The Quebec referendum on the prohibition of alcohol, held on April 10, 1919,Tenue d'un référendum sur la prohibition au Québec considered the legalization of the sale of beer, cider and wine in the province of Quebec, Canada. The 'yes' side won with 78.62% of the votes.
Question asked In EnglishIs it your opinion that the sale of light beer, cider and wines, as defined by law, should be allowed? at 14In French
Results 178,112 persons (78.62%) voted in favour of the proposal, while 48,433 (21.38%) voted against; the proposal was therefore passed with a majority of 129,679 votes. The analysis of the vote by riding reveals that all voted in favour except for seven: Pontiac, Compton, Dorchester, Huntingdon, Brome, Stanstead and Richmond.
The result of the vote was that the subsequent prohibition law which became effective on May 1, 1919, applied only to spirits. The victory of the "moderate" prohibitionists over the "radicals" did not have immediate repercussion on the legal sale of alcohol for in 1919: 90% of Quebec municipalities were prohibiting its sale locally. Indeed, Trois-Rivières, Lévis, Lachine, Sainte-Agathe, Louiseville, Sainte-Rose and Terrebonne had voted for local prohibition in 1915,Tenue d'un vote sur la prohibition de l'alcool dans plusieurs villes québécoises while Quebec City had done the same on October 4, 1917.Tenue d'un référendum sur la prohibition dans la ville de Québec All these regulations had to be rescinded, one municipality at a time.
Prohibition was finally abolished on May 1, 1921, when the Alcoholic Beverages Act creating the entered into force.Ville de Montréal - Centre d’histoire de Montréal - Alcool
References
Further reading
See also 1898 Canadian prohibition plebiscite 1920 Canadian liquor plebiscite