Quebec's quiet revolution
There are few things more important to Canadians than hockey, and in Quebec, the Montreal Canadiens hockey team is followed with near religious excitement. Maurice Richard, a Canadiens star in the 1950’s was more than a hockey player; he was a French Canadian icon. His successes were successes for French Canadians, and the Quebecois followed his every move. It was the suspension of Richard after a questionable call in 1955 that would alter Canadian history forever, and begin Quebec’s Quiet Revolution, in which the French language and culture would prevail over the English. The Richard Riot, as it was called, was Canada’s version of “the shot heard ‘round the world”, an incident that initiated a revolution.
French Canadians saw attacks on Richard as attacks on themselves as people and a culture, and struggled to wrestle respect and power away from English Canadians in the political arena. The final straw was the suspension of Richard by Commissioner Clarence Campbell after a questionable hit. Montrealers saw the suspension as unjust and severe, but on a deeper level they believed the suspension was no more than an Anglo-Canadian exerting power over a French Canadian.
The riot allowed French Canadians to finally come out and express their frustration as the forgotten people of Canada. They saw Richard’s suspension as an intrusion of their rights and saw the opportunity to show cultural pride and power.
French Canadians saw attacks on Richard as attacks on themselves as people and a culture, and struggled to wrestle respect and power away from English Canadians in the political arena. The final straw was the suspension of Richard by Commissioner Clarence Campbell after a questionable hit. Montrealers saw the suspension as unjust and severe, but on a deeper level they believed the suspension was no more than an Anglo-Canadian exerting power over a French Canadian.
The riot allowed French Canadians to finally come out and express their frustration as the forgotten people of Canada. They saw Richard’s suspension as an intrusion of their rights and saw the opportunity to show cultural pride and power.