Fernand Ouellet OC FRSC (6 November 1926 in Lac-Bouchette, Quebec – 28 June 2021 in Toronto, Ontario) was a French Canadian historian, author and educator.
He accused fellow historians of trying to "normalize" Quebec's past, so as to provide a stronger justification of sovereignty.
These historians, instead of dwelling on economic shortcomings, have stressed the deep roots of modernity, a position that Ouellet strongly rejected.
In a nutshell, Ouellet insisted that Quebec's history offers "more support for the thesis of backwardness than for that of modernization.
Trudeau and Ouellet intellectually influenced each other in their respective texts, though they never formed a personal and emotional friendship.