The question of whether Quebec will secede from Canada to become an independent nation has been a hot topic in the country for several years now. It dates back to the abortive rebellions of 1837-38. In 1980, a referendum to secede was rejected by a 60-40 margin. Since then though, the numbers of Quebeckers that want to become sovereign has significantly increased. There is so many questions of what will happen if this does happen. In this paper I plan to take a deeper look at this situation and try to figure out what it would actually be like if Quebec was its own country. The premier of Quebec, Lucien Bouchard has been attempting to separate from Canada for quite sometime. If he had it his way this topic would be old news by now. His main problem is the Federalist, English speaking citizens of his province. They have been very vocal on their stance to stay apart of Canada. They have sent around several resolutions stating this. It all started in Allumette Island East, which has a population of 458. It has since spread to municipalities along the borders with Ontario and the United States, and in the Montreal area. Unfortunately this means very little considering the fact that these municipalities only represent approximately 6% of the province’s population. When the Parti Quebecois government called for the first referendum on secession in 1980, only 40% were in favor of separatism. When the party took over control again in 1995 the approval rose just about 49%. The fear of the PQ is that if several of the floating voters out there feel that a sovereign Quebec must mean a partitioned, patchwork Quebec, the separatists might well fall back to 40% if that. One group of Quebeckers with the strongest-and geographically the widest claims for self determination, the Cree, Inuit, and Innu who occupy the resource-rich northern two-thirds of the province. The views of these nations oddly enough seem to go unmentioned. During the 1995 attempt to secede these three groups all voted by more than 95% to stick with Canada. People outside of Canada are baffled at how Canada ended up in such a state of affairs. Canada as a country has a lot going for it. A high GNP, and high per capita income in international terms. It is ranked at the top of the... ... middle of paper ... ...izens are suffering. I understand where the French-speaking Canadians are coming from. With the majority of French Canadians residing in the province of Quebec they feel like they are different than the rest of the country. As it stands now, Quebec is one of the more prosperous provinces in Canada, and I wonder if secession were to take place what would happen? We all know that it would take time to become successful, but who knows if they would ever return to the way it is now. Is the price too big to play? With the opposing sides at almost equal size it is important to come to a final situation. Before possible violence breaks out within the province. Bibliography Doran, Charles F. “Will Canada Unravel?” in Foreign Affairs. Sept-Oct 1996 v75 n5 pg97 “Quebec Divisible” in The Economist(US) December 6,1997 v344 n8046 pg 36 Bowen, Bruce “Jeffrey Simpson: Will the Quebec Secessionists Succeed?” in New Zealand International Review, May-June 1997 v22 n3 pg 30
First and foremost, the failure of the Meech Lake and Charlottetown Accords essentially thwarted the first referendum of 1980. At this time, Quebec articulated the fact that it should be recognized as a distinct society within Canada. Secondly, and as afforded by Gall, was the alienation of Quebec, which essentially brought back the separatist party, Parti Quebecois with Jacques Parizeau as the Prime Minister. The re-election of Parizeau inevitably led to the rekindling of the need for an independent Quebec, and, in this regard, the 1995 referendum was born. The question articulated in the referendum encompassed whether or not Quebec should relinquish its attachment with Canada and become sovereign based on a formal offer to Canada for a renegotiation of political and economic partnership. In this regard, the Parti Quebecois aimed to draw upon the nationalism of Quebeckers, to stress that the federal system was unfavorable to Quebec, and to convince Quebeckers that sovereignty would result in meaningful economic and political
However, not all was going well in Quebec. The French-English relation was going bad. Many studies showed that French-Canadian Quebecers were earning the lowest wage in all of the ethnic groups in Canada. Other complaints were that the top jobs in Quebec were given to English speaking Canadians. Canada was going through the worst crisis in its history, and unless equal partnership was found a break-up would likely happen.
Quebec has considered and has gone as far to hold referendums over Separatism (Surette,2014). Separatism is when the province of Quebec separates from the rest of Canada to form its own country. Which would have immense effects on Quebec but also the rest of Canada (Martin, 2014). This report will focus on the root causes and origins of Quebec Separatism, the current state of Quebec Separatism and finally how we as a society can act towards Quebec Separatism. Root Causes and Origin
Despite there being various actors who contributed to Quebec’s journey to nationalism, I would consider Rene Levesque to be one of the leading advocates for Quebec nationalism. He was viewed as an outspoken leader for Quebec’s independence and later formed the new provincial party in Canada – the Parti Quebecois (Tangelder, 1995). The purpose of the party was to essentially achieve Quebec sovereignty or independence by means of majority vote. Levesque used his platform to ultimately shed light to some of the root issues that were occurring in Quebec, specifically issues that negatively targeted French Canadians. One issue was regarding the concerns of how the majority of businesses (80%) were owned by Anglophones, which limited the chances of opportunity for French Canadians to progress in the business world (Fitzmaurice,
Regionalism is a growing concern for Canadians` as it affects economic stability, nationalism and western alienation. The economic stability is reliant on the regions having strong economic bases (Stilborn, 19). Nationalism with Quebec is a prime example of how distinct regional cultures hinder Canada’s unity, as they want to separate from Canada, while still having the federal Canadian government financially support them. Western Alienation is also a prime political culture that is regionally distinct.
