![Oui1995referendum](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/e5/Oui1995referendum.jpg)
The Quebec sovereignty movement (french: Mouvement souverainiste du Québec) is a
political movement whose objective is to achieve the sovereignty of
Quebec
Quebec ( ; )According to the Canadian government, ''Québec'' (with the acute accent) is the official name in Canadian French and ''Quebec'' (without the accent) is the province's official name in Canadian English is one of the thirtee ...
, a province of
Canada
Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...
since 1867, including in all matters related to any provision of Quebec's public order that is applicable on
its territory. Sovereignists suggest that the people of Quebec make use of their right to
self-determination – a principle that includes the possibility of choosing between integration with a third state, political association with another state or independence – so that Quebecois, collectively and by democratic means, give themselves a sovereign state with its own independent
constitution
A constitution is the aggregate of fundamental principles or established precedents that constitute the legal basis of a polity, organisation or other type of entity and commonly determine how that entity is to be governed.
When these princ ...
.
Quebec sovereigntists believe that such a sovereign state, the
Quebec
Quebec ( ; )According to the Canadian government, ''Québec'' (with the acute accent) is the official name in Canadian French and ''Quebec'' (without the accent) is the province's official name in Canadian English is one of the thirtee ...
nation
A nation is a community of people formed on the basis of a combination of shared features such as language, history, ethnicity, culture and/or society. A nation is thus the collective Identity (social science), identity of a group of people unde ...
, will be better equipped to promote its own economic, social, ecological and cultural development. Quebec's sovereignist movement is based on
Quebec nationalism
Quebec nationalism or Québécois nationalism is a feeling and a political doctrine that prioritizes cultural belonging to, the defence of the interests of, and the recognition of the political legitimacy of the Québécois nation. It has been ...
.
Overview
Ultimately, the goal of Quebec's sovereignist movement is to make Quebec an independent
state
State may refer to:
Arts, entertainment, and media Literature
* ''State Magazine'', a monthly magazine published by the U.S. Department of State
* ''The State'' (newspaper), a daily newspaper in Columbia, South Carolina, United States
* ''Our S ...
. In practice, the terms “independentist”, “sovereignist” and “separatist” are used to describe people adhering to this movement, although the latter term is perceived as pejorative by those concerned as it de-emphasizes that the sovereignty project aims to achieve political independence without severing economic connections with Canada. Most of the Prime Minister of Canada's political speeches use the term "sovereignist" in French in order to moderate remarks made on the Québécois electorate. In English, the term separatist is often used in order to accentuate the negative dimension of the project.
The idea of Quebec sovereignty is based on a nationalist vision and interpretation of historical facts and sociological realities in Quebec, which attest to the existence of a Québécois people and a
Quebec nation. On November 27, 2006, the House of Commons of Canada adopted, by 266 votes to 16,
a motion recognizing that “Québécois form a
nation
A nation is a community of people formed on the basis of a combination of shared features such as language, history, ethnicity, culture and/or society. A nation is thus the collective Identity (social science), identity of a group of people unde ...
within a united Canada”. On November 30, the National Assembly of Quebec unanimously adopted a motion recognizing "the positive character" of the motion adopted by Ottawa and proclaiming that said motion did not diminish "the inalienable rights, the constitutional powers and the privileges of the “
National Assembly
In politics, a national assembly is either a unicameral legislature, the lower house of a bicameral legislature, or both houses of a bicameral legislature together. In the English language it generally means "an assembly composed of the rep ...
and of the Quebec nation”.
Sovereignists believe that the natural final outcome of the Québécois people's collective adventure and development is the achievement of
political independence
Independence is a condition of a person, nation, country, or state in which residents and population, or some portion thereof, exercise self-government, and usually sovereignty, over its territory. The opposite of independence is the ...
, which is only possible if Quebec becomes a
sovereign state
A sovereign state or sovereign country, is a political entity represented by one central government that has supreme legitimate authority over territory. International law defines sovereign states as having a permanent population, defined te ...
and if its inhabitants not only govern themselves through independent democratic political institutions, but are also free to establish external relations and makes international treaties without the federal government of Canada being involved.
Through parliamentarism, Quebecers currently possess a certain democratic control over the
Quebec state
Quebec ( ; )According to the Canadian government, ''Québec'' (with the acute accent) is the official name in Canadian French and ''Quebec'' (without the accent) is the province's official name in Canadian English is one of the thirteen p ...
. However, within the Canadian federation as it is currently constituted, Quebec does not have all the constitutional powers that would allow it to act as a true national government. Furthermore, the policies pursued by Quebec and those pursued by the federal government often come into conflict. So far, various attempts to reform the Canadian federal system have failed (most notably the defunct
Meech Lake Accord
The Meech Lake Accord (french: Accord du lac Meech) was a series of proposed amendments to the Constitution of Canada negotiated in 1987 by Prime Minister Brian Mulroney and all 10 Canadian provincial premiers. It was intended to persuade the gov ...
and
Charlottetown Accord
The Charlottetown Accord (french: Accord de Charlottetown) was a package of proposed amendments to the Constitution of Canada, proposed by the Canadian federal and provincial governments in 1992. It was submitted to a public referendum on October ...
), due to conflicting interests between the sovereignist elites of Quebec and the
federalist elites of Quebec, as well as with the
rest of Canada
Canada comprises that part of the population within Canada, whether of British origin or otherwise, that speaks English.
The term ''English Canada'' can also be used for one of the following:
#Describing all the provinces of Canada that ...
(see
Constitutional Debate in Canada
The Constitutional debate of Canada is an ongoing debate covering various political issues regarding the fundamental law of the country. The debate can be traced back to the Royal Proclamation, issued on October 7, 1763, following the signing of t ...
).
Although Quebec's independence movement is a political movement, cultural and social concerns that are much older than the sovereignist movement, as well as
Quebecers' national identity, are also at the base for the desire to emancipate Quebec's population. One of the main cultural arguments sovereigntists cite is that if Quebec were independent, Quebecers would have a national
citizenship
Citizenship is a "relationship between an individual and a state to which the individual owes allegiance and in turn is entitled to its protection".
Each state determines the conditions under which it will recognize persons as its citizens, and ...
, which would solve the problem of Québécois cultural identity in the North American context (ex. who is a Québécois and who is not, what is uniquely Quebecois, etc.). Another example is that by establishing an independent Quebec, sovereigntists believe that the
culture of Québécois and their
collective memory
Collective memory refers to the shared pool of memories, knowledge and information of a social group that is significantly associated with the group's identity. The English phrase "collective memory" and the equivalent French phrase "la mémoire c ...
– as defined by their intellectual elites – will be adequately protected, in particular against
cultural appropriation by other nations – such as the incident with
Canada's national anthem, originally a
French Canadian patriotic song appropriated by the
anglophone
Speakers of English are also known as Anglophones, and the countries where English is natively spoken by the majority of the population are termed the ''Anglosphere''. Over two billion people speak English , making English the largest language ...
majority of Canada. An independent Quebec would also adequately and definitively resolve the issue of needing to protect the French language in Quebec; French is the language of the majority in Quebec, but since it is the language of a cultural minority in Canada – and since Quebec does not have the legislative powers of an independent state – French is still threatened.
Context
Background
![Quebec langues](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/87/Quebec_langues.png)
Following the English's
conquest of New France
Conquest is the act of military subjugation of an enemy by force of arms.
Military history provides many examples of conquest: the Roman conquest of Britain, the Mauryan conquest of Afghanistan and of vast areas of the Indian subcontinent ...
1760, tension between the francophone and
Catholic
The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...
population of Quebec and the largely
Anglophone
Speakers of English are also known as Anglophones, and the countries where English is natively spoken by the majority of the population are termed the ''Anglosphere''. Over two billion people speak English , making English the largest language ...
and
Protestant
Protestantism is a branch of Christianity that follows the theological tenets of the Protestant Reformation, a movement that began seeking to reform the Catholic Church from within in the 16th century against what its followers perceived to b ...
population of the rest of Canada has been a central theme of
Canadian history
The history of Canada covers the period from the arrival of the Paleo-Indians to North America thousands of years ago to the present day. Prior to European colonization, the lands encompassing present-day Canada were inhabited for millennia by ...
, shaping the early territorial and cultural divisions of the country that persist to this day.
Supporters of sovereignty for Quebec believe that the current relationship between Quebec and the rest of Canada does not reflect Quebec's best social, political and economic development interests. Moreover, many subscribe to the notion that without appropriately recognizing that the people of Quebec are culturally distinct, Quebec will remain chronically disadvantaged in favour of the
English-Canadian
English Canadians (french: Canadiens anglais or ), or Anglo-Canadians (french: Anglo-Canadiens), refers to either Canadians of English ethnic origin and heritage or to English-speaking or Anglophone Canadians of any ethnic origin; it is us ...
majority.
There is also the question of whether the French language can survive within the geographic boundaries of Quebec. Separatists and Independentists are generally opposed to some aspects of the federal system in Canada and do not believe it can be reformed in a way that could satisfy the needs of Quebec's French-speaking majority. A key component in the argument in favour of overt political independence is that new legislation and a new system of governance could best secure the future development of modern Québécois culture. Additionally, there is wide-ranging debate about defense, monetary policy, currency, international-trade and relations after independence and whether a renewed federalism would give political recognition to the Quebec nation (along with the other 'founding' peoples, including Canadian
First Nations
First Nations or first peoples may refer to:
* Indigenous peoples, for ethnic groups who are the earliest known inhabitants of an area.
Indigenous groups
*First Nations is commonly used to describe some Indigenous groups including:
**First Natio ...
, the
Inuit
Inuit (; iu, ᐃᓄᐃᑦ 'the people', singular: Inuk, , dual: Inuuk, ) are a group of culturally similar indigenous peoples inhabiting the Arctic and subarctic regions of Greenland, Labrador, Quebec, Nunavut, the Northwest Territories ...
, and the British) could satisfy the historic disparities between these cultural "nations" and create a more cohesive and egalitarian Canada.
Several attempts at reforming the federal system in Canada have thus far failed because of, particularly, the conflicting interests between Quebec's representatives and the other provincial governments' representatives. There is also a degree of resistance throughout Quebec and the rest of Canada to re-opening a constitutional debate, in part because of the nature of these failures – not all of which were the result simply of and federalists not getting along. To cite one case, in a recent round of constitutional reform,
Elijah Harper
Elijah Harper (March 3, 1949 – May 17, 2013) was a Canadian Oji-Cree politician who served as a member of the Legislative Assembly of Manitoba (MLA) from 1981 to 1992 and a member of Parliament (MP) from 1993 to 1997. Harper was elected chie ...
, an aboriginal leader from Manitoba, was able to prevent ratification of the agreement in the
provincial legislature, arguing that the accord did not address the interests of Canada's aboriginal population. This was a move to recognize that other provinces represent distinct cultural entities, such as the aboriginal population in Canada's Prairies or the people of Newfoundland (which contains significant and culturally distinct French-Canadian, English-Canadian, Irish-Canadian and Aboriginal cultures – and many more).
Contemporary politics
Perhaps the most significant basis of support for Quebec's sovereignty movement lies in more recent political events. For practical purposes, many political pundits use the political career and efforts of
René Lévesque
René Lévesque (; August 24, 1922 – November 1, 1987) was a Québécois politician and journalist who served as the 23rd premier of Quebec from 1976 to 1985. He was the first Québécois political leader since Confederation to attempt ...
as a marker for the beginnings of what is now considered the contemporary movement, although more broadly accepted consensus appears on the contemporary movement finding its origins in a period called the
Quiet Revolution
The Quiet Revolution (french: Révolution tranquille) was a period of intense socio-political and socio-cultural change in French Canada which started in Quebec after the election of 1960, characterized by the effective secularization of govern ...
.
