Quote:
Originally Posted by Docere
Toronto's stock market surpassed Montreal's in the 1940s. The opening of the St. Lawrence Seaway in 1959 also benefitted Toronto and reduced Montreal's importance as a shipping center. The stranglehold the Catholic Church had on Quebec until the 1960s also set back economic development. Montreal and Toronto were basically tied in population by the mid-1970s, so the "Parti Quebecois got elected" line is overstated IMO.
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The decay of Montreal was obvious in the 1980s and 1990s. Only when the separatist threat declined rapidly afterwards, did Montreal recover. The separatist threat had originally appeared in the early 1960s with the FLQ and this corresponded with the period when Toronto quickly moved towards surpassing Montreal. Toronto would have surpassed Montreal anyways for other reasons, but the separatist cause accelerated the process.