Quebec's Independence In Canada Essay

On Monday, October 30th, 1995, citizens of Canada’s largest province gathered to settle an issue which had been plaguing Canada for many years. The province of Quebec, the only French majority province in Canada, held a referendum, which is a public vote on any matter, concerning the issue of sovereignty. This issue has been a recurring theme over the years, since Réné Lévesque initiated the Parti Quebecois (PQ) in 1968. The Parti Quebecois is the backbone of the Quebec separatist movement, it is the most prominent political party in Quebec which reveals the imminent possibility of a Canada without Quebec. In spite of the power of numbers which is supposedly working in Quebec’s favour regarding separation, Quebec’s desire to separate from Canada

In the case of Canada’s quarrelsome Province of Quebec, that stability will be very difficult to reach. Economically, Quebec cannot separate because it is speedily losing Anglophone and Allophone citizens, its imports and exports would cease and its debt deficit would increase. The majority of the people emigrating from Quebec are young, successful Anglophones or Allophone individuals. Anglophones are simply those whose native language is English while Allophones are individuals whose native language is not French or English. The fact that the majority of the Allophones and Anglophones leaving Quebec are young and prosperous, leaves Quebec’s economy in a jeopardized position. This is so because a lack of young innovative individuals in any region leads to the ultimate degradation of the region economically. If the emigration rates continue to rise, Quebec’s economy will be forced to depend solely on the aging working class which is detrimental to its growth which essentially removes its ability to sustain itself as a country separate from Canada. Accordingly, Quebec would lose many beneficial trade agreements, the main one being the North America Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA). If Quebec is to separate from Canada, it would be excluded from NAFTA which would cause its economy to further deteriorate. This is so

Quebec cannot successfully separate from Canada because of the large amount of ‘Non’ voters present throughout the province and the incessant discrimination occurring alongside the exclusion of a large portion of the Quebec population. According to Lucien Bouchard, the leader of the Bloc Quebecois (BQ), which is the Federal counterpart of the PQ, Quebec should be a country because it “has a culture all its own and has its official language as French, that sacred heritage preserved by the struggles, the fidelity and the courage of [12] generations” (62). In essence, Bouchard is saying that as long as any group of people have a conventional language, an established culture and a long history, they should viably become their own country. During this time, Ron Irwin, the Minister of Indian Affairs, says that the Aboriginal peoples have the right to stay in Canada with their territories if Quebec is to secede. If this is the case, “Quebec will lose 67% of its northern land” (61), which is Inuit territory. Many Aboriginal groups have affirmed that they want to remain with Canada if Quebec separates. Bouchard and Parizeau respond to this by saying that the Aboriginal peoples do not have the same right to self-determination as Quebecers which is the highest order of discrimination. Chief Zebedee Nungak rightly