User:Liberlogos/The Man from Quebec with a Message for Scotland
René Lèvèsque (sic) speaks in a soft Canadian drawl, but his manner is intensly French. He is president and a founder of the Parti Quèbècois (sic) which aims to separate the province from the rest of Canada on account of Quebec's seperate identity, language, culture, customs and the "raw deal" it receives in the Canadian Federal system.
The intense arguments and the pressure which an active minority is inflicting upon the established political system has an exact echo in the Scottish Nationalist Party's (sic) campaign for independence. "There are many parallels but we are further along the road, I suspect", said M Lèvèsque.
He was in Edinburgh at the weekend, addressing a conference on devolution in education organized by The Times Educational Supplement, Scotland. "I notice the same feeling here and the same kind of dismay about the central government system. For example, my taxidriver from the airport was complaining strongly that the first oil from North Sea was going direct to London. You can feel that Scotland is very much aware of a separate identity but is also becoming more frustrated. In that way we are very sympathique."
Even the figures are similar. Quebec has a population of six million, Scotland slightly fewer. At the last election the Parti Quèbècois (sic) won 30 per cent of the popular vote with a strongly indèpendentists (sic) campaign. The SNP has similar persentage but, like the Quebec separatists, won only a handful of seats. Not surprisingly, both parties share a wish for an electoral system based on proportional representation.
M Lèvèsque is a short, wiry man in his early 50s. His features are bunched pugnaciously into an expressive face. He chain smokes his way through an interview and conducts the conversation with empathic gestures. Yes, he did hope to meet members of the SNP. They would have much in common to discuss. Scotland wanted an assembly and more control over Scottish matters but Quebec already had its own Parliament with power to impose taxes, to legislate and to administer.
"I think Scotland is pushing towards this but will find, as we say, appetite comes with eating. Once there is some control there is a wish for far more. We realize now that unless Quebec has real control of the central purse strings and overall fiscal policy, we will not have true independence." The party produced a policy document "Quand nous Serons Vraiment Chez Nous" (sic), which was intended to be a close practical look at the economics of independence. The ruling Liberals concede that the analysis was feasible but not desirable. Many Canadians, particularly the "white (sic) Anglo-Saxon Protestants" (Wasps to the Quèbècois) (sic) were dismayed at the prospect of six million people, about one quarter of the population, hiving themselves away to independence.
[...to be transcripted...]
Note
This is an article from The Times newspaper of London (June 17, 1975, p.14), from The Times Digital Archive available at the Gales Databases website, in turn available with a membership of the Bibliothèque nationale du Québec.
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