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Opening of the office of the Syndicat des fonctionnaires provinciaux du Québec, Lasarre section in 1967. The photo features presidents Jacques Bastien and Roger Boisclair, Marcel Hamel, secretary, and Fernand Lapierre, education officer
Opening of the office of the Syndicat des fonctionnaires provinciaux du Québec, Lasarre section in 1967
In 1964, representatives from the Syndicat des fonctionnaires provinciaux du Québec meet with Quebec Premier Jean Lesage to discuss voting procedures to determine the choice of an organization to represent them. To the left of Lesage is Jean Marchand, President of the Confédération des syndicats nationaux (CSN)
Representatives from the Syndicat des fonctionnaires provinciaux du Québec meeting with Jean Lesage

A Real Civil Service

It should come as no surprise that the civil service in Quebec, which groups together all employees of government machinery, experienced unprecedented growth during the Quiet Revolution, as a result of state intervention in education, health and social affairs, and the creation of new ministries, advisory councils, regulatory bodies and public corporations. Under the long reign of the Union nationale, the number of civil servants increased regularly, from some 16 000 in 1944 to 29 000 in 1960, an average increase of 1 000 civil servants per year. At the start of the 1970s, they numbered more than 50 000.

Number of Quebec Government Civil Servants, 1944-1970

Number of Quebec Government Civil Servants, 1944-1970

Number of Quebec Government Civil Servants, 1944-1970
Year Number of Civil Servants
1944 16 000
1960 29 000
1970 50 000

The Quebec civil service quickly developed expertise in several fields. Before the Quiet Revolution, it included a goodly cohort of lawyers and engineers, but few specialists in economics, statistics and sociology. After 1960, the civil service developed employee performance evaluation systems and administrative structures and its members could become unionized as of 1964. During the era of Maurice Duplessis, the civil service was subject to arbitrary decisions and patronage. Employees of the state had no rights, no job security and their wages were low. Furthermore, they were forbidden to join a trade union.

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