Claude Ryan, 79; Former Leader of Quebec Liberal Party
Claude Ryan, 79, a former political leader in Quebec who successfully fought against the province’s separation from Canada, died of cancer Monday in a Montreal hospital.
Ryan was best known across Canada as the leader of the provincial federalist forces that defeated then-Quebec Premier Rene Levesque in the 1980 referendum on separation.
“His intellectual rigor and natural curiosity made him one of the leading public figures of his time,” Prime Minister Paul Martin said in a statement.
Ryan never became premier. He gave up the Quebec Liberal Party leadership in 1982, and went on to become a provincial Cabinet minister for nearly a decade before retiring from politics in 1994.
In Quebec, Ryan was well known long before his political career as an influential writer and editor for Montreal Le Devoir.
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