René Lévesque, architect of the first referendum on sovereignty, claimed a willingness to work for change in the Canadian framework after the
federalist victory in the referendum of 1980. This approach was dubbed ("the beautiful risk"), and it led to many ministers of the Lévesque's government to resign in protest. The 1982
patriation
Patriation is the political process that led to full Canadian sovereignty, culminating with the Constitution Act, 1982. The process was necessary because under the Statute of Westminster 1931, with Canada's agreement at the time, the British parl ...
of the
Canadian constitution
The Constitution of Canada (french: Constitution du Canada) is the supreme law in Canada. It outlines Canada's system of government and the civil and human rights of those who are citizens of Canada and non-citizens in Canada. Its contents ar ...
did not solve the issue in the point of view of the majority of . The constitutional amendment of 1982 was agreed to by representatives from 9 of the 10 provinces (with René Lévesque abstaining). Nonetheless, the constitution is integral to the political and legal systems used in Quebec.
There are numerous possible reasons the 'Yes' campaign went down to defeat: The economy of Quebec suffered measurably following the election of the
Parti Québécois
The Parti Québécois (; ; PQ) is a sovereignist and social democratic provincial political party in Quebec, Canada. The PQ advocates national sovereignty for Quebec involving independence of the province of Quebec from Canada and establishin ...
and continued to during the course of the campaign. The
Canadian dollar lost much of its value and, during coverage of the dollar's recovery against US currency, there were repeated citations of the referendum and political instability caused by it cited as cause for the fall. Some suggest there were promises of constitutional reform to address outstanding political issues between the province and the federal government, both before and since, without any sign of particularly greater expectation those promises would be filled to any greater or lesser degree. There remains no conclusive evidence that the sovereignty movement derives significant support today because of anything that was promised back in the 1970s.
Proponents of the sovereignty movement sometimes suggest that many people in Quebec feel "bad" for believing the constitutional promises that the federal government and Pierre Trudeau made just before the 1980 Quebec referendum. Those were not delivered on paper or agreed upon in principle by the federal government or the other provincial governments. But, one conclusion that appears to be universal is that one event in particular—dubbed "the night of long knives"—energized the movement during the 1980s. This event involved a "back-room" deal struck between Trudeau, representing the federal government, and all of the other provinces, save Quebec. It was here that Trudeau was able to gain agreement on the content of the constitutional amendment, while the separatist Premier René Lévesque was left out. And it may well be that a certain number of Quebecers did and may even now feel "bad" both about the nature of that deal and how Trudeau (a Quebecer himself) went about reaching it.
Regardless of Quebec government's refusal to approve the 1982 constitutional amendment because the promised reforms were not implemented, the amendment went into effect. To many in Quebec, the 1982 constitutional amendment without Quebec's approval is still viewed as a historic political wound. The debate still occasionally rages within the province about the best way to heal the rift and the sovereignty movement derives some degree of support from a belief that healing should take the form of separation from Canada.
The failure of the Meech Lake Accord—an abortive attempt to redress the above issues—strengthened the conviction of most politicians and led many federalist ones to place little hope in the prospect of a federal constitutional reform that would satisfy Quebec's purported historical demands (according to proponents of the sovereignty movement). These include a constitutional recognition that Quebecers constitute a
distinct society
Distinct society (in french: la société distincte) is a political term especially used during constitutional debate in Canada, in the second half of the 1980s and in the early 1990s, and present in the two failed constitutional amendments, the M ...
, as well as a larger degree of independence of the province towards federal policy.
The contemporary sovereignty movement is thought to have originated from the Quiet Revolution of the 1960s, although the desire for an independent or autonomous French-Canadian state has periodically arisen throughout Quebec's history, notably during the 1837
Lower Canada Rebellion
The Lower Canada Rebellion (french: rébellion du Bas-Canada), commonly referred to as the Patriots' War () in French, is the name given to the armed conflict in 1837–38 between rebels and the colonial government of Lower Canada (now south ...
. Part of Quebec's continued historical desire for sovereignty is caused by Quebecers' perception of a singular English-speaking voice and identity that is dominant within the parameters of
Canadian identity
Canadian identity refers to the unique culture, characteristics and condition of being Canadian, as well as the many symbols and expressions that set Canada and Canadians apart from other peoples and cultures of the world. Primary influences on th ...
. (This is a point contested in other parts of Canada, particularly in places such as Manitoba, which has a significant French-speaking population and where, in the 1990s, that population tried to assert francophone language rights in schools. The separatist Parti Québécois-led government of Quebec offered up comment actually taking the side of the Manitoba government, which was opposed to granting those rights. Speculation persists that the Quebec government opposed this assertion of francophone identity outside of the province because of the impact it would have on the assertion of anglophone language rights within its own borders.)
For a majority of Quebec politicians, whether or not, the problem of Quebec's political status is considered unresolved to this day. Although Quebec independence is a political question, cultural concerns are also at the root of the desire for independence. The central cultural argument of the is that only sovereignty can adequately ensure the survival of the
French language in North America, allowing Quebecers to establish their
nationality
Nationality is a legal identification of a person in international law, establishing the person as a subject, a ''national'', of a sovereign state. It affords the state jurisdiction over the person and affords the person the protection of the ...
, preserve their
cultural identity, and keep their collective memory alive (see
Language demographics of Quebec).
Legal and constitutional issues
It has been argued by Jeremy Webber and Robert Andrew Young that, as the office is the core of authority in the province, the secession of Quebec from Confederation would first require the abolition or transformation of the post of Lieutenant Governor of Quebec; such an amendment to the
constitution of Canada
The Constitution of Canada (french: Constitution du Canada) is the supreme law in Canada. It outlines Canada's system of government and the civil and human rights of those who are citizens of Canada and non-citizens in Canada. Its contents a ...
could not be achieved without, according to Section 41 of the ''
Constitution Act, 1982
The ''Constitution Act, 1982'' (french: link=no, Loi constitutionnelle de 1982) is a part of the Constitution of Canada.Formally enacted as Schedule B of the ''Canada Act 1982'', enacted by the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Section 60 of t ...
'', the approval of the
federal parliament
The Parliament of Australia (officially the Federal Parliament, also called the Commonwealth Parliament) is the legislative branch of the government of Australia. It consists of three elements: the monarch (represented by the governor-gen ...
and all other provincial legislatures in Canada. Others, such as J. Woehrling, however, have claimed that the legislative process towards Quebec's independence would not require any prior change to the
viceregal
A viceroy () is an official who reigns over a polity in the name of and as the representative of the monarch of the territory. The term derives from the Latin prefix ''vice-'', meaning "in the place of" and the French word ''roy'', meaning "k ...
post. Young also concluded that the lieutenant governor could refuse Royal Assent to a bill that proposed to put an unclear question on sovereignty to referendum or was based on the results of a referendum that asked such a question.
History
Origins
Sovereignty and sovereignism are terms derived from the modern independence movement which started during the
Quiet Revolution
The Quiet Revolution (french: Révolution tranquille) was a period of intense socio-political and socio-cultural change in French Canada which started in Quebec after the election of 1960, characterized by the effective secularization of govern ...
of the 1960s. However, the roots of Quebecers' desire for political autonomy are much older than that.
Francophone nationalism in North America dates back to 1534, the year
Jacques Cartier landed in the
Gespe'gewa'gi district of
Miꞌkmaꞌki
Miꞌkmaꞌki or Miꞌgmaꞌgi is composed of the traditional and current territories, or country, of the Miꞌkmaq people, in what is now Nova Scotia, Canada. It is shared by an inter-Nation forum among Miꞌkmaq First Nations and is divided ...
claiming
Canada for France, and more particularly to 1608, the year of the founding of
Québec by
Samuel de Champlain, the first permanent settlement for French colonists and their descendants in New France (who were called Canadiens, Canayens or Habitants). Following the British
conquest of New France
Conquest is the act of military subjugation of an enemy by force of arms.
Military history provides many examples of conquest: the Roman conquest of Britain, the Mauryan conquest of Afghanistan and of vast areas of the Indian subcontinent ...
, the ''Canadien movement'', which lasted from 1760 to the late 18th century and sought to restore the traditional rights of French Canadians that had been abolished by the British with the
Royal Proclamation of 1763
The Royal Proclamation of 1763 was issued by King George III on 7 October 1763. It followed the Treaty of Paris (1763), which formally ended the Seven Years' War and transferred French territory in North America to Great Britain. The Procla ...
, began. During this period, French Canadians began to express an indigenous form of nationalism which emphasised their longstanding residence in North America. To most French Canadians, the only Canadians were the descendants of the French settlers of New France, while the British colonists were viewed as an extension of Britain. The period was briefly interrupted by the
Quebec Act of 1774
The Quebec Act 1774 (french: Acte de Québec), or British North America (Quebec) Act 1774, was an Act of Parliament, Act of the Parliament of Great Britain which set procedures of governance in the Province of Quebec (1763–1791), Province of ...
, which granted certain rights to Canadiens but did not truly satisfy Canadiens, and was notably exacerbated by the
Treaty of Paris (1783)
The Treaty of Paris, signed in Paris by representatives of King George III of Great Britain and representatives of the United States of America on September 3, 1783, officially ended the American Revolutionary War and overall state of conflict ...
, which ceded parts of the Quebec to the
United States
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...
, and the
Constitutional Act of 1791
The Clergy Endowments (Canada) Act 1791, commonly known as the Constitutional Act 1791 (), was an Act of the Parliament of Great Britain which passed under George III. The current short title has been in use since 1896.
History
The act refor ...
, which established the
Westminster system.
''The patriote movement'' was the period lasting from the beginning of the 19th century to the defeat of the Patriotes at the
Battle of Saint-Eustache
The Battle of Saint-Eustache was a decisive battle in the Lower Canada Rebellion in which government forces defeated the principal remaining Patriotes camp at Saint-Eustache on December 14, 1837.
Prelude
After the victory at Saint-Charles, th ...
in 1838, the final battle in the
Patriotes War. It began with the founding of the
Parti Canadien
The Parti canadien () or Parti patriote () was a primarily francophone political party in what is now Quebec founded by members of the liberal elite of Lower Canada at the beginning of the 19th century. Its members were made up of liberal pro ...
by the
Canadiens
French Canadians (referred to as Canadiens mainly before the twentieth century; french: Canadiens français, ; feminine form: , ), or Franco-Canadians (french: Franco-Canadiens), refers to either an ethnic group who trace their ancestry to Fren ...
. It stands out for its notorious resistance to the influence of the
Château Clique
The Château Clique, or Clique du Château, was a group of wealthy families in Lower Canada in the early 19th century. They were the Lower Canadian equivalent of the Family Compact in Upper Canada. They were also known on the electoral scene ...
, a group of wealthy families in
Lower Canada
The Province of Lower Canada (french: province du Bas-Canada) was a British colony on the lower Saint Lawrence River and the shores of the Gulf of Saint Lawrence (1791–1841). It covered the southern portion of the current Province of Quebec an ...
in the early 19th century who were the Lower Canadian equivalent of the
Family Compact
The Family Compact was a small closed group of men who exercised most of the political, economic and judicial power in Upper Canada (today’s Ontario) from the 1810s to the 1840s. It was the Upper Canadian equivalent of the Château Clique in ...
in
Upper Canada
The Province of Upper Canada (french: link=no, province du Haut-Canada) was a part of British Canada established in 1791 by the Kingdom of Great Britain, to govern the central third of the lands in British North America, formerly part of th ...
.
is the period beginning after the defeat of the Patriotes in the
rebellions of 1837–1838
The Rebellions of 1837–1838 (french: Les rébellions de 1837), were two armed uprisings that took place in Lower and Upper Canada in 1837 and 1838. Both rebellions were motivated by frustrations with lack of political reform. A key shared g ...
and lasting until the
Quiet Revolution
The Quiet Revolution (french: Révolution tranquille) was a period of intense socio-political and socio-cultural change in French Canada which started in Quebec after the election of 1960, characterized by the effective secularization of govern ...
