Fabien Roy facts for kids

Fabien Roy (born April 17, 1928 – died October 31, 2023) was a Canadian politician. He was very active in the province of Quebec during the 1970s. Roy was elected to both the National Assembly of Quebec (the provincial government) and the House of Commons of Canada (the federal government). He supported ideas about changing how money works, called social credit theories.

Early Life and Career

Fabien Roy was born in Saint-Prosper, Quebec. He studied many subjects, including accounting, sales, and human resources. He also learned about business and law at Université Laval. After leaving politics in 1980, he studied how to value properties.

Before becoming a politician, Roy worked as an accountant for a farm co-operative from 1945 to 1949. He also worked as a secretary for trucking federations. In 1953, he started his own trucking company, F. Roy Transports, and ran it until 1962.

From 1962 to 1970, he was the Director-General of a credit union in La Chaudière. He also helped lead a federation of credit unions in Quebec. In 1960, he helped create the Saint-Prosper Chamber of Commerce and became its president in 1963.

Getting Involved in Politics

Fabien Roy became active in the Ralliement créditiste party in 1962. This party supported social credit ideas. He was the president of the party's local group in Dorchester from 1962 to 1968. He also helped organize campaigns for federal elections in 1962, 1963, 1965, and 1968. From 1964 to 1965, he was a provincial vice-president for the party.

Serving in Quebec's Government

In 1970, Roy was elected to the National Assembly of Quebec for the Beauce area. This is like being a Member of Parliament for a province. He became the chief whip for his party, the Ralliement créditiste du Québec, from 1970 to 1972. A chief whip makes sure party members vote together.

From 1972 to 1975, he was the party's leader in the National Assembly. He tried to become the main leader of the party in 1973 but didn't win. In the 1973 provincial election, he was re-elected for the Beauce-Sud area.

Roy was the president of his party from 1973 to 1974. However, he was later removed from the party in November 1975. After this, he started a new party called the Parti national populaire with another politician, Jérôme Choquette. In the 1976 provincial election, Roy was the only member of his new party to be elected to the National Assembly.

Moving to Federal Politics

On March 30, 1979, Fabien Roy became the leader of the federal Social Credit Party of Canada. He then left his seat in the Quebec National Assembly on April 5, 1979.

The Social Credit party tried to gain support from people who wanted Quebec to have more independence. Their campaign slogan was C'est à notre tour ("It's our turn"). This was similar to a popular Quebec song. The party promised to fight for provinces to have more control over their own future. Despite these efforts, the party won only six seats in the 1979 federal election. Roy himself was elected from the Beauce area in Quebec.

The Social Credit party supported the minority government of Prime Minister Joe Clark's Progressive Conservative Party of Canada. However, Prime Minister Clark did not fully recognize the Social Credit party. He refused to give them "official party status" in the House of Commons.

In December 1979, the government proposed a new budget that included a gas tax. The Social Credit party wanted the money from this tax to go to Quebec. When Prime Minister Clark said no, the Social Credit members chose not to vote on a motion that showed a lack of trust in the government. This led to the government losing the vote and a new election being called for February 18, 1980.

In the 1980 federal election, Fabien Roy and all other Social Credit candidates lost their seats. Roy tried to get back into the House of Commons in a special election later that year but lost again. The Social Credit party never won a seat in the House of Commons after this. Roy resigned as leader on November 1, 1980.

Life After Politics

After leaving politics, Fabien Roy went back to business and community work. He served as a director for different companies and organizations. He was also a director for a community college (Cégep de Lévis-Lauzon) from 1984 to 1985. He was involved in the Beauce economic council and the Rotary Club. In 1987, he helped organize the 250th anniversary celebration of the Beauce region.

In 1989, Fabien Roy became the first president of the Village des défricheurs of Saint-Prosper, a historical village. In 2005, he published his autobiography, a book about his own life, called Député à Québec et à Ottawa—mais toujours Beauceron !.

Family Life

Fabien Roy married Pauline Lessard in 1960. They had four children together.

Fabien Roy passed away in Saint-Georges, Quebec, on October 31, 2023, at the age of 95.

See also

• National Assembly of Quebec
• List of third party leaders (Quebec)
• History of Quebec