ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Thursday, October 3, 1996 TAG: 9610030053
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C-2 EDITION: METRO
DATELINE: MONTREAL
TYPE: NEWS OBIT
SOURCE: Associated Press
Robert Bourassa, who confronted separatist violence, language disputes and Indian militancy during four stormy terms as Quebec's premier, died of skin cancer Wednesday. He was 63.
Although opposed to Quebec's secession from Canada, Bourassa struggled to find a balance between federalism and Quebec nationalism. He embodied the sentiments of many Quebeckers torn between Canada and their mostly French-speaking province.
Bourassa was diagnosed with malignant melanoma in June. It was his third bout with skin cancer since 1990.
Bourassa was elected four times as Quebec's premier, serving from 1970 to 1976 and from 1985 to 1994.
In 1970, at 36, he became the youngest man ever elected head of the province. Shortly after taking power, he was plunged into Quebec's worst political crisis when militant separatists of the Quebec Liberation Front kidnapped British trade commissioner James Cross and Quebec Labor Minister Pierre Laporte. Cross was freed, but Laporte was killed.
Federal troops were deployed in Quebec under a partial state of emergency, and more than 460 people were arrested.
In 1974, Bourassa's government passed a law making French the province's official language and forcing children to take language tests. That forced many immigrant children to enter French schools and led to violent demonstrations in Montreal.
Bourassa was defeated by the separatist Parti Quebecois in 1976, at least in part because of unproven allegations of corruption in his administration.
There was also disenchantment with his language law, which satisfied neither the province's French majority nor its English minority.
After several years in obscurity, Bourassa staged a remarkable political comeback, leading the federalist Liberal Party to a landslide victory in 1985.
The first few years back in power were relatively tranquil, but more troubles arose in December 1988 when the Supreme Court of Canada said the French-only provisions of Quebec's language law were unconstitutional.
In 1990, another crisis flared over land claims by Mohawk Indians. A Canadian soldier was killed during a long standoff at the Oka reserve.
Bourassa became so preoccupied with the crisis that he delayed treatment of his skin cancer.
Although his public image at times seemed stiff, his friends said he was warm and charming in private.
Bourassa was devoted to Quebec's economic and social well-being, introducing medicare and initiating hydroelectric projects to harness the power of Quebec's northern rivers and lakes.
``He gave his life to the public sector,'' said Prime Minister Jean Chretien.
Born to a lower-middle-class family in Montreal, Bourassa told schoolmates he wanted to be a politician.
After studying law at the University of Montreal, Oxford and Harvard, Bourassa worked as an economic adviser in Ottawa for eight years.
In 1966, he won election as a Liberal candidate for the provincial legislature.
His son, Francois, is a successful jazz musician.
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