. It concerns the survival strategies employment by the French-Canadian nation and the ultramontane of the Catholic Church following the enactment of the
Act of Union of 1840 which established a system whose goal was to force the cultural and linguistic assimilation of French Canadians into English-Canadian culture. In addition to , a phlegmatic character was adopted in response to the mass immigration of English-speaking immigrants. Some French Canadians left Quebec during this period in search of job security and protection of their culture. This phenomenon, better known under the name of “
Grande Hémorragie
The Quebec diaspora consists of Quebec immigrants and their descendants dispersed over the North American continent and historically concentrated in the New England region of the United States, Ontario, and the Canadian Prairies. The mass emigrati ...
”, is the origin of the
Quebec diaspora
The Quebec diaspora consists of Quebec immigrants and their descendants dispersed over the North American continent and historically concentrated in the New England region of the United States, Ontario, and the Canadian Prairies. The mass emigrat ...
in New England and Northeastern Ontario among other places. It led to the creation of permanent resistance movements in those new locations. Groups of nationalists outside Quebec have since then promoted Quebec's cultural identity, along with that of the
Acadians
The Acadians (french: Acadiens , ) are an ethnic group descended from the French who settled in the New France colony of Acadia during the 17th and 18th centuries. Most Acadians live in the region of Acadia, as it is the region where the de ...
in the
Maritime provinces
The Maritimes, also called the Maritime provinces, is a region of Eastern Canada consisting of three provinces: New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, and Prince Edward Island. The Maritimes had a population of 1,899,324 in 2021, which makes up 5.1% of Ca ...
and in
Louisiana
Louisiana , group=pronunciation (French: ''La Louisiane'') is a state in the Deep South and South Central regions of the United States. It is the 20th-smallest by area and the 25th most populous of the 50 U.S. states. Louisiana is borde ...
, represented by the
Société nationale de l'Acadie since 1881.
Louis-Alexandre Taschereau
Louis-Alexandre Taschereau (; March 5, 1867 – July 6, 1952) was the 14th premier of Quebec from 1920 to 1936. He was a member of the Parti libéral du Québec.
Early life
Taschereau was born in Quebec City, Quebec, the son of Jean-Thoma ...
coming to power in 1920 created an upheaval in French-Canadian society for most of the
interwar period. The confrontations and divergence of political opinions led to the rise of a new form of nationalism, called clerico-nationalism, promoted by
Maurice Duplessis
Maurice Le Noblet Duplessis (; April 20, 1890 – September 7, 1959), was a Canadian lawyer and politician who served as the 16th premier of Quebec. A conservative, nationalist, anti-Communist, anti-unionist and fervent Catholic, he and hi ...
and the
Union Nationale party during the
Grande Noirceur
The Grande Noirceur (, English, Great Darkness) refers to the regime of conservative policies undertaken by the governing body of Quebec Premier Maurice Le Noblet Duplessis from 1936 to 1939 and from 1944 to 1959.
Rural areas
Duplessis favour ...
of 1944 to 1959.
During the
Quiet Revolution
The Quiet Revolution (french: Révolution tranquille) was a period of intense socio-political and socio-cultural change in French Canada which started in Quebec after the election of 1960, characterized by the effective secularization of govern ...
of the 1960s to 1980s, the modern ''Québécois sovereignist movement'' took off, with
René Lévesque
René Lévesque (; August 24, 1922 – November 1, 1987) was a Québécois politician and journalist who served as the 23rd premier of Quebec from 1976 to 1985. He was the first Québécois political leader since Confederation to attempt ...
as one of its most recognizable figures. Various strategies were implemented since its rise, and it constitutes a continuity in French-speaking nationalism in America. Now the patriotism is Quebec-focused, and the identifier has been changed from French-Canadian nationalism or identity to Québécois nationalism or identity.
Emergence
The Quiet Revolution in Quebec brought widespread change in the 1960s. Among other changes, support for Quebec independence began to form and grow in some circles. The first organization dedicated to the independence of Quebec was the Alliance Laurentienne, founded by
Raymond Barbeau
Raymond Barbeau (June 27, 1930 – March 5, 1992) was a teacher, essayist, literary critic, political figure and naturopath. He was one of the early militants of the contemporary independence movement of Quebec.
Barbeau was born in Montreal in ...
on January 25, 1957.
On September 10, 1960, the
Rassemblement pour l'indépendance nationale (RIN) was founded, with
Pierre Bourgault Pierre Bourgault (January 23, 1934 – June 16, 2003) was a politician and essayist, as well as an actor and journalist, from Quebec, Canada. He is most famous as a public speaker who advocated Quebec sovereignty movement, sovereignty for Quebec ...
quickly becoming its leader. On August 9 of the same year, the Action socialiste pour l'indépendance du Québec (ASIQ) was formed by
Raoul Roy __NOTOC__
Raoul is a French variant of the male given name Ralph or Rudolph, and a cognate of Raul.
Raoul may also refer to:
Given name
* Raoul Berger, American legal scholar
* Raoul Bova, Italian actor
* Radulphus Brito (Raoul le Breton, d ...
. The "independence + socialism" project of the ASIQ was a source of political ideas for the
Front de libération du Québec (FLQ).
On October 31, 1962, the Comité de libération nationale and, in November of the same year, the Réseau de résistance were set up. These two groups were formed by RIN members to organize non-violent but illegal actions, such as vandalism and civil disobedience. The most extremist individuals of these groups left to form the FLQ, which, unlike all the other groups, had made the decision to resort to violence in order to reach its goal of independence for Quebec. Shortly after the November 14, 1962,
Quebec general election, RIN member
Marcel Chaput
Marcel Chaput (October 14, 1918 – January 19, 1991
", in ''Bilan du Siècle'', Université de Sherbrooke, retrie ...
founded the short-lived
Parti républicain du Québec.
In February 1963, the
Front de libération du Québec (FLQ) was founded by three Rassemblement pour l'indépendance nationale members who had met each other as part of the Réseau de résistance. They were
Georges Schoeters,
Raymond Villeneuve
Raymond Villeneuve (born September 11, 1943) is a founding member of the Front de libération du Québec (FLQ), a violent Quebec separatist movement, responsible various acts of violence in Canada.
Villeneuve remained out of the spotlight as he ...
, and
Gabriel Hudon.
In 1964, the RIN became a provincial political party. In 1965, the more conservative
Ralliement national
Ralliement national (RN) (in English: "National Rally") was a separatist and right-wing populist provincial political party that advocated the political independence of Quebec from Canada in the 1960s.
The party was led by former '' créditiste' ...
(RN) also became a party.
During this period, the
Estates General of French Canada are organized. The stated objective of these Estates General was to consult the French-Canadian people on their constitutional future.
The historical context of the time was a period when many former European colonies, such as
Cameroon
Cameroon (; french: Cameroun, ff, Kamerun), officially the Republic of Cameroon (french: République du Cameroun, links=no), is a country in west-central Africa. It is bordered by Nigeria to the west and north; Chad to the northeast; the C ...
,
Congo,
Senegal
Senegal,; Wolof: ''Senegaal''; Pulaar: 𞤅𞤫𞤲𞤫𞤺𞤢𞥄𞤤𞤭 (Senegaali); Arabic: السنغال ''As-Sinighal'') officially the Republic of Senegal,; Wolof: ''Réewum Senegaal''; Pulaar : 𞤈𞤫𞤲𞤣𞤢𞥄𞤲𞤣𞤭 ...
,
Algeria
)
, image_map = Algeria (centered orthographic projection).svg
, map_caption =
, image_map2 =
, capital = Algiers
, coordinates =
, largest_city = capital
, relig ...
, and
Jamaica
Jamaica (; ) is an island country situated in the Caribbean Sea. Spanning in area, it is the third-largest island of the Greater Antilles and the Caribbean (after Cuba and Hispaniola). Jamaica lies about south of Cuba, and west of His ...
, were becoming independent. Some advocates of Quebec independence saw Quebec's situation in a similar light; numerous activists were influenced by the writings of
Frantz Fanon
Frantz Omar Fanon (, ; ; 20 July 1925 – 6 December 1961), also known as Ibrahim Frantz Fanon, was a French West Indian psychiatrist, and political philosopher from the French colony of Martinique (today a French department). His works have b ...
,
Albert Memmi
Albert Memmi ( ar, ألبير ممّي; 15 December 1920 – 22 May 2020) was a French-Tunisian writer and essayist of Tunisian-Jewish origins.
Biography
Memmi was born in Tunis, French Tunisia in December 1920, to a Tunisian Jewish Berber ...
, and
Karl Marx
Karl Heinrich Marx (; 5 May 1818 – 14 March 1883) was a German philosopher, economist, historian, sociologist, political theorist, journalist, critic of political economy, and socialist revolutionary. His best-known titles are the 1848 ...
.
In June 1967, French president
Charles de Gaulle, who had recently granted independence to
Algeria
)
, image_map = Algeria (centered orthographic projection).svg
, map_caption =
, image_map2 =
, capital = Algiers
, coordinates =
, largest_city = capital
, relig ...
, shouted "" during a speech from the balcony of
Montreal
Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the second-most populous city in Canada and most populous city in the Canadian province of Quebec. Founded in 1642 as '' Ville-Marie'', or "City of Mary", it is named after Mount Royal, the triple ...
's city hall during a state visit to Canada. In doing so, he deeply offended the federal government, and English Canadians felt he had demonstrated contempt for the sacrifice of Canadian soldiers who died on the battlefields of France in two world wars. The visit was cut short and de Gaulle left the country.
Finally, in October 1967, former
Liberal
Liberal or liberalism may refer to:
Politics
* a supporter of liberalism
** Liberalism by country
* an adherent of a Liberal Party
* Liberalism (international relations)
* Sexually liberal feminism
* Social liberalism
Arts, entertainment and m ...
cabinet minister
René Lévesque
René Lévesque (; August 24, 1922 – November 1, 1987) was a Québécois politician and journalist who served as the 23rd premier of Quebec from 1976 to 1985. He was the first Québécois political leader since Confederation to attempt ...
left that party when it refused to discuss sovereignty at a party convention. Lévesque formed the
Mouvement souveraineté-association
The Mouvement Souveraineté-Association (MSA, ''English: Movement for Sovereignty-Association'') was a separatist movement formed on November 19, 1967 by René Lévesque to promote the concept of sovereignty-association between Quebec and the res ...
and set about uniting pro-sovereignty forces.
He achieved that goal in October 1968 when the MSA held its only national congress in
Quebec City
Quebec City ( or ; french: Ville de Québec), officially Québec (), is the capital city of the Canadian province of Quebec. As of July 2021, the city had a population of 549,459, and the metropolitan area had a population of 839,311. It is t ...
. The RN and MSA agreed to merge to form the
Parti Québécois
The Parti Québécois (; ; PQ) is a sovereignist and social democratic provincial political party in Quebec, Canada. The PQ advocates national sovereignty for Quebec involving independence of the province of Quebec from Canada and establishin ...
(PQ), and later that month Pierre Bourgault, leader of the RIN, dissolved his party and invited its members to join the PQ.
Meanwhile, in 1969 the FLQ stepped up its campaign of violence, which would culminate in what would become known as the
October Crisis
The October Crisis (french: Crise d'Octobre) refers to a chain of events that started in October 1970 when members of the Front de libération du Québec (FLQ) kidnapped the provincial Labour Minister Pierre Laporte and British diplomat James Cr ...
