Claude Ryan

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Claude Ryan

Claude Ryan, CC, D.h.c. (January 26, 1925 – February 9, 2004) was a Canadian politician and leader of the Parti libéral du Québec from 1978 to 1982.

Born in Montreal, Quebec, he was the director of Le Devoir, a French-language newspaper available in the province of Quebec, from 1964 to 1978. During his tenure at the head of the editorial staff he became known for his probity and his mastery of contemporary political issues. His advice was sought by nearly all the provincial governments of Quebec, left or right, and by opposition parties.

Ryan garnered national attention during the 1970 October Crisis, when he was accused of participating in a plot to overthrow Robert Bourassa's recently elected government. Though the plot was later proven to be baseless, it served as a source of tension between Ryan and Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau, who Ryan suspected of having spread the rumor in an attempt to damage him politically.

As Liberal leader he led the defeat of the 1980 Quebec referendum on sovereignty against René Lévesque, but then led his party to defeat in the 1981 election and never became Premier of Quebec. After the Liberals regained power under Robert Bourassa in the 1985 election, Ryan served as Minister of Education.

While many in English Canada might remember him for his work against the establishment of a completely independent Quebec, separate from Canada, those who followed his career, as a publisher and later as a politician, have noted that he was also totally opposed to the existing federal status quo, which he considered as too centralized, despite statements to the contrary by the then prime minister of Canada Pierre Elliott Trudeau.

He retired from politics in September 1994 and died in Montreal, on February 9, 2004 at 4:20 a.m, of stomach cancer. In 1995, he was made a Companion of the Order of Canada. In 2006, he was posthumously made a Grand Officer of the National Order of Quebec. ^[1]

After his death, he was the target of bitter insults by controversial sovereignist film director Pierre Falardeau. Falardeau's comments met with general disapproval from all sides of the political spectrum.

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Preceded by Gérard D. Lévesque	Leader of the Quebec Liberal Party 1978-1982	Succeeded by Gérard D. Lévesque
Preceded by Gérard D. Lévesque	Leader of the Opposition in Quebec 1979-1982	Succeeded by Gérard D. Lévesque
Preceded by François Gendron	Minister of Education (Quebec) 1985-1990	Succeeded by Michel Pagé