‘Don’t give in’: Ex-MNAs who quit Bourassa cabinet in 1988 urge pushback on CAQ language tactics

They walked away from power in Robert Bourassa’s government in 1988 rather than support a language law that swept aside constitutional guarantees of freedom of expression.

Today, Richard French and Clifford Lincoln say the principles that drove their resignations are under even greater assault by Premier François Legault. French, 78, Lincoln, 97, and the late Herbert Marx walked out of Bourassa’s Liberal cabinet after he used the notwithstanding clause to shield Bill 178. The law banned most commercial signs from displaying languages other than French.