. The group claimed responsibility for the bombing of the Montreal Stock Exchange, and in 1970 the FLQ kidnapped British Trade Commissioner
James Cross
James Richard Cross (29 September 1921 – 6 January 2021) was an Irish-born British diplomat who served in India, Malaysia and Canada. While posted in Canada, Cross was kidnapped by members of the Front de libération du Québec (FLQ) durin ...
and Quebec Labour Minister
Pierre Laporte
Pierre Laporte (25 February 1921 – 17 October 1970) was a Canadian lawyer, journalist and politician. He was deputy premier of the province of Quebec when he was kidnapped and murdered by members of the Front de libération du Québec (FLQ ...
; Laporte was later found murdered.
The early years of the Parti Québécois
Jacques Parizeau joined the party on September 19, 1969, and
Jérôme Proulx of the
Union Nationale joined on November 11 of the same year.
In the
1970 provincial election, the PQ won its first seven seats in the
National Assembly
In politics, a national assembly is either a unicameral legislature, the lower house of a bicameral legislature, or both houses of a bicameral legislature together. In the English language it generally means "an assembly composed of the rep ...
. René Lévesque was defeated in Mont-Royal by the Liberal
André Marchand.
The referendum of 1980
In the
1976 election, the PQ won 71 seats — a majority in the National Assembly. With voting turnouts high, 41.4 percent of the electorate voted for the PQ. Prior to the election, the PQ renounced its intention to implement sovereignty-association if it won power.
On August 26, 1977, the PQ passed two main laws: first, the law on the financing of political parties, which prohibits contributions by corporations and unions and set a limit on individual donations, and second, the
Charter of the French Language
The ''Charter of the French Language'' (french: link=no, La charte de la langue française), also known in English as Bill 101, Law 101 (''french: link=no, Loi 101''), or Quebec French Preference Law, is a law in the Provinces and territories of ...
.
On May 17 PQ
Member of the National Assembly Robert Burns
Robert Burns (25 January 175921 July 1796), also known familiarly as Rabbie Burns, was a Scottish poet and lyricist. He is widely regarded as the national poet of Scotland and is celebrated worldwide. He is the best known of the poets who hav ...
resigned, telling the press he was convinced that the PQ was going to lose its referendum and fail to be re-elected afterwards.
At its seventh national convention from June 1 to 3, 1979, the adopted their strategy for the coming referendum. The PQ then began an aggressive effort to promote sovereignty-association by providing details of how the economic relations with the rest of Canada would include free trade between Canada and Quebec, common tariffs against imports, and a common currency. In addition, joint political institutions would be established to administer these economic arrangements.
Sovereignty-association was proposed to the population of Quebec in the
1980 Quebec referendum
The 1980 Quebec independence referendum was the first referendum in Quebec on the place of Quebec within Canada and whether Quebec should pursue a path toward sovereignty. The referendum was called by Quebec's Parti Québécois (PQ) government, whi ...
. The proposal was rejected by 60 percent of the Quebec electorate.
In September, the PQ created a national committee of Anglophones and a liaison committee with ethnic minorities.
The PQ was returned to power in the
1981 election with a stronger majority than in 1976, obtaining 49.2 percent of the vote and winning 80 seats. However, they did not hold a referendum in their second term, and put sovereignty on hold, concentrating on their stated goal of "good government".
René Lévesque
René Lévesque (; August 24, 1922 – November 1, 1987) was a Québécois politician and journalist who served as the 23rd premier of Quebec from 1976 to 1985. He was the first Québécois political leader since Confederation to attempt ...
retired in 1985 (and died in 1987). In the
1985 election under his successor
Pierre-Marc Johnson
Pierre-Marc Johnson (born July 5, 1946) is a Canadian lawyer, physician and politician. He was the 24th premier of Quebec from October 3 to December 12, 1985, making him the province's shortest-serving premier, and the first Baby Boomer to hold ...
, the PQ was defeated by the Liberal Party.
Sovereignty-association
The history of the relations between French-Canadians and English-Canadians in Canada has been marked by periods of tension. After colonizing Canada from 1608 onward,
France
France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan area ...
lost the colony to
Great Britain
Great Britain is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean off the northwest coast of continental Europe. With an area of , it is the largest of the British Isles, the largest European island and the ninth-largest island in the world. It i ...
at the conclusion of the
Seven Years' War
The Seven Years' War (1756–1763) was a global conflict that involved most of the European Great Powers, and was fought primarily in Europe, the Americas, and Asia-Pacific. Other concurrent conflicts include the French and Indian War (175 ...
in 1763, in which France ceded control of
New France
New France (french: Nouvelle-France) was the area colonized by France in North America, beginning with the exploration of the Gulf of Saint Lawrence by Jacques Cartier in 1534 and ending with the cession of New France to Great Britain and Spa ...
(except for the two small islands of
Saint Pierre and Miquelon
Saint Pierre and Miquelon (), officially the Territorial Collectivity of Saint-Pierre and Miquelon (french: link=no, Collectivité territoriale de Saint-Pierre et Miquelon ), is a self-governing territorial overseas collectivity of France in t ...
) to Great Britain, which returned the
French West Indian islands they had captured in the
1763 Treaty of Paris.
Under British rule,
French Canadians were supplanted by waves of British immigrants, notably outside of Quebec (where they became a minority) but within the province as well, as much of the province's economy was dominated by English-Canadians. The cause of Québécois nationalism, which waxed and waned over two centuries, gained prominence from the 1960s onward. The use of the word "sovereignty" and many of the ideas of this movement originated in the 1967
Mouvement Souveraineté-Association
The Mouvement Souveraineté-Association (MSA, ''English: Movement for Sovereignty-Association'') was a separatist movement formed on November 19, 1967 by René Lévesque to promote the concept of sovereignty-association between Quebec and the res ...
of René Lévesque. This movement ultimately gave birth to the Parti Québécois in 1968.
Sovereignty-association (french: links=no, souveraineté-association) is the combination of two concepts:
# The achievement of sovereignty for the Quebec state.
# The creation of a political and economic association between this new independent state and Canada.
It was first presented in Lévesque's political manifesto,
''Option Québec''.
The Parti Québécois defines sovereignty as the power for a state to levy all its taxes, vote on all its laws, and sign all its treaties (as mentioned in the
1980 referendum question).
The type of association between an independent Quebec and the rest of Canada was described as a monetary and customs union as well as joint political institutions to administer the relations between the two countries. The main inspiration for this project was the then-emerging
European Community
The European Economic Community (EEC) was a regional organization created by the Treaty of Rome of 1957,Today the largely rewritten treaty continues in force as the ''Treaty on the functioning of the European Union'', as renamed by the Lisb ...
. In
''Option Québec'' Lévesque expressly identified the EC as his model for forming a new relationship between sovereign Quebec and the rest of Canada, one that would loosen the political ties while preserving the economic links. The analogy, however, is counterproductive, suggesting Lévesque did not understand the nature and purpose of the European Community nor the relationship between economics and politics that continue to underpin it. Advocates of European integration had, from the outset, seen political union as a desirable and natural consequence of economic integration.
The hyphen between the words "sovereignty" and "association" was often stressed by Lévesque and other PQ members, to make it clear that both were inseparable. The reason stated was that if Canada decided to boycott Quebec exports after voting for independence, the new country would have to go through difficult economic times, as the barriers to trade between Canada and the United States were then very high. Quebec would have been a nation of 7 million people stuck between two impenetrable protectionist countries. In the event of having to compete against Quebec, rather than support it, Canada could easily maintain its well-established links with the United States to prosper in foreign trade.
Sovereignty-association as originally proposed would have meant that Quebec would become a politically independent state, but would maintain a formal association with Canada — especially regarding economic affairs. It was part of the 1976 platform which swept the Parti Québécois into power in that year's provincial elections – and included a promise to hold a
referendum
A referendum (plural: referendums or less commonly referenda) is a direct vote by the electorate on a proposal, law, or political issue. This is in contrast to an issue being voted on by a representative. This may result in the adoption of a ...
on sovereignty-association. René Lévesque developed the idea of sovereignty-association to reduce the fear that an independent Quebec would face tough economic times. In fact, this proposal did result in an increase in support for a sovereign Quebec: polls at the time showed that people were more likely to support independence if Quebec maintained an economic partnership with Canada. This line of politics led the outspoken
Yvon Deschamps
Yvon Deschamps (born July 31, 1935, in Montreal, Quebec) is a Quebec author, actor, comedian and producer best known for his monologues. His social-commentary-tinged humour propelled him to prominence in Quebec popular culture in the 1970s and 1 ...
to proclaim that what Quebecers want is an independent Quebec inside a strong Canada, thereby comparing the movement to a spoiled child that has everything it could desire and still wants more.
In 1979 the PQ began an aggressive effort to promote sovereignty-association by providing details of how the economic relations with the rest of Canada would include
free trade
Free trade is a trade policy that does not restrict imports or exports. It can also be understood as the free market idea applied to international trade. In government, free trade is predominantly advocated by political parties that hold econ ...
between Canada and Quebec, common tariffs against imports, and a common currency. In addition, joint political institutions would be established to administer these economic arrangements. But the cause was hurt by the refusal of many politicians (most notably the premiers of several of the other provinces) to support the idea of negotiations with an independent Quebec, contributing to the Yes side losing by a vote of 60 percent to 40 percent.
This loss laid the groundwork for the
1995 referendum, which stated that Quebec should offer a new economic and political partnership to Canada before declaring independence. An English translation of part of the
Sovereignty Bill reads, "We, the people of Quebec, declare it our own will to be in full possession of all the powers of a state; to levy all our taxes, to vote on all our laws, to sign all our treaties and to exercise the highest power of all, conceiving, and controlling, by ourselves, our fundamental law."
This time, the lost in a very close vote: 50.6 percent to 49.4 percent, or only 53,498 votes out of more than 4,700,000 votes cast. However, after the vote many within the camp were very upset that the vote broke down heavily along language lines. Approximately 90 percent of English speakers and allophones (mostly immigrants and first-generation Quebecers whose native language is neither French or English) Quebecers voted against the referendum, while almost 60 percent of Francophones voted Yes.
Quebec premier
The premier of Quebec (French: ''premier ministre du Québec'' (masculine) or ''première ministre du Québec'' (feminine)) is the head of government of the Canadian province of Quebec. The current premier of Quebec is François Legault of th ...
Jacques Parizeau
Jacques Parizeau (; August 9, 1930June 1, 2015) was a Canadian politician and Québécois economist who was a noted Quebec sovereigntist and the 26th premier of Quebec from September 26, 1994, to January 29, 1996.
Early life and career
Parize ...
, whose government supported sovereignty, attributed the defeat of the resolution to "
money and ethnic votes." His opinion caused an outcry among English-speaking Quebecers, and he resigned following the referendum.
An inquiry by the director-general of elections concluded in 2007 that at least $500,000 was spent by the federalist camp in violation of Quebec's election laws. This law imposes a limit on campaign spending by both option camps. Parizeau's statement was also an admission of failure by the Yes camp in getting the newly arrived Quebecers to adhere to their political option.
Accusations of an orchestrated effort of "election engineering" in several polling stations located in areas with large numbers of non-francophone voters, which resulted in unusually large proportions of rejected ballots, were raised following the 1995 referendum. Afterward, testimony by PQ-appointed polling clerks indicated that they were ordered by PQ-appointed overseers to reject ballots in these polling stations for frivolous reasons that were not covered in the election laws.
While opponents of sovereignty were pleased with the defeat of the referendum, most recognized that there were still deep divides within Quebec and problems with the relationship between Quebec and the rest of the country.
The referendum of 1995
The PQ returned to power in the
1994 election under Jacques Parizeau, this time with 44.75% of the popular vote. In the intervening years, the failures of the Meech Lake Accord and
Charlottetown Accord
The Charlottetown Accord (french: Accord de Charlottetown) was a package of proposed amendments to the Constitution of Canada, proposed by the Canadian federal and provincial governments in 1992. It was submitted to a public referendum on October ...
had revived support for sovereignty, which had been written off as a dead issue for much of the 1980s.
