==
*[https://www.archivespolitiquesduquebec.com/discours/p-m-du-quebec/maurice-duplessis/ Duplessis's Speeches from the Throne]
{{wikiquote}}

{{s-start}}
{{s-ppo}}
{{succession box
| title = Leader of the [[Conservative Party of Quebec (historical)|Quebec Conservative Party]]
| before = [[Camillien Houde]]
| after = none
| years = 1933–1936*
}}
{{succession box
| title = Leader of the [[Union Nationale (Canada)|Union Nationale]]
| before = none
| after = [[Paul Sauvé]]
| years = 1935*–1959
}}
{{s-off}}
{{succession box
| title = [[List of Quebec leaders of the Opposition|Leader of the Opposition in Quebec]]
| before = [[Charles Ernest Gault|Charles Ernest Gault (Conservative)]]
| after = [[Télesphore-Damien Bouchard|T.-D. Bouchard (Liberal)]]
| years = 1932–[[1936 Quebec general election|1936]]
}}
{{succession box
| title = [[List of Quebec leaders of the Opposition|Leader of the Opposition in Quebec]]
| before = [[Télesphore-Damien Bouchard|T.-D. Bouchard (Liberal)]]
| after = [[Adélard Godbout|Adélard Godbout (Liberal)]]|
}}
{{s-end}}

<nowiki>*</nowiki><small>The Union Nationale was founded as a coalition in 1935, in which the Conservative Party was a junior coalition partner. However, it was agreed that Duplessis would have become Premier if the UN had won the 1935 election. (Sarra-Bournet, 2003) The following year, the UN formally became a unitary political party with the Quebec Conservative Party dissolving into it. Duplessis was elected as its leader.</small>

{{Maurice Duplessis}}
{{QCPremiers}}
{{Conservatism}}
{{Nationalism}}
{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Duplessis, Maurice}}
[[Category:Maurice Duplessis| ]]
[[Category:1890 births]]
[[Category:1959 deaths]]
[[Category:Premiers of Quebec]]
[[Category:Université de Montréal alumni]]
[[Category:Lawyers in Quebec]]
[[Category:Antisemitism in Quebec]]
[[Category:People from Trois-Rivières]]
[[Category:Canadian anti-communists]]
[[Category:Canadian Roman Catholics]]
[[Category:Persons of National Historic Significance (Canada)]]
[[Category:Conservative Party of Quebec MNAs]]
[[Category:Canadian political party founders]]
[[Category:Union Nationale (Quebec) MNAs]]
[[Category:Leaders of the Union Nationale (Quebec)]]
[[Category:Conservatism in Canada]]
[[Category:Right-wing politics in Canada]]
[[Category:Canadian people of World War II]]
[[Category:Populism in Canada]]
[[Category:Right-wing populism in Canada]]
[[Category:Recipients of the Order of the Liberator General San Martin]]
[[Category:20th-century members of the National Assembly of Quebec]]