An Phoblacht/Republican News   ·   Thursday October 26 1995

Quebec goes to poll on independence

NEXT MONDAY 30 October Quebec goes to the polls once again in the latest installment in a long number of efforts to secure independence for the largely Francophone state.

In its own right Quebec is one of the largest countries in the world with a land mass of 1.6 million kilometres. It has a population of 7.1 million, more than that of Norway's (4.5 million) or Denmark's (5.1 million) and a GDP of IR£72billion, giving it the 14th highest per capita income among UN member states.

In 1980 Quebec voted No to a referendum proposing "sovereignty association" with the rest of Canada, largely because they were promised concessions within a federal Canada. In the event, the Canadian constitution was amended, but in such a way that Quebec's legislative powers were reduced in key areas such as language and education, over the near unanimous opposition of the Quebec assembly. The change to the constitution, termed the Repatriation, naturally caused considerable resentment among separatist who felt that they had been duped.

Subsequent efforts to find an accord within a federal setting have failed, and the separatist Partí Québecois were elected to power in the state on the basis that they would hold another referendum on independence.

At the heart of the Québecois desire for independence is its consciousness of its separate French identity. Some 80% of its citizens are Francophones, who for generations felt excluded from the corridors of power in business and politics. The Canadian prime minister, Jean Chrétien, a native of Quebec described the situation thus "Here in Quebec, an Anglophone minority controlled the economy, Francophones earned less than Anglophones. We had no Education department."

However since then the Charter of the French Language (Bill 101) was passed in Quebec, while the Official Languages Act, gave French equal status with English at a federal level. "No one dreamed that the day would come when Francophone business people from Quebec could sell their goods and services world wide." said Chrétien. But while Francophones may no longer see themselves as a discriminated minority, divisions persist.

English Canada has grown weary of Québecois demands for independence, and many believe that the demands are simply a mechanism to wring concessions from central government rather than a general desire for independence.

The campaign of course has not just seen divisions on linguistic grounds. The trade union movement has for the most part supported moves towards independence, while Canadian business, clearly aware of the loss that secession by Quebec would represent to the rest of Canada has been hostile to the independence bid. It is a split on economic lines that is somewhat reminiscent of the divisions on the Maastricht referenda in the Scandinavian countries and France.

Speaking to AP/RN the Canadian Ambassador to Ireland Barry Mawhinney said that he would want Quebec to remain in the confederation. "Quebec can realise fully it's economical and cultural potential within the federation. Indeed Prime Minister Chrétien is Quebecois".

Increasingly Canada had been successful in creating a truly bilingual society: many Anglophone parents were now raising their children bilingually and the French language had never been stronger in theatre and the arts he said. The referendum would be defeated he believed but he refused to speculate on what would happen in the event of a "Yes" vote.

Which of course raises the crucial issue of the status of the referendum. What would be the response of the federal government and international community to a "Yes" vote? The Canadian constitution is vague on the matter, containing no reference to a procedure for succession from the union, and the government has been equally vague. At least one opinion poll has indicated 25% of those intending to vote "Yes" didn't believe that the vote would lead to independence.

Also unclear is whether a newly independent Quebec would be admitted to the North American Free Trade Association (NAFTA) and NATO.

The Partí Québecois have implied that they would assume the rights and obligations of those treaties under international law, but US secretary of State, Warren Christopher has thrown cold water on that idea, stating that other member states would have to look at the new situation, and that privileges currently enjoyed may not be conceded to a new sovereign state.

At present opinion polls give the YES campaign a narrow lead. But even if the Québecois manage to succeed where they failed in 1980, it may take many years before the many issues involved are finally resolved.

by

Anton O Mordha

Yeses,

BILINGUAL SOCIETY