The transfer of electoral allegiance in ethnic politics : a study of the voting behaviour of Franco-Manitobans, 1969-1974
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Date
1976
Authors
Beaulieu, Paul R.
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Abstract
In the last eighty years the French minority in Manitoba has undergone several changes which have transformed it from merely 'a little Quebec' in the West. Perhaps none is as unusual or intriguing as its recent political changes. Only a few years ago the French appeared to be a politically traditional ethnic group indisposed to any form of socialism or left-wing politics. In the early 1970's, however, this group evident1y transferred its political allegiance, at least provincially, to the New Democratic Party. Apparently, its desire to advance its ethnic interests edged out its customary distrust of a socialist party. The interesting question is what peculiar 'prairie winds' created by that 'mischievous god' produced this unexpected change.