"Vive le Québec libre !" was a phrase in a speech delivered by French President Charles de Gaulle in Montreal, Quebec on July 24, 1967, during an official visit to Canada for the Expo 67 world's fair. While giving an address to a large crowd from a balcony at Montreal City Hall, he uttered "Vive Montréal ! Vive le Québec !" and then added, followed by loud applause, "Vive le Québec libre !" with particular emphasis on the word libre. The phrase, a slogan used by Quebecers who favoured Quebec sovereignty, was seen as giving his support to the movement.
French President Charles de Gaulle shortly after giving the “Vive le Québec libre” speech. In the background, Mayor of Montreal Jean Drapeau.
Charles de Gaulle, 1963
General Charles De Gaulle on the Chemin du Roy, Sainte-Anne-de-la-Pérade, 1967
Montreal City Hall's balcony where De Gaulle gave his speech.
Charles André Joseph Marie de Gaulle was a French army officer and statesman who led the Free French Forces against Nazi Germany in World War II and chaired the Provisional Government of the French Republic from 1944 to 1946 to restore democracy in France. In 1958, amid the Algerian War, he came out of retirement when appointed Prime Minister by President René Coty. He rewrote the Constitution of France and founded the Fifth Republic after approval by referendum. He was elected President of France later that year, a position he held until his resignation in 1969.
Wartime portrait, 1942
De Gaulle's parents: Jeanne Maillot and Henri de Gaulle
De Gaulle's birth house in Lille, now a national museum
De Gaulle in 1897, aged 7