Another consequence of the failure of the
Meech Lake Accord
The Meech Lake Accord (french: Accord du lac Meech) was a series of proposed amendments to the Constitution of Canada negotiated in 1987 by Prime Minister Brian Mulroney and all 10 Canadian provincial premiers. It was intended to persuade the gov ...
was the formation of the
Bloc Québécois (BQ), a federal political party, under the leadership of the charismatic former
Progressive Conservative federal cabinet minister Lucien Bouchard. Several PC and Liberal members of the federal parliament left their parties to form the BQ. For the first time, the PQ supported pro-sovereigntist forces running in federal elections; during his lifetime Lévesque had always opposed such a move.
The
Union Populaire had nominated candidates in the
1979
Events
January
* January 1
** United Nations Secretary-General Kurt Waldheim heralds the start of the '' International Year of the Child''. Many musicians donate to the '' Music for UNICEF Concert'' fund, among them ABBA, who write the so ...
and
1980 federal elections, and the
Parti nationaliste du Québec had nominated candidates in the
1984 election, but neither of these parties enjoyed the official support of the PQ; nor did they enjoy significant public support among Quebecers.
In the
1993 federal election, which featured the collapse of Progressive Conservative Party support, the BQ won enough seats in Parliament to become
Her Majesty's Loyal Opposition in the
House of Commons
The House of Commons is the name for the elected lower house of the bicameral parliaments of the United Kingdom and Canada. In both of these countries, the Commons holds much more legislative power than the nominally upper house of parliament. T ...
.
At the Royal Commission on the Future of Quebec (also known as the Outaouais Commission) in 1995, the
Marxist-Leninist Party of Canada made a presentation in which the party leader,
Hardial Bains
Hardial Bains ( pa, ਹਰਦਿਆਲ ਬੈਂਸ; 15 August 1939 – 24 August 1997) was an Indo-Canadian microbiology lecturer, but was primarily known as the founder of a series of left-wing movements and parties foremost of which was th ...
, recommended to the committee that Quebec declare itself as an independent republic.
![Quebec referendum,1995 - Results By Riding (Simple Map)](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/67/Quebec_referendum%2C1995_-_Results_By_Riding_%28Simple_Map%29.svg)
Parizeau promptly advised the Lieutenant Governor to call a new referendum. The
1995 referendum question differed from the 1980 question in that the negotiation of an association with Canada was now optional. The open-ended wording of the question resulted in significant confusion, particularly amongst the 'Yes' side, as to what exactly they were voting for. This was a primary motivator for the creation of the ''Clarity Act'' (see below).
The "No" campaign won, but only by a very small margin — 50.6% to 49.4%. As in the previous referendum, the English-speaking (
anglophone
Speakers of English are also known as Anglophones, and the countries where English is natively spoken by the majority of the population are termed the ''Anglosphere''. Over two billion people speak English , making English the largest language ...
) minority in Quebec overwhelmingly (about 90%) rejected sovereignty, support for sovereignty was also weak among
allophone
In phonology, an allophone (; from the Greek , , 'other' and , , 'voice, sound') is a set of multiple possible spoken soundsor '' phones''or signs used to pronounce a single phoneme in a particular language. For example, in English, (as in '' ...
s (native speakers of neither English nor French) in immigrant communities and first-generation descendants. The lowest support for the Yes side came from Mohawk, Cree, and Inuit voters in Quebec, some first Nations chiefs asserted their right to self-determination with the
Cree being particularly vocal in their right to stay territories within Canada. More than 96% of the Inuit and Cree voted No in the referendum. However, The
Innu,
Attikamek,
Algonquin
Algonquin or Algonquian—and the variation Algonki(a)n—may refer to:
Languages and peoples
*Algonquian languages, a large subfamily of Native American languages in a wide swath of eastern North America from Canada to Virginia
**Algonquin la ...
and
Abenaki
The Abenaki ( Abenaki: ''Wαpánahki'') are an Indigenous peoples of the Northeastern Woodlands of Canada and the United States. They are an Algonquian-speaking people and part of the Wabanaki Confederacy. The Eastern Abenaki language was pre ...
nations did partially support Quebec sovereignty. In 1985, 59 percent of Quebec's Inuit population, 56 percent of the Attikamek population, and 49 percent of the Montagnais population voted in favour of the Sovereignist Parti Québécois party. That year, three out of every four native reservations gave a majority to the Parti Québécois party.
By contrast almost 60 percent of
francophones of all origins voted "Yes". (82 percent of Quebecers are Francophone.) Later inquiries into irregularities determined that abuses had occurred on both sides: some argue that some "No" ballots had been rejected without valid reasons, and the October 27 "No" rally had evaded spending limitations because of out-of-province participation. An inquiry by "Le Directeur général des élections" concluded in 2007 that the "No" camp had exceeded the campaign spending limits by $500,000.
Quebec general election, 1998
Expecting Bouchard to announce another referendum if his party won the
1998 Quebec general election, the leaders of all other provinces and territories gathered for the
Calgary Declaration The Calgary Declaration (french: Déclaration de Calgary), also known as the Calgary Accord (french: Accord de Calgary),CBC.ca,, URL accessed December 17, 2006. was an agreement made between most premiers of the provinces and territories of Canada r ...
in September 1997 to discuss how to oppose the sovereignty movement. Saskatchewan's
Roy Romanow
Roy John Romanow (born August 12, 1939) is a Canadian politician and the 12th premier of Saskatchewan from 1991 to 2001.
Early life
Romanow was born in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, to Tekla and Michael Romanow, who were Ukrainian immigrants from Or ...
warned "It's two or three minutes to midnight". Bouchard did not accept his invitation; organizers did not invite Chrétien. Experts debated whether Quebec was a "distinct society" or "unique culture".
The Parti Québécois won re-election despite losing the popular vote to Jean Charest and the Quebec Liberals. In the number of seats won by both sides, the election was almost a clone of the previous 1994 election. However, public support for sovereignty remained too low for the PQ to consider holding a second referendum during their second term. Meanwhile, the federal government passed the ''
Clarity Act
The ''Clarity Act'' (french: Loi sur la clarté référendaire) (known as Bill C-20 before it became law) (the act) is legislation passed by the Parliament of Canada that established the conditions under which the Government of Canada would ent ...
'' to govern the wording of any future referendum questions and the conditions under which a vote for sovereignty would be recognized as legitimate. Federal Liberal politicians stated that the ambiguous wording of the 1995 referendum question was the primary impetus in the bill's drafting.
While opponents of sovereignty were pleased with their referendum victories, most recognized that there are still deep divides within Quebec and problems with the relationship between Quebec and the rest of Canada.
''Clarity Act'', 1999
In 1999, the
Parliament of Canada, at the urging of
Prime Minister
A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister i ...
Jean Chrétien, passed the ''
Clarity Act
The ''Clarity Act'' (french: Loi sur la clarté référendaire) (known as Bill C-20 before it became law) (the act) is legislation passed by the Parliament of Canada that established the conditions under which the Government of Canada would ent ...
'', a law that, amongst other things, set out the conditions under which the
Crown-in-Council would recognize a vote by any province to leave Canada. It required a majority of eligible voters for a vote to trigger secession talks, not merely a plurality of votes. In addition, the act requires a clear question of secession to initiate secession talks. Controversially, the act gave the House of Commons the power to decide whether a proposed referendum question was considered clear, and allowed it to decide whether a clear majority has expressed itself in any referendum. It is widely considered by as an illegitimate piece of legislation, who asserted that Quebec alone had the right to determine its terms of secession. Chrétien considered the legislation among his most significant accomplishments.
Present
"Sovereignty-Association" is nowadays more often referred to simply as "sovereignty". However, in the 1995 Quebec referendum, in which the sovereignty option was narrowly rejected, the notion of some form of economic association with the rest of Canada was still envisaged (continuing use of the Canadian dollar and military, for example) and was referred to as "Sovereignty-Partnership" (french: links=no, souveraineté-partenariat). It remains a part of the PQ program and is tied to national independence in the minds of most Quebecers. This part of the PQ program has always been controversial, especially since Canadian federal politicians usually refuse the concept.
In 2003, the PQ launched the ("Season of ideas") which is a public consultation aiming to gather the opinions of Quebecers on its sovereignty project. The new program and the revised sovereignty project was adopted at the 2005 Congress.
In the
2003 election, the PQ lost power to the Liberal Party. However, in early 2004, the Liberal government of Paul Martin had proved to be unpopular, and that, combined with the federal
Liberal Party sponsorship scandal
The sponsorship scandal, AdScam or Sponsorgate, was a scandal in Canada that came as a result of a Government of Canada, federal government "Sponsor (commercial), sponsorship program" in the province of Quebec involving the Liberal Party of Canad ...
, contributed to a resurgence of the BQ. In the
2004 federal elections, the Bloc Québécois won 54 of Quebec's 75 seats in the House of Commons, compared to 33 previously. However, in the
2006 federal elections the BQ lost three seats and in the
2008 federal elections lost two additional seats, bringing their total down to 49, but was still the most popular federal party in Quebec up until the
2011 Canadian federal election
The 2011 Canadian federal election was held on May 2, 2011, to elect members to the House of Commons of Canada of the 41st Canadian Parliament.
The writs of election for the 2011 election were issued by Governor General David Johnston on Marc ...
, when the BQ was devastated by the federalist
NDP
NDP may stand for:
Computing
* Neighbor Discovery Protocol, an Internet protocol
* Nortel Discovery Protocol, a layer two Internet protocol, also called SONMP
* Nondeterministic programming, a type of computer language
Government
* National ...
, with the Bloc at a total of four seats and the loss of official party status in the Commons (compared to the NDP's 59 seats, Conservatives' five seats, and the Liberals' seven seats in Quebec).
Polling data by
Angus Reid
Angus Reid (born September 23, 1976, in Richmond, British Columbia) is a former offensive lineman who played in the Canadian Football League. Reid went to Simon Fraser University and played for the Simon Fraser Clan. He began his career with the ...
in June 2009 showed the support for Quebec separation was very weak at the time and separatism unlikely to occur in the near future. Polling data showed that 32% of Quebecers believe that Quebec had enough sovereignty and should remain part of Canada, 28% thought they should separate, and 30% say they believe that Quebec does need greater sovereignty but should remain part of Canada.
However the poll did reveal that a majority (79%) of Quebecers still desired to achieve more autonomy. The number one area of autonomy that those polled had hoped for was with regard to culture at 34%, the next highest areas of autonomy cherished were the economy at 32%, taxation at 26%, and immigration and the environment at 15% each.
The 2009 Angus Reid poll also revealed some effects of the ''Clarity Act'' in which they asked two questions, one a straightforward question for a separate nation, and the other a more muddled version on separation similar to the one posed in the 1995 referendum. The data on the questions revealed as follows to the first hard line question of "Do you believe that Quebec should become a country separate from Canada?" 34% replied yes, 54% said no, and 13% were unsure.
To the less clear question of "Do you agree that Quebec should become sovereign after having made a formal offer to Canada for a new economic and political partnership within a scope of the bill respecting the future of Quebec?" support for separation increased to 40% yes, the no vote still led with 41%, and the unsure increased to 19%.
The most startling revelation of the poll was in the fact that only 20% or 1 in 5 polled believed that Quebec would ever separate from Canada.
2011 was considered a watershed year for the movement. In the aftermath of the 2011 federal election,
Léger Marketing and pro- newspaper
Le Devoir
''Le Devoir'' (, "Duty") is a French-language newspaper published in Montreal and distributed in Quebec and throughout Canada. It was founded by journalist and politician Henri Bourassa in 1910.
