Description: The Night of Long Knives. It sounds like a movie title: a murder mystery, or maybe a slasher film. In reality, it has more to do with political intrigue. "The Night of Long Knives" is Quebec Premier René Lévesque's nickname for the night of November 4, 1981. On that night, in the kitchen of the Chateau Laurier, two provincial premiers and Attorney General Jean Chrétien came to an agreement that led to the acceptance of the Charter. Before this, eight provinces, nicknamed the "Gang of Eight," were against Prime Minister's Trudeau's proposed constitutional changes. To Premier Lévesque, the only member of the Gang of Eight not staying at the Chateau Laurier, the sudden defection of the rest of his gang to the federal camp was like a long knife stabbing him in the back while he slept peacefully across the river in Hull.

Tags:

canada

charter history

country

gang of eight

jean chretien

night of long knives

november 4 1981

rene levesque