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| Premiership of Maurice Duplessis | |
| Monarchs | Edward VIII George VI Elizabeth II |
|---|---|
| Party | Union Nationale |
| Seat | Quebec City |
First term August 26, 1936 – November 8, 1939 | |
| Election | |
| Appointed by | Ésioff-Léon Patenaude |
Second term August 30, 1944 – September 7, 1959 | |
| Election | |
| Appointed by | Eugène Fiset |
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Maurice Duplessis was Premier of Quebec, Canada, from 1936 to 1939 and again from 1944 to 1959 as leader of the Union Nationale (UN) caucus in the Legislative Assembly of Quebec, the lower house of the Quebec Legislature. The first term of the longest-serving premier of the province since Confederation lasted three years (1936–1939) and was interrupted when he lost a snap election in 1939. He returned to power in 1944 and ruled the province uninterruptedly until his death in September 1959, maintaining majorities in three following elections (1948, 1952 and 1956). The premier's death threw the Union Nationale into disarray. The next year, the party lost power to the Liberals under Jean Lesage, who reversed a lot of Duplessis's policies and radically changed Quebec's politics by leading the province through the Quiet Revolution.
Duplessis became premier on 17 August 1936, shortly after he took full control of the Union Nationale. It started as a coalition between the Action libérale nationale (ALN), composed of a group of dissident Liberal members of the Legislative Assembly (MLAs), and its junior partner, the Conservatives, of which Duplessis was leader prior to these parties' merger into the UN. He finished the consolidation of his grip over the new party, which he would maintain until his death. The first term proved difficult for Duplessis as the Great Depression spawned numerous problems on the economic front. Duplessis's first term marked the introduction of old-age pensions and minimum wages for almost all workers. He strengthened workplace accident protections, created the Ministry of Health and instituted a popular rural loan program. At the same time, borrowing soared to the point the federal government had to intervene to restrict it and the laissez-faire policies of his predecessors, which he previously promised to put an end to, were continued. Notably, Duplessis refused to nationalize the hydroelectric plants. A controversial act aimed to repress communists was passed during the first term, known as the Padlock Law, and the government passed regulations weakening organized labour.
During the second period of Duplessis governments, the economic situation improved thanks to the post–World War II expansion that the Western world entered into. Duplessis generally promoted a model of economic development with little state intervention, low taxation and very limited government-sponsored welfare. The budget was in the long term balanced. The province noted solid economic growth and much investment into the province's resources, usually by large out-of-province companies and with few conditions. Significant progress in rural electrification and building schools was noted during these fifteen years. He also approved the current flag of Quebec.
Duplessis was known for strong advocacy for provincial autonomy, to the point of refusing federal subsidies, investments and social programs in the province. The government cracked down on increasingly powerful trade unions as well as the Jehovah's Witnesses, while also maintaining a cozy (and often clientelist and corrupt) relationship with both business interests and the Catholic Church. The cooperation of the government with the highest tiers of the clergy (unlike in his first term) was particularly close, with many healthcare, social and education duties being delegated or shared with church officials. This, together with the government's authoritarian tendencies and staunch conservatism, led many contemporary observers to describe Duplessis's Quebec as a somewhat backward region relative to the rest of North America. Some of his strongest critics labelled the period the Grande Noirceur (Great Darkness).