''Le Devoir'' is one of few independent large-c ...
conducted a poll on the question.
When asked whether they would vote Yes or No in the event of a referendum, 41% of the respondents said they would vote Yes. In 2011, the movement splintered, with several new parties being formed by disaffected politicians, with some politicians dissatisfied with slow progress towards independence, and others hoping to put the sovereignty question on the backburner. Leadership by PQ leader
Pauline Marois
Pauline Marois (; born March 29, 1949) is a retired Canadian politician, who served as the 30th premier of Quebec from 2012 to 2014. Marois had been a member of the National Assembly in various ridings since 1981 as a member of the Parti Québ ...
was divisive.
In 2021,
François Legault
François Legault (; born May 26, 1957) is a Canadian politician serving as the 32nd premier of Quebec since 2018. A member of the Coalition Avenir Québec (CAQ), he has led the party since its founding in 2011. Legault sits as a member of the ...
's
Coalition Avenir Québec government in Quebec proposed to amend the
Charter of the French Language
The ''Charter of the French Language'' (french: link=no, La charte de la langue française), also known in English as Bill 101, Law 101 (''french: link=no, Loi 101''), or Quebec French Preference Law, is a law in the Provinces and territories of ...
and the
provincial constitution to more strongly entrench French as the sole official language. In response to this, the Bloc Québécois initiated a motion in the House of Commons endorsing the constitutionality of Legault's initiatives. The Commons passed the motion 281–2. There were 36 abstentions.
organizations
Political parties and parliamentary groups
*
Parti Québécois
The Parti Québécois (; ; PQ) is a sovereignist and social democratic provincial political party in Quebec, Canada. The PQ advocates national sovereignty for Quebec involving independence of the province of Quebec from Canada and establishin ...
**
SPQ Libre
*
Bloc Québécois
*
Communist Party of Canada
*
Québec solidaire
Québec solidaire (QS; ) is a democratic socialist and sovereigntist political party in Quebec, Canada. The party and media outlets in Canada usually use the name "Québec solidaire" in both French and English, but the party's name is sometimes ...
*
Option nationale
*
Parti indépendantiste
Parti may refer to:
*Parti (surname), a Hungarian surname, and a list of people with the name
* ''Parti'' (architecture), the organizing concepts behind an architect's design
*
*, a lake in Russia
See also
*Partie (disambiguation)
*Party (disambi ...
*
Marxist–Leninist Party of Quebec
*
Groupe parlementaire québécois
Non-partisan organizations
* Mouvement pour une Élection sur la Souveraineté
*
Mouvement de libération nationale du Québec
* Conseil de la Souveraineté du Québec
*
Réseau de Résistance du Québécois
Sympathetic organizations
*
Saint-Jean-Baptiste Society
The Saint-Jean-Baptiste Society (french: Société Saint-Jean-Baptiste) is an institution in Quebec dedicated to the protection of Quebec francophone interests and to the promotion of Quebec sovereignism. It is known as the oldest patriotic asso ...
*
Confédération des syndicats nationaux
The Confédération des syndicats nationaux (CSN; Confederation of National Trade Unions) is the second largest trade union federation in Quebec by membership.
History
It was founded in Hull in 1921 as the ''Confédération des travailleurs ca ...
(Confederation of national labour unions)
*
Centrale des syndicats du Québec
The Centrale des syndicats du Québec (CSQ; Quebec Labour Congress) is the third biggest trade union in Quebec, Canada, by membership.
It was founded in 1946 when three earlier unions merged to form the ''Corporation générale des instituteurs e ...
(Quebec labour unions congress)
*
Fédération des travailleurs et travailleuses du Québec
The Fédération des travailleurs et travailleuses du Québec (FTQ; Quebec Federation of Labour) is the largest labour federation in Quebec in terms of its membership. It has over 500,000 members, who account for 44% of the unionised workers in Q ...
(Federation of Quebec workers)
*
Union des artistes
The Union des artistes (UDA; literally "Union of Artists") is a Quebec-based labour organization representing stage, television, radio, and film performers in French-language media in Canada. (The English-language labour organization is the Allian ...
(Artists Labour Union)
*
Mouvement national des Québécois et des Québécoises
media
* ''
Québecor''
**''
Journal de Montréal''
**''
Journal de Québec''
**''
Groupe TVA
Groupe TVA Inc. is a Canadian communications company with operations in broadcasting, publishing and production. It was founded as Télé-Métropole Corporation in 1960, and owned CFTM-TV, Montreal's first privately-owned francophone station. It ...
''
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
* (defunct)
*
*
* Québec-Radio
* Vigile
Past organizations
![Bandera FLQ](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/de/Bandera_FLQ.svg)
*
Rassemblement pour l'indépendance nationale (RIN)
*
Front de libération du Québec (FLQ)
*
Parti nationaliste chrétien (PNC)
*
Parti nationaliste du Québec
*
Parti indépendantiste (1985)
The Parti indépendantiste (English: Independentist Party) was a provincial party which advocated Quebec sovereignty in Québec, Canada in the second half of the 1980s.
Denis Monière
Founded by Denis Monière in 1985, the party was establishe ...
*
Union Populaire
*
Nouvelle Alliance Québec-Canada
*
Action démocratique du Québec – was originally sovereigntist, but later abandoned in favour of considerable autonomy
Arguments
Reasons for sovereignty
Justifications for Quebec's sovereignty are historically nationalistic in character, claiming the
unique culture and
French-speaking majority (78% of the provincial population) are threatened with assimilation by either the rest of Canada or, as in Metropolitan France, by Anglophone culture more generally, and that the best way to preserve language, identity and culture is via the creation of an independent political entity. Other distinguishing factors, such as religious differences (given the Catholic majority in Quebec), are also used to justify either separation or nationalist social policies advocated by the Parti Québécois.
The historical argument for Quebec independence stems from the
region's history, as it was
conquered by the British in 1760 and ceded to Great Britain in the
1763 Treaty of Paris; French Canadians in Canada were subsumed by waves of British immigrants. This argument makes the claim that Quebecers have the right of
self-determination.
Eight of the other Canadian provinces are overwhelmingly (greater than 95%)
English-speaking
Speakers of English are also known as Anglophones, and the countries where English is natively spoken by the majority of the population are termed the '' Anglosphere''. Over two billion people speak English , making English the largest langua ...
, while
New Brunswick
New Brunswick (french: Nouveau-Brunswick, , locally ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is one of the three Maritime provinces and one of the four Atlantic provinces. It is the only province with both English and ...
is officially bilingual and about one-third Francophone. Another rationale is based on resentment of
anti-Quebec sentiment
Anti-Quebec sentiment (french: Sentiment anti-Québécois) is a form of prejudice which is expressed toward the government, culture, and/or the francophone people of Quebec. This prejudice must be distinguished from legitimate criticism of Quebec ...
. With regard to the creation of the movement, language issues were but a sub-stratum of larger cultural, social and political differences. Many scholars point to historical events as framing the cause for ongoing support for sovereignty in Quebec, while more contemporary politicians may point to the aftermath of more recent developments like the ''
Canada Act'' of 1982, the
Meech Lake Accord
The Meech Lake Accord (french: Accord du lac Meech) was a series of proposed amendments to the Constitution of Canada negotiated in 1987 by Prime Minister Brian Mulroney and all 10 Canadian provincial premiers. It was intended to persuade the gov ...
or the
Charlottetown Accord
The Charlottetown Accord (french: Accord de Charlottetown) was a package of proposed amendments to the Constitution of Canada, proposed by the Canadian federal and provincial governments in 1992. It was submitted to a public referendum on October ...
.
Arguments against sovereignty
In a series of letters throughout the 1990s,
Stéphane Dion
Stéphane Maurice Dion (born 28 September 1955) is a Canadian diplomat, academic and former politician who has been the Canadian ambassador to France and Monaco since 2022 and special envoy to the European Union since 2017. Dion was Leader of ...
(the federal Intergovernmental Affairs Minister at the time) laid out an argument against sovereignty.
It has also been argued by prominent Quebecers ( and ex-, including former Quebec premier
Lucien Bouchard
Lucien Bouchard (; born December 22, 1938) is a Canadian lawyer, diplomat and retired politician.
Minister for two years in the Mulroney cabinet, Bouchard then led the emerging Bloc Québécois and became Leader of the Opposition in the Ho ...
) that sovereignty politics has distracted Quebecers from the real economic problems of Quebec, and that sovereignty by itself cannot solve those problems. In 2005 they published their position statement, "
Pour un Québec lucide", ("For a lucid Quebec") which details the problems facing Quebec.
Many federalists oppose the Quebec sovereignty movement for economic and political reasons but many also oppose sovereignty on other grounds. For example, since the 1995 referendum, in regards to the declaration of
Jacques Parizeau
Jacques Parizeau (; August 9, 1930June 1, 2015) was a Canadian politician and Québécois economist who was a noted Quebec sovereigntist and the 26th premier of Quebec from September 26, 1994, to January 29, 1996.
Early life and career
Parize ...
who blamed the loss on "
money and ethnic votes", many federalists considered the sovereignty movement as an expression of
ethnic nationalism
Ethnic nationalism, also known as ethnonationalism, is a form of nationalism wherein the nation and nationality are defined in terms of ethnicity, with emphasis on an ethnocentric (and in some cases an ethnocratic) approach to various politi ...
.
Additionally, those in favour of Canadian federalism denounce Quebec separation as a '
Balkanization
Balkanization is the fragmentation of a larger region or state into smaller regions or states, which may be hostile or uncooperative with one another. It is usually caused by differences of ethnicity, culture, and religion and some other factor ...
' of Canada.
Some arguments against sovereignty claim that the movement is illegitimate because of its
Eurocentrism
Eurocentrism (also Eurocentricity or Western-centrism)
is a worldview that is centered on Western civilization or a biased view that favors it over non-Western civilizations. The exact scope of Eurocentrism varies from the entire Western worl ...
which alienates many among Canada's
First Nations
First Nations or first peoples may refer to:
* Indigenous peoples, for ethnic groups who are the earliest known inhabitants of an area.
Indigenous groups
*First Nations is commonly used to describe some Indigenous groups including:
**First Natio ...
, as well as the
Inuit
Inuit (; iu, ᐃᓄᐃᑦ 'the people', singular: Inuk, , dual: Inuuk, ) are a group of culturally similar indigenous peoples inhabiting the Arctic and subarctic regions of Greenland, Labrador, Quebec, Nunavut, the Northwest Territories ...
, and
Métis peoples and their sympathizers. This sentiment is summed up by a quotation from a
Mohawk Mohawk may refer to:
Related to Native Americans
* Mohawk people, an indigenous people of North America (Canada and New York)
*Mohawk language, the language spoken by the Mohawk people
* Mohawk hairstyle, from a hairstyle once thought to have been ...
from Akwsasne: "How can Quebec, with no economic base and no land base, ask to become sovereign? How can Quebec be a nation when they have no constitution? We have had a constitution since before the American revolution." Here the argument expresses the claim that the Mohawk nation has a greater case for self-determination due to already having a more legitimate claim to distinct nationhood that is based on traditional lands and a constitution predating confederation as well as the creation of Quebec and a Québécois identity.
Similarly, the
Cree have also asserted for many years that they are a separate people with the right to self-determination recognized under international law. They argue that no annexation of them or their territory to an independent Quebec should take place without their consent, and that if Quebec has the right to leave Canada then the Cree people have the right to choose to keep their territory in Canada. Cree arguments generally do not claim the right to secede from Canada; rather, the Cree see themselves as a people bound to Canada by treaty (see the
James Bay and Northern Quebec Agreement
The James Bay and Northern Quebec Agreement (french: Convention de la Baie-James et du Nord québécois) is an Aboriginal land claim settlement, approved in 1975 by the Cree and Inuit of northern Quebec, and later slightly modified in 1978 by th ...
