Claude Ryan
| Claude Ryan link (Media executive, politician) | |
|---|---|
| File:Claude Ryan.jpg | |
| Born | January 26, 1925 Montreal, Quebec |
| Died | February 9, 2004 Montreal, Quebec |
| Nationality | Canadian |
| Alma mater | Université de Montréal, Pontifical Gregorian University |
| Religion | Catholic |
| Party | Quebec Liberal Party |
French-Canadian media executive and politician who worked against the establishment of an independent Quebec. | |
Claude Ryan was a Canadian media executive and politician who worked against the establishment of an independent Quebec.[1][2] He attended the 1968 Bilderberg conference in Mont Tremblant, Canada.
Background
Ryan was born in Montreal, Quebec, to Henri-Albert Ryan, who abandoned his family, and Blandine Dorion. He was the younger brother of Gérald Ryan (d. 2002) and the older brother of Yves Ryan (d. 2014). As a single mother living through the Great Depression, Blandine was faced with the hardship of raising three children in impoverished conditions, but managed to secure a first-rate education for her three sons, putting them on paths to prestigious careers in law, politics, and journalism.[3] Claude's brother, Yves Ryan, was also politically active and was mayor of Montreal North from 1963 to 2001.[4]
Education
Claude received his early education at Saint-Jean-de Matha in Ville-Émard, after which he went on to le Collège Sainte-Croix (later renamed Collège Maisonneuve) from 1937 to 1944. In 1944, at the age of 19, Ryan entered the School of Social Service at l'Université de Montréal, where he pursued a programme of studies in Social Work until 1946.[4]
Catholic Action
During his university years, Ryan became involved with Catholic Action. Hugely popular and influential in many Catholic countries around the world at the time, Catholic Action movements were associations of lay men and women who endeavoured to receive an integral moral and religious formation in the Catholic tradition in order to foster the living presence of the Catholic faith at all levels of life and action – political, economic, and social[4].
Ryan's involvement with Catholic Action developed over the years and became one of the most formative experiences of his life. From 1951 to 1952, Ryan undertook a course of studies at the Pontifical Gregorian University in Rome on church history and world history.[4]
When Ryan returned to Quebec, he resumed his leadership of Catholic Action and worked from an office at the Archdiocese of Montreal adjacent to the Cardinal’s office. The close physical proximity to the Cardinal's office symbolized the intimate working relationship between Ryan and Montreal’s Cardinal Archbishop Paul-Émile Léger.[4]
Media manager
From 1962 to 1978, Ryan was editorialist at Le Devoir, a French-language daily newspaper in Montreal, and he was the director of the newspaper from 1964 to 1978.
During the 1970 October Crisis Ryan was accused of participating in a plot to overthrow Robert Bourassa's recently elected government. Though the rumour was proven to be baseless, it served as a source of tension between Ryan and Prime Minister of Canada Pierre Elliott Trudeau, whom Ryan suspected of having spread the rumour in an attempt to damage him politically.
Politics
Bourassa lost the 1976 election and his own MNA seat to the Parti Québécois under René Lévesque, in part due to the editorial position of Le Devoir under Ryan's management. Subsequently, Ryan won the 1978 Quebec Liberal Party leadership election and was party leader from 1978 to 1982, where he opposed Lévesque in two prominent campaigns (a referendum and an election).
Ryan led the victorious "No" side in the 1980 Quebec referendum on sovereignty.[5]
Nonetheless, Pierre Trudeau was particularly critical of Ryan. Trudeau first criticized the performance of the Quebec Liberal Party, saying it was "drowning in a swamp of its own verbiage" during a televised National Assembly debate on sovereignty, in contrast to the Parti Québécois which had masterfully coordinated its speakers. Trudeau also said that Ryan's initial campaign efforts of talking to small groups of people was insufficient, which resulted in the federal cabinet minister Jean Chrétien being sent in to help the federalist side. That helped to perpetuate the strained relationship between Ryan and Trudeau.
Ryan then led the party into the 1981 provincial election. His Liberals finished just 3% behind the PQ in the popular vote, but the latter won twice as many seats; Quebec elections have typically seen large discrepancies between raw votes and seat counts. The loss was widely blamed on Ryan's campaign style, which was criticized for being old-fashioned and ill-suited for the television age. Notably, he refused to tailor sound bites for the evening news. Ryan was succeeded as MNA opposition leader and party chief by Bourassa, who was making a political comeback.
After the Liberals regained power under Bourassa in the 1985 election, Ryan became one of the most important members of the government and was Minister of Education. He was also Minister of municipal affairs, public safety and minister responsible for the Charter of the French language. He also sat in the cabinet led by Daniel Johnson.
References
- ↑ http://www.assnat.qc.ca/en/deputes/ryan-claude-5231/biographie.html
- ↑ https://thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/claude-ryan
- ↑ http://www.assnat.qc.ca/en/deputes/ryan-claude-5231/biographie.html
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 4.4 https://clauderyan.ca/en.clauderyan.shtml
- ↑ The Champions Part III documentary by Donald Brittain
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