Honourable senators, I would like to take a moment today to pay tribute to Quebec poet and singer Raymond Lévesque, who passed away a few weeks ago at the age of 92 after contracting COVID-19.

I certainly did not share Raymond Lévesque’s separatist ideology, but his poems and songs have marked Quebec’s cultural history for over 50 years. Songs like Bozo les culottes, Quand les hommes vivront d’amour and Les trottoirs have been covered by some of the greatest singers, both in Quebec and in France. Jacques Brel, Barbara, Gilles Vigneault and Robert Charlebois have sung Raymond Lévesque’s songs.

His career began shortly after the Second World War. Like many talented French Canadians of the time, he moved to Paris in the mid-1950s, where he sang for several years in the bars of Saint-Germain-des-Prés. It was mostly there that he met the greats of French song. French producer Eddie Barclay helped him record his first album, which included several songs performed by the actor Eddie Constantine.

After returning to Quebec in 1959, he and some fellow artists founded the first “boîte à chanson” in Quebec called Chez Bozo. The success of the place was quickly copied, and several similar establishments emerged in various towns and cities in Quebec, allowing many singers to perform and develop their talent.

Raymond Lévesque was one of the greats of French song in Quebec, right up there with Félix Leclerc, Gilles Vigneault and Claude Léveillée.

At the end of the 1970s, he suffered profound hearing loss and ended his career as a singer, turning to writing poetry instead.

A staunch nationalist and separatist long before René Lévesque, Raymond Lévesque was at the forefront of the first referendum campaign in 1980. He routinely took to the stage with politicians to recite his patriotic texts to warm up the crowd before the political speeches.

In fact, Raymond Lévesque was using his words to awaken francophone Quebeckers to take their rightful place in the society of the time, which was still being held back by the Duplessis years and the Church.

He was a man of conviction, so much so, that in 2005 he turned down an award from the governor general of the time, Michaëlle Jean. He said that she had reneged on the idea of two nations in Canada in her acceptance speech and that she was in fact the Commander-in-Chief of the Canadian Forces, who had been called in to enforce the War Measures Act in October 1970.

Moving on from his political convictions, let us go back to the music. In my eyes, his biggest song, Quand les hommes vivront d’amour, was inspired by his time in Paris. He wanted to condemn the racist treatment of the Algerian people. Surprisingly, the lyrics, which I invite you to read, are still very relevant in 2021. That is why I join my voice to those who have already said that Quebec has just lost a great poet.