What is 1980 Quebec referendum?
{{more footnotes|date=May 2011}} The '''1980 Quebec independence referendum''' was the first [[referendum]] in [[Quebec]] on whether Quebec should make a deal with Canada that would allow the province to have more control over its own laws, government, and trade agreements with other countries. The referendum was called by Quebec's [[Parti Québécois]] (PQ) government. The PQ wanted Quebec to be independent from Canada. The province-wide referendum took place on Tuesday, May 20, 1980, and the proposal to request more independence from Canada was defeated. 59.56 percent of voters voted against the referendum question and 40.44 percent voted in favour of it.<ref>{{cite book|last=Fitzmaurice|first=John|title=Québec and Canada; Past, Present, and Future|url=https://archive.org/details/quebeccanadapast0000fitz|year=1985|publisher=C. Hurst & Co. Ltd.|isbn=0-905838-94-7|page=[https://archive.org/details/quebeccanadapast0000fitz/page/47 47]}}</ref> A [[1995 Quebec referendum|second referendum on sovereignty]] in 1995 also failed, but by a smaller margin (50.58% to 49.42%). == Background == {{Main article|Quebec sovereignty movement}} Quebec, a [[Provinces and territories of Canada|province]] in the [[Canadian Confederation]] since its foundation in 1867, has always been the only province where the most commonly spoken language is French. Quebec has also historically been very connected to French culture and the Catholic Church, which was seen as the national church when the French colonists began to settle in what became Quebec. Many Quebecois people value their French identity and culture. In the early 1960s, Quebec went through a [[Quiet Revolution]] where politicians separated the role of the church from the role of government organisations in a process called [[secularization|secularisation]]. During this time period, political groups in the province began to identify as federalists (who wanted to be a part of a unified Canada) and [[Quebec sovereignty movement|sovereigntists]] (who wanted Quebec to become a sov