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I’ll never forget the morning of Aug. 27, 1977. I lived near the Olympic Stadium. I went to buy the Montreal Gazette at the Pie IX métro station. The day before, Bill 101 had become the law of the land. I was nervous.

The headlines turned me upside down. “What do you mean, I won’t be able to send my kids to English school?” The majority had its freedom of choice taken away that day.

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I did not vote for the Parti Québécois in 1976 but I respected René Lévesque, a democrat of integrity, albeit a conflicted man, even about language and sovereignty. He disliked having to legislate language, but hardliners like Camille Laurin, the architect of Bill 101, convinced him there was no alternative if French-speaking Québécois were to take their rightful place in Quebec as the majority.

Later on, I ended up agreeing. Language legislation was the kingpin of francophone renaissance in Quebec. Downtown Montreal no longer looked and sounded like downtown Chicago.