), and as citizens of Canada.
[Parliamentary Research Branch (PRB) of the Library of Parliament, "ABORIGINAL PEOPLES AND THE 1995 QUEBEC REFERENDUM: A SURVEY OF THE ISSUES" http://www2.parl.gc.ca/content/lop/researchpublications/bp412-e.htm#A . Aboriginal Perspectives(txt)] The Cree have stated that a unilateral declaration of independence by Quebec would be a violation of fundamental principles of human rights, democracy and consent. If secession were to proceed, the Cree argue that they would seek protection through the Canadian courts as well as asserting Cree jurisdiction over its people and lands.
Professor Peter Russell has said of
Aboriginal peoples in Canada
In Canada, Indigenous groups comprise the First Nations, Inuit and Métis. Although ''Indian'' is a term still commonly used in legal documents, the descriptors ''Indian'' and '' Eskimo'' have fallen into disuse in Canada, and most consider the ...
: "(they) are not nations that can be yanked out of Canada against their will by a provincial majority.... With few exceptions (they) wish to enjoy their right to self-government within Canada, not within a sovereign Quebec."
[The Grand Council of the Crees, "50 Percent Plus One Vote Insufficient" http://www.gcc.ca/archive/article.php?id=116 ] International human rights expert Erica-Irene Daes says the change "will leave the most marginalized and excluded of all the world's peoples without a legal, peaceful weapon to press for genuine democracy...."
This concern is connected to the claim that if Quebec were to be considered its own autonomous nation-state then it need not honour the treaties and agreements that were signed between First Nations and the British and French Crowns and are now maintained by the Canadian federal government. Concern for this may stem from perception of neo-colonial or eurocentric attitudes in the leadership of former Quebec premiers, such as
Robert Bourassa, the self-proclaimed "Conqueror of the North".
Allies and opponents
Allies
Quebecois
The separatist movement draws from the left and right spectrum; a sizeable minority of more
conservative
Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy that seeks to promote and to preserve traditional institutions, practices, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civilization in ...
Quebecers supporting the PQ's political agenda because of the sovereignty issue, despite reservations about its
social democratic political agenda.
Right and Left must be interpreted within the provincial context; Liberal Party politics generally coincide with those of other
liberal
Liberal or liberalism may refer to:
Politics
* a supporter of liberalism
** Liberalism by country
* an adherent of a Liberal Party
* Liberalism (international relations)
* Sexually liberal feminism
* Social liberalism
Arts, entertainment and m ...
parties, while PQ politics are more
social democratic in orientation. There is no mass conservative movement in Quebec's political culture on the provincial level, due notably to strong government interventionism and
Keynesianism
Keynesian economics ( ; sometimes Keynesianism, named after British economist John Maynard Keynes) are the various macroeconomic theories and models of how aggregate demand (total spending in the economy) strongly influences economic output ...
shared by all parties since the 1960s (the so-called "Quebec Consensus" since the Quiet Revolution), and the province's
Catholic
The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...
heritage.
There are, of course, quite a few exceptions. Notable examples include:
* the conservative but
nationalist
Nationalism is an idea and movement that holds that the nation should be congruent with the state. As a movement, nationalism tends to promote the interests of a particular nation (as in a group of people), Smith, Anthony. ''Nationalism: Th ...
Action Démocratique du Québec supporting the Yes side in the 1995 Quebec referendum. They now support
Quebec Autonomism
Quebec autonomism is a political belief that Quebec should seek to gain more political autonomy as a province, while remaining a part of the Canadian federation. The concept was first articulated by Maurice Duplessis and idea supported by the Queb ...
: a decentralized view of the
Canadian Confederation
Canadian Confederation (french: Confédération canadienne, link=no) was the process by which three British North American provinces, the Province of Canada, Nova Scotia, and New Brunswick, were united into one federation called the Dominion ...
, and accept the 1995 "No" verdict;
* the Progressive Conservative Party of Canada building links with the in the 1980s;
France
In
France
France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan area ...
, although openness and support is found on both sides of the
political spectrum
A political spectrum is a system to characterize and classify different political positions in relation to one another. These positions sit upon one or more geometric axes that represent independent political dimensions. The expressions politi ...
, the French political right has traditionally been warmer to as in the case of
President
President most commonly refers to:
*President (corporate title)
* President (education), a leader of a college or university
* President (government title)
President may also refer to:
Automobiles
* Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese ...
Charles de Gaulle, who famously
shouted his support of independence in Montreal in 1967,
[
] than the French left (like former President
François Mitterrand).
This used to be a paradoxical phenomenon because of the Parti Québécois and most being to the political left and supporters of Quebec remaining a province tend to be politically on the right.
Michel Rocard
Michel Rocard (; 23 August 1930 – 2 July 2016) was a French politician and a member of the Socialist Party (PS). He served as Prime Minister under François Mitterrand from 1988 to 1991 during which he created the ''Revenu minimum d'ins ...
(who became
Prime Minister of the French Republic) has been one of the
French Socialists
French (french: français(e), link=no) may refer to:
* Something of, from, or related to France
** French language, which originated in France, and its various dialects and accents
** French people, a nation and ethnic group identified with France ...
that broke that so-called rule the most, maintaining a close and warm relationship with Quebec . More recently,
Ségolène Royal
Marie-Ségolène Royal (; born 22 September 1953) is a French politician who was the Socialist Party candidate for the Presidency of France in the 2007 election.
Royal was president of the Poitou-Charentes Regional Council from 2004 to 201 ...
, a leader of the French Socialist Party, indicated support for "Quebec sovereignty" but it was seemingly a reflexive answer to an "out of the blue" question from a Quebec journalist in Paris. On a later visit to Quebec City she gave a more nuanced position, mentioning a Parliamentary motion recognizing the Québécois as a nation, but also describing 400 years of oppression and resistance of francophones in Canada.
The French Foreign Office motto concerning Quebec's national question is "''non-ingérence et non-indifférence''" ("no interference and no indifference"), which epitomizes the official position of the French State. In other words, while the Quebec people vote to stay within Canada, France will officially support the Canadian Confederation the way it is.
Former French President
Nicolas Sarkozy has stated on the record that he opposes the separation of Quebec from Canada.
This changed back to the view of the French Foreign Office under Sarkozy's successor,
François Hollande.
Opponents
Rest of Canada
The other nine provinces of Canada have generally been opposed to Quebec sovereignty. Aside from marginal movements, the only major secessionist movement in English Canada has been the
Maritimes Anti-Confederation movement immediately after Confederation occurred.
In general, francophones outside Quebec oppose sovereignty or any form of national recognition for Quebec, while non-francophones, particularly the anglophone minority in Montreal, also have remained opposed. After polling heavily on the subject, marketing firm president Mark Leger concluded: “These numbers surprise me, they're so clear across the country.... You look at Francophones outside Quebec, it's the same result.... Overall, outside the French in Quebec, all the other groups across the country are against this notion.” The exact question of the November 2006 poll was, "Currently, there is a political debate on recognizing Quebec as a nation. Do you personally consider that Quebecers form a nation or not?" Canadians from every region outside Quebec, non-Francophone Quebecers (62 percent), Francophone Canadians outside Quebec (77 percent) all rejected the idea.
Anglophones and immigrants in Quebec
Sovereignty has very little support among Quebec Anglophones or immigrant communities. About 60% of Francophones voted "Yes" in 1995, and with the exception of weak "Yes" support from
Haitian,
Arab
The Arabs (singular: Arab; singular ar, عَرَبِيٌّ, DIN 31635: , , plural ar, عَرَب, DIN 31635: , Arabic pronunciation: ), also known as the Arab people, are an ethnic group mainly inhabiting the Arab world in Western Asia, ...
and
Latin American
Latin Americans ( es, Latinoamericanos; pt, Latino-americanos; ) are the citizens of Latin American countries (or people with cultural, ancestral or national origins in Latin America). Latin American countries and their diasporas are multi-eth ...
communities, most non-Francophones massively voted "No" (see
Demolinguistics of Quebec
This article presents the current language demographics of the Canadian province of Quebec.
Demographic terms
The complex nature of Quebec's linguistic situation, with individuals who are often bilingual or multilingual, requires the use of mul ...
). The opponents of the sovereignty movement view the project as ethnically exclusive, based on its rejection by non-Francophones. This position is disputed by the PQ, which claims its goal is all-embracing and essentially civic in nature.
Opinion polls
Archive of polls from 1962 until January 2008
Quebec sovereignty movement in fiction
*
Richard Rohmer
Richard Heath Rohmer (born 24 January 1924) is a Canadian aviator, lawyer, adviser, author and historian.
Rohmer was born in Hamilton, Ontario, and spent some of his early youth in Pasadena, California, as well as in western Ontario at Windsor ...
's novel ''Separation'' (1976) was turned into a TV-movie for
CTV Television in 1977. In the movie, the Parti Québécois has formed the government of Quebec but Premier Gaston Belisle has repeatedly put off its promise to hold a referendum. International politics forces Belisle's hand.
* In the mid-1980s, a second movie, ''Quebec-Canada 1995'', depicts a meeting between the president of Quebec and the prime minister of Canada to discuss a crisis involving Quebec military occupations of parts of Ontario and New Brunswick. Canada's armed forces are stretched thin with peacekeepers in such varied places as the
Falkland Islands
The Falkland Islands (; es, Islas Malvinas, link=no ) is an archipelago in the South Atlantic Ocean on the Patagonian Shelf. The principal islands are about east of South America's southern Patagonian coast and about from Cape Dubouze ...
(with "Lady Goosegreen" being
Margaret Thatcher
Margaret Hilda Thatcher, Baroness Thatcher (; 13 October 19258 April 2013) was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1979 to 1990 and Leader of the Conservative Party from 1975 to 1990. She was the first female British prime ...
).
*
William Weintraub
William Weintraub (February 19, 1926 – November 6, 2017) was a Canadian documentarian/filmmaker, journalist and author, best known for his long career with the National Film Board of Canada (NFB).
Early life
Weintraub was born in Montreal ...
's satirical 1979 novel ''The Underdogs'' provoked controversy by imagining a future Quebec in which English-speakers were an oppressed minority, complete with a violent resistance movement. One planned stage version was cancelled before its premiere.
*
Clive Cussler
Clive Eric Cussler (July 15, 1931 – February 24, 2020) was an American adventure novelist and underwater explorer. His thriller novels, many featuring the character Dirk Pitt, have reached ''The New York Times'' fiction best-seller list m ...
's 1984 novel ''
Night Probe!
''Night Probe!'' is an adventure novel by Clive Cussler. This is the 5th book featuring the author’s primary protagonist, Dirk Pitt. Published in 1981, it is set in the near future of 1989, a date with ironic significance (see below).
The book ...
'' is set against a fictional attempt at secession in the late 1980s. Rights to newly discovered oil resources in
Ungava Bay
Ungava Bay (french: baie d'Ungava, ; iu, ᐅᖓᕙ ᑲᖏᖅᓗᒃ/) is a bay in northeastern Canada separating Nunavik (far northern Quebec) from Baffin Island. Although not geographically apparent, it is considered to be a marginal sea of the ...
, discovered as Quebec moves to secede, clash with the ramifications of a rediscovered secret treaty negotiated between the U.K. and U.S. governments during
World War I
World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...
.
*
David Foster Wallace
David Foster Wallace (February 21, 1962 – September 12, 2008) was an American novelist, short story writer, essayist, and university professor of English and creative writing. Wallace is widely known for his 1996 novel '' Infinite Jest'', whi ...
's novel ''
Infinite Jest
''Infinite Jest'' is a 1996 novel by American writer David Foster Wallace. Categorized as an encyclopedic novel, ''Infinite Jest'' is featured in ''TIME'' magazine's list of the 100 best English-language novels published between 1923 and 2005.
