1989 – today
Gilles Grondin, a retired diplomat, founded the Quebec Life Coalition on February 24, 1989, a year after the Supreme Court struck down Canada’s abortion law. Since then, QLC has prayed, marched and stood on sidewalks across Quebec, from Montreal to Quebec City.
March for Life, Quebec City, May 31, 2025. Photo: Georges Buscemi
QLC in numbers
Supporter, donor and volunteer figures: QLC database, October 2026, French and English combined.
In recent years, QLC has taken the pro-life witness to Quebec City and to dozens of street corners across the province.
Between 1,000 and 1,500 people gathered at the Tourny Fountain in front of the National Assembly and marched through the capital. Quebec’s government later cited the march as a sign that the pro-life movement is getting organized.
Read: A historic first →“Every human being has the right to life,” from the first article of Quebec’s Charter, then 50 years old. Around 600 marchers kept going despite a banned stage, a cancelled banquet and hundreds of counter-protesters.
Read: An epic march for life →Sixty people in black walked in silence from the Joan of Arc Garden to the National Assembly, one for each of the 60 abortions performed every day in Quebec. Each carried a child’s portrait. Police escorted the procession; there were no counter-protesters. A petition on post-abortion trauma was presented.
Read the report (in French) →One hour of silent prayer on the sidewalk, sign in hand. In 2026, participants in Drummondville ranged from 10 to 80 years old. Photo: Lévis, 2026.
Led by Georges Buscemi, then taken over by Brian Jenkins. Held every Lent and every fall since, now also in Sherbrooke.
40 Days for Life →Each May, QLC brings Quebecers to Parliament Hill by charter bus.
Our articles →252 km in eight stages along the Chemin du Roy, from Quebec City to Montreal, with ThéoVox.
marchepourlaliberte.ca (in French) →
Founder. A career diplomat posted to Mexico, the UN in New York, Africa, Vietnam and Haiti. He joined the national pro-life coalition in 1988 and founded QLC the following year. He died in Montreal on August 5, 2004, aged 78. QLC’s Gilles Grondin Award bears his name.
Named president when Gilles Grondin stepped down. Under his leadership QLC hosted the national pro-life congress in Montreal in 2005.
Current president. He led the first 40 Days for Life in Montreal, founded Quebec Prays and launched the March for Life in Quebec City.
QLC’s milestones, with the events in Quebec, Canada and the world that shaped them.
R. v. Morgentaler, January 28, 1988. Canada has had no criminal law on abortion since.
February 24. Gilles Grondin is founding president. The first bulletin appears in September.
The Supreme Court rules that a father cannot prevent an abortion and that the unborn child is not a legal person under Quebec law.
Gilles Grondin submits a brief on the federal abortion bill, and another to the commission on Quebec’s political and constitutional future. Dr. Jérôme Lejeune lectures for QLC.
Passed by the Commons in 1990, the bill is defeated on a tie vote.
Mr. Grondin publishes a summary of the U.S. population-control memorandum NSSM 200. Vitalité first appears in March.
The Supreme Court upholds, 5 to 4, the ban on assisted suicide.
From Cairo in 1994 to 1999, QLC takes part in international population conferences.
John Paul II publishes his encyclical on the value of human life.
August 19.
QLC begins taking part each May.
Gilles Grondin steps down.
August 5, in Montreal, aged 78.
November 17–19.
Parliament redefines marriage nationwide.
During Lent, led by Georges Buscemi. Vigils have been held twice a year since.
40 Days for Life →September 1.
May 15, with Cardinal Marc Ouellet.
Bill 52 legalizes “medical aid in dying” in Quebec, in force December 2015.
Colloquium and dinner.
The Supreme Court strikes down the ban on assisted suicide.
Euthanasia and assisted suicide legalized across Canada.
Weekly outdoor rosaries begin during the COVID crisis, followed by Canada Prays.
Euthanasia extended to people whose death is not reasonably foreseeable.
The U.S. Supreme Court overturns Roe v. Wade.
February dinner. Dr. Paul Saba receives the Gilles Grondin Award.
June 1. Between 1,000 and 1,500 people, the first such march in Quebec’s history.
Read the article →Every first Sunday of October.
October 30, under Quebec’s Bill 11 (2023).
Down from 29,650 in 2014, according to RAMQ billing data. About 60 a day.
Delivered to Minister Roberge’s office on May 30.
Read the article →May 31. Around 600 marchers, despite a banned stage, a cancelled banquet and hundreds of counter-protesters.
Read: An epic march for life →July 28. Pro-life expression is banned within 50 metres of abortion sites.
A first, according to the Institut de la statistique du Québec.
April 25. A pro-life, pro-family gathering at Saint-Pierre-Claver church.
June 20. Sixty people in black, one for each abortion a day, walk in silence to the National Assembly.
Read the report (in French) →October 10–17: 252 km from Quebec City to Montreal. QLC also launches an assistant that answers questions from years of its articles.
Try Ask QLC →