The Action libérale nationale (ALN)('National Liberal Action') was a short-lived provincial political party in Quebec, Canada. It was founded during the Great Depression and led by Paul Gouin. The ALN played an important role in the foundation of the Union Nationale.[1]
In order to unite the vote against the Liberal government of Alexandre Taschereau, the Action libérale nationale (ALN) and the Conservative Party of Quebec decided to run only one candidate of either party in each district for the 1935 Quebec election. With 29% of the vote, the ALN elected 26 out of 57 candidates; the Conservatives received 19% of the vote and won 16 seat out of 33 in which they ran a candidate.[4]
Decline
Less than a year later, Conservative Leader Maurice Duplessis, a rising star in provincial politics, tried to pressure ALN Leader Paul Gouin into merging both parties. While Gouin cuts ties with Duplessis, 22 of his Members of the Legislative Assembly (MLA) joined the new party, known as Union Nationale, which won the 1936 Quebec election.
The ALN opposed conscription and contested the 1939 Quebec election. Other than Gouin who took the leadership, the party was unable to attract any of its former candidates from the 1935 election. Instead René Chaloult and Oscar Drouin, who had grown disillusioned with Duplessis after they joined the Union Nationale, ran as Liberal candidates. The party won only 4.5% of the vote and none of its 56 candidates were elected. It disappeared soon after.
Legacy
Even though the ALN did not survive the 1930s political realignment in Quebec politics, many of its policies were eventually implemented by the provincial governments of Maurice Duplessis, Adélard Godbout and Jean Lesage.[2]
