Mr. Speaker, 40 years ago today, the 75 producers of the French network of the CBC returned to work after 69 days on strike. They would change the course of history.
This strike in fact gave a number of people involved in the dispute the opportunity to appreciate fully Quebec's situation in Canada. They in turn—the Lévesques, Duceppes, Marchands, Pelletiers and Roux—then tried each in their own way to give francophones access to power.
According to journalist Guy Lamarche, who covered this event, René Lévesque would not forget the CBC's indifference toward the French network and the abyss separating the two solitudes.
The end of the strike signalled a great victory. The strikers returned to work with their heads high and paved the way to francophone and Quebecker pride.