User:Liberlogos/The Case for a Sovereign Quebec
[Following text to be verified...]
- The problem with Canada can be summed up in one question: How many nations live in its midst? For Quebecers, who have spoken French on this continent since 1608 and who make up 25 per cent of Canada's population, the answer is obviously two.
That is the understanding upon which Canada was founded in 1867. The two nations would share some powers in a central state, but they would also coexist in strong provincial governments with substantial autonomy.
The notion of Canadian duality has been at the center of Canadian unity for more than 100 years. Fifteen years ago, when Quebecers were first asked to vote in a referendum on sovereignty, opponents argued that there was no need for independence because new ways would be found to strengthen Canada's duality and to protect Quebec's distinctiveness within Canada.
But then that promise was broken. The contract that linked Quebec to the rest of Canada was changed in 1982 by the federal government and the nine English provinces. A new constitution was imposed upon Quebec against its will, and it reduced Quebecers' ability to govern themselves on matters such as language and education. All parties in Quebec's parliament, the National Assembly, denounced the action, and all Quebec governments elected since then have refused to ratify the document.
[To be transcripted...]
Notes
This article was taken from the Foreign Policy political review (Summer 1995, No.99, pp. 69-77).