The premier of Quebec, Lucien Bouchard has been attempting to separate from Canada for quite sometime. If he had it his way this topic would be old news by now. His main problem is the Federalist, English speaking citizens of his province. They have been very vocal on their stance to stay apart of Canada. They have sent around several resolutions stating this. It all started in Allumette Island East, which has a population of 458. It has since spread to municipalities along the borders with Ontario and the United States, and in the Montreal area. Unfortunately this means very little considering the fact that these municipalities only represent a

The core argument still remains that the French speaking Quebeckers possess a common language, history, culture, that they formed a people, and that they could only feel comfortable if they were to have their own state. There is no doubt that the economy has been greatly affected by the talks of secession. Unemployment has also increased as a result of this. Montreal which was once the leading city in Canada, now has an unemployment ranking of 12%. Its share of private capital formation has dropped to 15%. Quebec is also in high governmental debt and budget deficits and is now only beginning to work on these problems. There have been several studies done based on secession. It is felt that if Quebec did in fact secede from Canada they would suffer in the short term.

The majority of Canadiens do not want Quebec to leave. However, many feel that Quebec is the spoiled child of the confederation. Would Canada be able to keep together if Quebec were to secede? If Quebec secedes, how would the international community react? It will be interesting to see if the United States would accept Quebec's secession, or would they wait to see Canada's reaction?

Most Quebeckers see themselves as having two identities, first as Quebeckers, and then as Canadians. The Parti Quebecois has concentrated on the politics of reassurance. Their goal is to make citizens feel stable if in fact they were to secede from Canada. An independent Quebec would still be able to continue to use the Canadien dollar, Canadien passports, and have a mutually beneficial economic association with Canada.

One group of Quebeckers with the strongest-and geographically the widest claims for self determination, the Cree, Inuit, and Innu who occupy the resource-rich northern two-thirds of the province. The views of these nations oddly enough seem to go unmentioned. During the 1995 attempt to secede these three groups all voted by more than 95% to stick with Canada.

pproximately 6% of the province's population. When the Parti Quebecois government called for the first referendum on secession in 1980, only 40% were in favor of separatism. When the party took over control again in 1995 the approval rose just about 49%. The fear of the PQ is that if several of the floating voters out there f!

People outside of Canada are baffled at how Canada ended up in such a state of affairs. Canada as a country has a lot going for it. A high GNP, and high per capita income in international terms. It is ranked at the

Some common words found in the essay are:
Parti Quebecois, Quebec Constitutional, Canadiens Quebec, English-speaking Canada, National Product, United Nations, , French Canadians, Quebec Law, Canada People, secession quebec, quebec secede, secede canada, quebec lucien bouchard, english speaking, french speaking, distinct society, international community, parti quebecois, lucien bouchard, quebec secede canada, secede canada independent, premier quebec lucien, canadien dollar,
Approximate Word count = 1692
Approximate Pages = 7 (250 words per page double spaced)