...
'' includes both real and fictional Québécois separatist movements as integral to the plot. In the story, the United States has merged with Canada and Mexico to form the Organization of North American Nations (ONAN). Wheelchair-using Quebec separatists use a video so entertaining it leads to death to accomplish their goals of both Quebec independence and the end of the ONAN.
* In the ''
Southern Victory Series
The ''Southern Victory'' series or Timeline-191 is a series of eleven alternate history novels by author Harry Turtledove, beginning with ''How Few Remain'' (1997) and published over a decade. The period addressed in the series begins during the ...
'' of
alternate history novels by
Harry Turtledove
Harry Norman Turtledove (born June 14, 1949) is an American author who is best known for his work in the genres of alternate history, historical fiction, fantasy, science fiction, and mystery fiction. He is a student of history and completed hi ...
, Quebec becomes a separate nation during the
First Great War (an alternative World War I), in which the United States defeats Canada, the United Kingdom and the other Entente Powers (including the
Confederate States of America
The Confederate States of America (CSA), commonly referred to as the Confederate States or the Confederacy was an unrecognized breakaway republic in the Southern United States that existed from February 8, 1861, to May 9, 1865. The Confeder ...
); upon its founding, the Republic is officially recognised only by the
Central Powers
The Central Powers, also known as the Central Empires,german: Mittelmächte; hu, Központi hatalmak; tr, İttifak Devletleri / ; bg, Централни сили, translit=Tsentralni sili was one of the two main coalitions that fought in ...
of the United States, Germany, Austria-Hungary, Bulgaria, the Ottoman Empire, the puppet states of Poland and Ukraine, and the neutral powers of Italy and the Netherlands. Since the United States organized this separation to weaken Anglophone Canada (and the UK by extension) and to aid in the post-war occupation of Canada, the Republic of Quebec operated as a
client state
A client state, in international relations, is a state that is economically, politically, and/or militarily subordinate to another more powerful state (called the "controlling state"). A client state may variously be described as satellite state, ...
of the United States, rather than being truly independent. This is later demonstrated in the series when Québécois soldiers release their US counterparts from occupation duties in Canada during the
Second Great War, allowing the United States to focus its military efforts against the Confederacy. The Republic of Quebec in this alternate timeline is in a similar geopolitical situation to the
Kingdom of Poland
The Kingdom of Poland ( pl, Królestwo Polskie; Latin: ''Regnum Poloniae'') was a state in Central Europe. It may refer to:
Historical political entities
* Kingdom of Poland, a kingdom existing from 1025 to 1031
* Kingdom of Poland, a kingdom exi ...
, a German puppet state created as part of
Mitteleuropa
(), meaning Middle Europe, is one of the German terms for Central Europe. The term has acquired diverse cultural, political and historical connotations. University of Warsaw, Johnson, Lonnie (1996) ''Central Europe: Enemies, Neighbors, Friends'p ...
. Its head of state is styled as Premier, and its national legislature either includes or is called the House of Deputies.
* In
DC Comics
DC Comics, Inc. (doing business as DC) is an American comic book publisher and the flagship unit of DC Entertainment, a subsidiary of Warner Bros. Discovery.
DC Comics is one of the largest and oldest American comic book companies, with thei ...
, the villain (and sometimes hero)
Plastique is initially a Québécois freedom fighter, who resorts to acts of terrorism.
* In ''
Marvel Comics
Marvel Comics is an American comic book publishing, publisher and the flagship property of Marvel Entertainment, a divsion of The Walt Disney Company since September 1, 2009. Evolving from Timely Comics in 1939, ''Magazine Management/Atlas Co ...
'', the superhero
Northstar Northstar may refer to:
* Polaris, a star
Arts and entertainment
* Northstar (band), an emo band from Alabama
* Northstar (rap group), a rap group affiliated with the Wu-Tang Clan
* "Northstar", a 2019 song by XXXTentacion from the album ''Bad Vi ...
was part of the Front de libération du Québec (FLQ) in his youth.
* In ''
Axis Powers Hetalia'', Canada's nightmare features an independent Quebec.
* Margaret Atwood's 1979 novel ''Life Before Man'' is set in Toronto in the late 1970s and several characters watch and sometimes comment upon the elections and sovereignist movement in Quebec. The sovereignist movement and its struggles are metaphorically linked to the difficulties the characters in the novel have with separating their own personal relationships.
* In the roleplaying game ''
Trinity
The Christian doctrine of the Trinity (, from 'threefold') is the central dogma concerning the nature of God in most Christian churches, which defines one God existing in three coequal, coeternal, consubstantial divine persons: God th ...
'' there are references made to a separatist Quebec nation who in return for independence helped the then formed 'Confederated States of America' take control of Canada.
* In the novel ''
Babylon Babies'' by the French-born Canadian cyberpunk writer
Maurice Dantec
Maurice Georges Dantec (; 13 June 1959 – 25 June 2016) was a French-born Canadian science fiction writer and musician.
Biography
Dantec was born in Grenoble, France, the son of a journalist and a seamstress. He grew up primarily in Ivry-sur-Se ...
, loosely adapted as the film
Babylon A.D., Quebec is independent and referred to as the "Free Province of Quebec".
* In the roleplaying game ''
Shadowrun
''Shadowrun'' is a science fantasy tabletop role-playing game set in an alternate future in which cybernetics, magic in fiction, magic and fantasy creatures co-exist. It combines genres of cyberpunk, urban fantasy and crime fiction, crime, with ...
'', Quebec exists as a sovereign nation alongside the United Canadian American States and the Confederated American States.
* In the film ''
Die Hard
''Die Hard'' is a 1988 American action film directed by John McTiernan, with a screenplay by Jeb Stuart and Steven E. de Souza. Based on the 1979 novel '' Nothing Lasts Forever'', by Roderick Thorp, it stars Bruce Willis, Alan Rickman, Al ...
'', Hans Gruber, the terrorist leader, demands, as a ruse, the release of imprisoned members of the fictional group Liberté du Québec. (Presumably meant to be a fictional version of the
FLQ.)
* In
Peter Watts' science fiction series, starting with ''Starfish'', Quebec has attained sovereignty and is an energetic/economic superpower within North America.
* In the alternate history novel ''
The Two Georges
''The Two Georges'' is an alternate history and detective thriller novel co-written by science fiction author Harry Turtledove and Oscar-winning actor Richard Dreyfuss. It was originally published in 1995 by Hodder & Stoughton in the United King ...
'', co-authored by
Richard Dreyfuss and Harry Turtledove, the
American Revolution
The American Revolution was an ideological and political revolution that occurred in British America between 1765 and 1791. The Americans in the Thirteen Colonies formed independent states that defeated the British in the American Revoluti ...
never occurs, resulting in the creation of the North American Union, a dominion of the British Empire. En route to the Six Nations, Thomas Bushell and Samuel Stanley of the
Royal American Mounted Police discuss the nearby province of Quebec. Stanley muses that, being culturally French, the Québécois people would want to split off from the N.A.U. to become part of the Franco-Spanish Holy Alliance. However, the Francophobia of the Sons of Liberty prevents them from effectively joining forces with Québécois separatists.
* In the ''
Simpsons
''The Simpsons'' is an American animated sitcom created by Matt Groening for the Fox Broadcasting Company. The series is a satirical depiction of American life, epitomized by the Simpson family, which consists of Homer, Marge, Bart, Lisa, a ...
'' episode "
Homer to the Max", Homer Simpson is invited to an exclusive garden party by Trent Steel, a successful businessman whom he meets as a result of changing his name to Max Power. President
Bill Clinton
William Jefferson Clinton ( né Blythe III; born August 19, 1946) is an American politician who served as the 42nd president of the United States from 1993 to 2001. He previously served as governor of Arkansas from 1979 to 1981 and agai ...
, a guest at the garden party, is called away to deal with Quebec 'getting
the bomb'.
* In ''
The Critic
''The Critic'' was an American primetime adult animated sitcom revolving around the life of New York film critic Jay Sherman, voiced by Jon Lovitz. It was created by writing partners Al Jean and Mike Reiss, who had previously worked as writers a ...
'' episode "L.A. Jay", in a dream sequence, Jay Sherman, at his
Oscar acceptance speech says he supports independence for Quebec, cutting to a room of Québécois saying "Viva Jay Sherman! Viva Quebec!" and unfurling a banner depicting Sherman as a beaver.
* In the young adults' alternate history novel ''
The Disunited States of America
''The Disunited States of America'' is an alternate history novel by Harry Turtledove. It is a part of the Crosstime Traffic series, and takes place in an alternate world where the U.S. was never able to agree on a constitution and continued to g ...
'' by Harry Turtledove, the United States collapsed in the 1800s due to the retention of the Articles of Confederation, with states becoming sovereign nations by the 2090s. Quebec is an independent country in the 2090s, although it is not mentioned whether it remained an independent entity or seceded from a Canadian union.
Explanatory notes
See also
*
Quebec nationalism
Quebec nationalism or Québécois nationalism is a feeling and a political doctrine that prioritizes cultural belonging to, the defence of the interests of, and the recognition of the political legitimacy of the Québécois nation. It has been ...
*
List of subjects related to the Quebec independence movement
*
Politics of Quebec
The politics of Quebec are centred on a provincial government resembling that of the other Canadian provinces, namely a constitutional monarchy and parliamentary democracy. The capital of Quebec is Quebec City, where the Lieutenant Governor, P ...
*
Lists of active separatist movements
Presented below is a list of lists of active separatist movements:
*List of active separatist movements in Africa
*List of active separatist movements in Asia
*List of active separatist movements in Europe
*List of active separatist movements i ...
*
Secessionist movements of Canada
There have been various movements within Canada for secession.
List
This list is composed of both historical and active movements for secession or autonomy.
;Secessionist movements
Alberta
* Proposed state: Alberta or part as Western Canada ...
References
Further reading
* Clarke, Harold D., and Allan Kornberg. "Choosing Canada? The 1995 Quebec Sovereignty Referendum." ''PS, Political Science & Politics'' 29.4 (1996): 676+.
* Des Granges, Cara. "Finding Legitimacy: Examining Quebec Sovereignty from Pre-Confederation to Present." ''International Journal of Canadian Studies'' 50 (2014): 25–44.
* Jacobs, Jane. ''The question of separatism: Quebec and the struggle over sovereignty'' (Vintage, 2016).
* McCulloch, Tony. "A quiet revolution in diplomacy: Quebec–UK relations since 1960." ''American Review of Canadian Studies'' 46.2 (2016): 176–195
online* Mendelsohn, Matthew. "Rational choice and socio-psychological explanation for opinion on Quebec sovereignty." ''Canadian Journal of Political Science/Revue canadienne de science politique'' (2003): 511–53
online
* Somers, Kim, and François Vaillancourt. "Some economic dimensions of the sovereignty debate in Quebec: debt, GDP, and migration." ''Oxford Review of Economic Policy'' 30.2 (2014): 237–256.
* Yale, François, and Claire Durand. "What did Quebeckers want? Impact of question wording, constitutional proposal and context on support for sovereignty, 1976–2008." ''American Review of Canadian Studies'' 41.3 (2011): 242–258
online
External links
*
ttp://www.pq.org Parti Québécois website (partly in English)
Québec Solidaire
Parti Communiste du Québec
Bloc Québécois website (partly in English)
Saint-Jean-Baptiste Society website (partly in English)
''The Question of Separatism: Quebec and the Struggle over Sovereignty''by
Jane Jacobs
Jane Jacobs (''née'' Butzner; 4 May 1916 – 25 April 2006) was an American-Canadian journalist, author, theorist, and activist who influenced urban studies, sociology, and economics. Her book '' The Death and Life of Great American Cities ...
.
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