One political issue however that Canada faces is the Quebec Referendum and the desire of some French Canadians living in Quebec for Quebec to become a sovereign and independent country. There have two recent referendum motions in Quebec, the first in 1980 and the second more recently in 1995 where the difference between voters electing to remain as part of Canada and those wanting an independent Quebec sovereign was very close (50.6% voted No and 49.4% voted Yes). The reason to separate is based on the language and cultural differences between French Canada and the rest of Canada which is predominantly English speaking. The issue here is that Quebec is the second most populous province in Canada and the largest province by area (“Quebec,” n.d.). Furthermore, Quebec has abundance of natural resources. It has about 30 mines where minerals such as gold, iron, and copper are extracted. It also has a large supply of fresh water including the Saint Lawrence
René Lévesque’s impact on Canada was very proportionate and can still be seen today. Thorough Lévesque’s promotion of sovereignty association Canadian identity as a whole was affected, mainly by creating contending loyalties between the Québec people and Canada as a whole. This division of Canadian identity and creation of contending loyalties made many people chose a side, divide their identity to be one side or the other, and further promoting the other side’s sense of identity. But this division of loyalties was also present in Québec as many people had to decide if they were with René Lévesque’s ideas or agents René Lévesque’s ideas. This demand for sovereignty association brought a greater awareness that Francophone minorities were being overpowered and replaced with propionate English based things, such as schooling systems. Nevertheless, with the vaster Canadian conscious of the events occurring, thanks to René Lévesque, systems and bills like the official languages act were able to be put in place to prevent the further division and loss of French speaking
Finally, the impact of the October Crisis of 1970 dictated the ongoing political struggle for Quebec nationalism, which had gained greater autonomy by the combination of political and militant methods against the federal government. The October Crisis served as a grim reminder of the uncooperative and intolerant Anglophone government that refused to make greater concessions with the Francophone population in Quebec. Certainly, the tensions created by the FLQ and Trudeau’s policies show the inability to understand and comprehend the massive cultural and economic divide between these two factions in the wake of the October Crisis:
The main context of all three sources relate to nationalism. In source 1, Quebec wants to gain sovereignty in order to achieve ethnic nationalism. While the context in source 2 relates to narrow civic nationalism, since Harper concentrates that Canada is not a bilingual country. Source 3 demonstrates general nationalism, as the Aboriginals feel a sense of belonging to Canadians, because they lost their land too. Although all three sources do not express the same type of nationalism, the general meaning shown through the source connects with nationalism. The type of nationalism shown in sources 1 and 2 are similar; both show a type of civic nationalism. In Source 1, general civic nationalism can reflect from Canada’s side of the source, because
“Should I stay or should I go now? If I go there will be trouble, And if I stay it will be double”, sang The Clash a decade before Quebec held their second sovereignty referendum. The same question was on everyone's mind on the last few days of October 1995; should they stay or should the go? Quebec has always had an uneasy relationship with Canada. They tried to leave once in 1980 and they’ve had political, economic, cultural and regional differences, but in the end, nobody wins if Canada breaks up so it’s obvious that Quebec should stay Canadian.
The resurgence of civil unrest in Quebec once again calling for Quebec sovereignty poses a serious threat to civilised and democratic society. Regardless the validity of the claim for Quebec’s sovereignty the acts of rioting, violence and vandalism are disgraceful reflection on the movement and the acts hurt the integrity and legitimacy of their claims. The General Directorate for Internal Security is concerned that the civil unrest will harm the reputation of French persons.
From the 1960's to the 1990's, Canada has had a struggle to keep their country united, specifically Quebec and the First Nations. The 2 nations have both had their respective issues with the government. For example, the First Nations were not considered as First Nations, but Indians. They were forced to hold a status card to show proof that they were defined as an Indian. As time progressed, the Indian Act was made, which gave bands of the First Nations more authority, but no living conditions were improved. The people of Quebec did not carry any status card for proof of their identity. Instead, they wanted to separate from Canada and be independent instead of being recognized and treated fair. However, some issues have similarities. The people
Canadian identity, when defined by French-English Relations, changed negatively from 1982 and onwards due to the Constitutional Act. After a referendum was held in Quebec during the 1980s in order to figure out whether Quebec should be an independent state apart from Canada. Previously, Prime Minister Trudeau promised a new constitution that would favour the Quebecers demands for more control over their province and more political representation, if the referendum failed. The referendum ended up being a 60% vote of No to separation. PM Trudeau wanted the constitution to be Canadian and be able to be changed by Canadians to suit its needs. Therefore when the referendum in Quebec failed he saw it as an opportunity to bring forth his new idea.
Right around that time, football changed my life. Even from the start, I was a natural. I didn't even require much technique at first; I just used my raw athleticism to block, tackle, and kick better than everyone else. As I got older, I became a utility player; I did
Growing up I was always a kid who loved to be outside and loved to play. I also had parents that loved to play sports and compete. So, with this being said it obvious that I was going to play sports because that what they did with my sister who was 3 years older than me. So when it came time for me to walk I slowly began to run and when that happened is when I got my first ball and loved it. Once I turned five I had already joined a baseball league that was near me to play tee-ball with my dad as the coach and unlike all of the other kids my dad had already worked with me and I knew how to throw and catch a baseball. At this young age most, kids are just playing for fun and trying to see if they like the sport but oh no was this different for me I already knew that I loved it because I could pick it up so easily at such a young age. When it came time to the games it wasn’t anything like what I thought it was going to be because I was the only one out there that was trying and since I was so young I didn’t know why I was the only one out there trying to make plays. Because the whole game I was out there running for every ball and trying to