Quebec separatism

Résumé du document

One of the main concerns since the creation of the Canadian Confederation in 1867 has been the Quebec question. Nowadays, it is still a big issue in Canadian politics. Quebec has always appeared as a 'distinct society' within the country. It is the core of the main cleavage in Canada: the linguistic cleavage between French and English. Quebec also claims cultural and ethnic specificity. For the Quebec separatists, these particularities justify the independence of the province. They consider that Quebec is like a colony and they do not want to be ruled by the English majority anymore. Two referendum had already taken place in order to know if it was the will of the majority of the Quebeckers. The first occurred in 1980 and the Quebeckers refused the proposed 'sovereignty-association' (40% were in favour of the proposition). But in 1995, the result of the second referendum was not that clear (49.9% of 'yes'), even though the 'no' side won again. More than ten years later, we wonder what the current aspirations concerning the Quebec independence movement are and how the separatist movement dealt with those two defeats.

Extraits

[...] (University of Toronto Press, 2001). Page 67. YOUNG, Robert. The Struggle for Quebec. (McGill-Queen's University Press, 1999). Page 124. FIDLER, Richard. Canada, Adieu ? Quebec debates its future. (Oolichan Books and the Institute for Research on Public Policy, 1991). Page 36. DORAN, Charles. Why Canadian Unity Matters and why American Care. [...]

[...] These years were synonymous with the end of the discrimination, the implementation of the official bilingualism in Canada, the success of the Quiet Revolution in the sixties. Yet, separatism seemed to find a new birth and has been very active. The response can be found in globalization. On the one hand, this phenomenon appears like a release mechanism for a new wave of nationalism all over the world. It triggers of a kind of identity crisis on which separatist movements can take support. [...]

[...] We could assert that the two previous referenda and their failure weakened the movement in favour of an independent Quebec. But in fact, history is what makes the strength of separatism. The slogan of the region is very significant: me souviens' that is to say, remember'. Quebeckers do remember about their history, about the French defeat in Quebec in 1759 and about the English political and economic domination that followed. And obviously, the separatist movement takes advantage of this history and of the feeling of humiliation to instigate nationalism in the region. [...]

[...] (Oolichan Books and the Institute for Research on Public Policy, 1991). Page 1. FIDLER, Richard. Canada, Adieu ? Quebec debates its future. (Oolichan Books and the Institute for Research on Public Policy, 1991). Page 23. YOUNG, Robert. The Struggle for Quebec. (McGill-Queen's University Press, 1999). Page 127. DORAN, Charles. Why Canadian Unity Matters and why American Care. [...]

[...] As Stéphane Dion explains ‘rising economic confidence could be conductive to support for sovereignty'.[14] And in case of an economic depression, Quebeckers could feel that they have nothing to lose, that Canada does not bring them anything and vote for independence. We can observe that Quebec separatism is still very strong and powerful. But does it really represent a threat for the Canadian unity? As a matter of fact, we are tempted to say that the separatist movement in Quebec uses his power mainly to be advantaged in federal negotiations. It applies the concept of ‘conditional federalism'[15]: they use the threat of a break down in order to obtain more. [...]