History through our eyes: December 2, 1985, Bourassa’s return

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Our Story Through Our Eyes feature, which was very popular with readers in 2019, is back in a new format. On Mondays, we will post more photos from the Montreal Gazette archives that provide insight into the history of our city. .

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It was a remarkable political comeback. Nine years earlier, voters had sent Robert Bourassa packing after two terms as Quebec’s prime minister. On December 2, 1985, they gave him a landslide victory: 99 seats for the Quebec Liberals, compared to 23 for the Parti Quebec.

Tedd Church’s photo of a cheerful Bourassa appeared on page 1 the next day. The failure of Bourassa to win his own seat, Bertrand’s ride on the South Shore, was simply “a mistake that we can correct in a few weeks,” he told a crowd of victorious fans at the Pierre Charbonneau Stadium, where the Speakers had yelled the party’s campaign song, Flashdance … What a Feeling. And indeed, it wasn’t long before liberal MNA Germain Leduc, who had won the safe seat of St-Laurent, stepped aside so that Bourassa could run in a by-election there.

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After his defeat to Parti Québécois in November 1976, Bourassa had chosen to spend time studying and teaching, much of it in Europe. During the 1980 Quebec referendum, he had played a prominent role in supporting the No campaign, intervening in economic problems. He regained Liberal leadership in October 1983.

After his victory in 1985, Bourassa went on to serve two more terms. It was a tumultuous period of constitutional and linguistic discord, also marked by the Oka Crisis.

In September 1993, Bourassa announced his planned retirement – his cancer had returned – although he would serve until Daniel Johnson Jr. replaced him in January 1994.

Bourassa died on October 2, 1996, at age 63, of malignant melanoma.

History Through Our Eyes: Photos of People and Events That Shaped 20th Century Montreal, compiling the original 2019 series in book form, is available online at montrealhistorybooks.com and in local bookstores. A portion of the profits of the books sold at the online address will go to the Gazette Christmas Fund.