Premier of Quebec
Bertrand was chosen Acting Party Leader until a leadership convention could be held and therefore became Premier of Quebec.
His victory (58% of the delegates) over colleague Jean-Guy Cardinal (41%), Minister of Education and newly-elected MLA for the district of Bagot, at the Leadership Convention of 1969, caused a deep division among party insiders. While Johnson had been more accommodating towards the more nationalist elements of the party, Bertrand clearly positioned himself as a federalist. Cardinal was considered the nationalist candidate in the race. His defeat prompted a number of supporters to leave the Union Nationale and join the Parti Québécois.
The Union Nationale was also weakened by the passage of a controversial language legislation in 1969, known as Bill 63. Meant to resolve a conflict that plagued the public school board of Saint-Léonard, the bill confirmed the status quo on the language of instruction in the public schools (parents can choose English or French) and angered Quebec nationalists. Two Union Nationale MLAs, Jérôme Proulx and Antonio Flamand crossed the floor and sat as Independents, along with Parti Québécois Leader René Lévesque and Liberal dissident Yves Michaud to protest against the new law.
The Bill 63 would be superseded by Robert Bourassa's Bill 22 in 1974 and René Lévesque's Bill 101 in 1977.
The less controversial accomplishments of the Bertrand administration include the abolition of the Legislative Council of Quebec, the provincial equivalent of the Canadian Senate. Since then, the Legislative Assembly of Quebec is known as the National Assembly of Quebec.
Read more about this topic: Jean-Jacques Bertrand