The Quiet Revolution took place in Québec between 1960 and 1966, fundamentally changing the nature of Québec political and social life. Premier Jean Lesage's Liberal government eliminated the electoral corruption and patronage that had characterized Québec political life under Maurice Duplessis' Union Nationale government. The Liberals also changed Québec's education system and merged the province's power companies into the provincially owned Hydro Québec. Unions were given the right to strike and the government created a province-wide hospitalization insurance scheme. The Quiet Revolution also marked a decrease in the church's influence in Québec life.