Quebec Canada, a move towards independence?
by Michael Koenecke
In mid January 2006, I traveled north to the city of
Montreal, located in the Quebec providence of Canada. While there, besides
freezing, I was struck by two reoccurring themes: the first being that
almost every sign I saw was in French and the second being that Roman
Catholic influence was surprisingly pervasive. I found this incongruent
with my perception of an all-accepting Canada. I knew French culture
was strong in Quebec, but I did not realize how dominant it was until
I saw it for myself. It reminded me that Quebec wanted to break off
from the rest of Canada. When I returned home I decided to research
the origins of this idea. In this article I’ll be discussing the historical
background behind Quebec’s move for independence.
The movement for a separate Quebec started in the time of the Quiet
Revolution, a time of social and political change in Canada. Rene Levesque
began gaining recognition for his strong beliefs concerning a separate
Quebec. Under his Parti Quebecois, he became a premier of Canada. The
main focus of the Parti Quebecois was and still is, to gain sovereignty
and to promote social democracy. The party lost the elections in 1970
with 23% of the vote, and again lost in 1973 with 30% of the vote. However,
in the 1976 election they managed to gain 41% of all votes and rose
to power.
The party won in 1976 because of the promise that Quebec would not seek
total separation from Canada. Quebec would share some characteristics,
such as currency. Finally in 1980, the Parti Quebecois asked voters
whether they wanted to separate all together; the results showed 59.56%
of the voters said no. This defeat was primarily caused by Prime Minister
Pierre Trudeau’s and other members of the Liberal Party of Canada’s
denouncement of separation.
Pierre Trudeau promised a new constitution would be constructed for
Canada. Rene Levesque met with Prime Minister Trudeau and the other
nine providence premiers to discuss this new constitution. Levesque
demanded that Quebec should have a right to veto any amendments of the
constitution. Trudeau denied this request and on the night of November
5th 1981, he called a meeting of all the premiers except Levesque. At
this meeting, they agreed upon a new constitution.
Rene Levesque refused to sign the new constitution. In fact, to this
day the Quebec providence has not signed the constitution of Canada.
After this period, the Parti
Quebecois’ power diminished, but the hope for Quebec sovereignty remained.
In October 1995, the Parti Quebecois had a second chance under the leadership
of Premier Jacques Parizeau. Despite their first referendum’s defeat,
they purposed a second referendum. The party was defeated by only 50.6%.
The loss was blamed mainly on the minority vote and fiscal issues. In
1996, Lucien Bouchard replaced Parizeau as premier. Soon, Bernard Landry
replaced Bouchard. The shake-up in leadership did little to help the
party. The Parti Quebecois made little visible progress. In 2003, the
party was voted out of power.
To this day the question of Quebec’s independence has yet to be answered.
The Parti Quebecois has stated that if they ever gain power again, they
will push for another referendum. Based on voting results, it appears
that the Quebec people are becoming more favorable to the idea of separation.
Hopefully one day both Quebec and Canada will reach a mutually beneficial
agreement.
Bibliography:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quebec
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parti_Qu%C3%A9b%C3%A9cois
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1980_Quebec_referendum
