Quebec's Quest for an independent nation
Canada and Quebec have always been in conflict from the confederation of 1867 to the Supreme court judgement on the secession of Quebec in 1998. Quebec faces several challenges in terms of constitutional relations with the rest of Canada. Quebec is seeking a special status to preserve and protect its culture and language, while the rest of English-speaking Canada accepts the view of provincial equality. There have been attempts to recognize Quebec's concerns through constitutional amendments, but these attempts have not lived up to Quebec's expectations and for the most parts have failed. Quebec has threatened Canada throughout history with separation from Canada. These threats have not been ignored, the rest of Canada realizes the devastating impact economically and politically if Quebec did separate but they cannot reach a compromise. Canada has as tried to encourage Quebec not to separate from Canada. In 1995 Quebec held its second referendum on sovereignly and the separatists narrowly lost the province wide. The province brought the case to the Supreme court of Canada to rule on the legal guidelines of unilateral secession under Canadian and international law, in the end some say the federalists (those not wanting to sepa
Quebec's first referendum was crushed by a margin 60% to 40%.The federal government still recognized that there was still the threat of separation, and knew the economic and political consequences if Quebec did separate. The federal government responded by trying to negotiate another 'deal' which is now know as the Constitution Act 1982. The Act did include some language laws a new amending formula, Charter of Rights and freedoms, protection of civil liberties just to name a few. However the act did not recognize Quebec as a distinct society and as a result Quebec refused to sign. All other provinces signed except Quebec, but Quebec is still legally bounded by the Constitution Act in many areas. In response to the third question, the court ruled there was no conflict between international and domestic law. At face value it looks as though the federalists have won with this court ruling, but if you dig down into the ruling there is some support for the separatist. There is no doubt that the federalists hold the upper hand with this ruling because Quebec under the Canadian constitution can not unilaterally secede, but in the same breath the judges ruled that if a majority of the people in Quebec want to secede, the rest of Canada would have to negotiate the terms of the secession as though it were an amendment to the constitution. The court did not rule out another referendum. The courts ruled that a clear majority vote in Quebec on a clear question in favor of secession would give democratic legitimacy on the secession initiative which all of the other participants in confederation would have to recognize. When Brian Mulroney came into power in 1984 he wanted Quebec to be a part of Canada and encouraged Quebec to rejoin the Canadian constitution by drawing up a document called the Meech Lake Accord which tried to take into account Quebec's conditions for rejoing the constitution. The accord recognized Quebec as a distinct society, guaranteed a increase of powers in matters of immigration, it contained a opting out principle with compensation of national programs within provincial jurisdiction , recognized Quebec's right of veto on constitutional amendments, and finally allowed participation on appointment of supreme court judges. Initially all provinces agreed, but in order for it to become law the constitutional amending procedures had to be followed. This meant there was a three year time limit for the unanimous approval of the federal and provincial government. The time limit was not met due to objections raised by the provinces and the accord was pronounced dead in 1990. The next historical step of Quebec's quest for sovereignty was proposed by the Parti Quebecois government, Quebec's first referendum in 1980. The P Q government asked the people of Quebec to vote on "Sovereignty-Association" with the federal government. This would mean that Quebec would be a sovereign state, but with continued economic links to the rest of Canada. With the start of a separatist movement in Quebec, Canadians knew that Quebec separation was a real threat and consequently tried to accommodate Quebec with the Victorian Charter. The charter was a "constitutional renewal, including pariation, language charter, an amending formula and an opting out provision.". Quebec's premier at the time first agreed to the Victorian Charter but later refused it because of the nationalist public opinion in Quebec. Quebers argued there was no special status given to Quebec, not enough new powers given to them and finally because there was no guaranteed veto offered to Quebec through the Victoria Charter. Whether Quebec will separate from Canada is difficult to see, however we must question does Quebec really want to separate from Canada? Each time Quebec has held a referendum it always included a clause
Some common words found in the essay are:
Court Canada, Quebec Canada, English-speaking Canada, Lake Accord, Canada Quebec, According Conway, Quebec Canadian, Trade Agreement, Canada Canada, Dyck Quebec, quebec canada, federal government, supreme court, canada quebec, quebec separate, people quebec, canada east, rest canada, international law, quebec separate canada, canadian constitution, quebec distinct society, meech lake accord, supreme court canada, people quebec vote,
Approximate Word count = 2577
Approximate Pages = 10 (250 words per page double spaced)
|
