Ryan was born in Montreal, Quebec, the son of Blandine Dorion and Henri-Albert Ryan. Ryan's brother, Yves Ryan, was also politically active, serving as mayor of Montreal North from 1963 to 2001.
Journalism
From 1962 to 1978, Ryan was editorialist at Le Devoir, a French-language daily newspaper in Montréal, and he was the director of the newspaper from 1964 to 1978. During his tenure at the head of the editorial staff he became known for his probity and his mastery of contemporary political issues. His advice was sought by the provincial governments of Quebec and by opposition parties. During the 1970 October Crisis Ryan was accused of participating in a plot to overthrow Robert Bourassa's recently elected government. Though the rumour was proven to be baseless, it served as a source of tension between Ryan and Prime Minister of CanadaPierre Elliott Trudeau, whom Ryan suspected of having spread the rumour in an attempt to damage him politically.
Politics
Bourassa lost the 1976 election and his own MNA seat to the Parti Québécois under René Lévesque, in part due to the editorial position of Le Devoir under Ryan's stewardship. Subsequently, Ryan won the 1978 Quebec Liberal Party leadership election and served as party leader from 1978 to 1982, where he opposed Lévesque in two prominent campaigns. Ryan led the victorious "No" side in the 1980 Quebec referendum on sovereignty which captured 60% of the vote. One particular turning point in the campaign was when Quebec PQ cabinet ministerLise Payette criticized Ryan's wife, Madeleine, as an "Yvette", a stay-at-home character in a popular Quebec storybook, then further suggesting that all females who were against sovereignty were acting as "Yvettes". This attack outraged many women voters in Quebec, especially since Madeleine Ryan was very active in political and social circles. Madeleine herself responded by organizing a brunch des Yvettes at the Château Frontenac on March 30. A week later, 14,000 women gathered at the Montreal Forum to denounce Payette's remarks. By nearly all accounts, many women voted "No" in the referendum out of anger at this insult. Nonetheless, Pierre Trudeau was particularly critical of Ryan. Trudeau first criticized the performance of the Quebec Liberal Party, saying it was "drowning in a swamp of its own verbiage" during a televised National Assembly debate on sovereignty, in contrast to the Parti Québécois which had masterfully coordinated its speakers. Trudeau also said that Ryan's initial campaign efforts of talking to small groups of people wasn't sufficient, which resulted in federal cabinet minister Jean Chrétien being sent in to help the federalist side. This helped to perpetuate the strained relationship between Ryan and Trudeau. Ryan then led the party into the 1981 provincial election. Ryan's Liberals finished just 3% behind the PQ in the popular vote, but the latter won twice as many seats; Quebec elections have typically seen large discrepancies between raw votes and seat counts. The loss was widely blamed on Ryan's campaign style, which was criticized for being old-fashioned and ill-suited for the television age. Notably, he refused to tailor sound bites for the evening news. Ryan was succeeded as MNA opposition leader and party chief by Bourassa, who was making a political comeback. To date Ryan is the last non-interim Quebec Liberal leader who has not served as premier. After the Liberals regained power under Bourassa in the 1985 election, Ryan became one of the most important members of the government and served as Minister of Education. He was also Minister of municipal affairs, public safety and minister responsible for the Charter of the French language. He also served in the cabinet led by Daniel Johnson. Many in English Canada might remember Ryan for his work against the establishment of an independent Quebec. Those who followed his career, as a publisher and later as a politician, have noted that he also opposed the existing federal status quo, which he considered as too centralized, despite statements to the contrary by the then-Prime Minister of Canada Pierre Elliott Trudeau.
