History of the Quebec sovereignty movement

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The History of the Quebec sovereignty movement covers various movements which sought to achieve political independence for Quebec, which has been a province of Canada since 1867. Quebec nationalism emerged in politics c. 1800. The terms sovereignty and sovereignism were introduced by the modern Quebec sovereignty movement which began during the Quiet Revolution of the 1960s. Pro-sovereignty political parties have represented Quebec at the provincial and federal level, and have held two referendums on sovereignty which were both defeated. Additionally, two accords to amend the Canadian Constitution on issues of concern to Quebecers were also defeated.

Origins

Main article: Quebec nationalism

Following the

British Canada
.

Sovereigntism and sovereignty are terms that refer to the modern movement in favour of the political independence of Quebec, which can be traced to the

Francoeur Motion of 1917, and premier of Quebec Honoré Mercier's raising the idea of self-determination in the 1890s. The Quiet Revolution
of Quebec brought widespread change in the 1960s. Among other changes, support for Quebec independence began to form and grow.

The first organization dedicated to the independence of Quebec was the Alliance Laurentienne, founded by

Rassemblement pour l'indépendance nationale
(RIN) was founded. On August 9 of that year, Raoul Roy founded the Action socialiste pour l'indépendance du Québec (ASIQ). In October and November 1962, RIN members formed the Comité de libération nationale and the Réseau de résistance to organize non-violent but illegal actions, such as vandalism and civil disobedience.

Shortly after the November 

Mouvement souveraineté-association (MSA). He set about to unite pro-sovereignty forces, and at a congress in October 1968 the RN and MSA agreed to merge to form the Parti Québécois (PQ).[1] Later that month, RIN leader Pierre Bourgault
dissolved his party and invited its members to join the PQ.

During the 1960s, many former European colonies, such as Cameroon, Congo, Senegal, Algeria, and Jamaica, were becoming independent. Some advocates of Quebec independence saw Quebec's situation in a similar light. Numerous activists were influenced by the writings of Frantz Fanon, Albert Memmi, Aimé Césaire, Léopold Sédar Senghor and Karl Marx. In June 1967, during a state visit for the Canadian Centennial, French president Charles de Gaulle made a speech from the balcony of Montreal City Hall in which he declared Vive le Québec libre![2] The phrase was a slogan of Quebec sovereignty, and its delivery by de Gaulle deeply offended the Canadian federal government, which derided him. De Gaulle cut short his visit and left the country.

In February 1963, the

Gabriel Hudon, three RIN members who had met as part of the Réseau de résistance. They were inspired by the political ideas of the ASIQ's "independence + socialism" project, and felt the RIN was not extreme enough, making the decision to use violence in order to achieve independence. Between 1963 and 1970, the FLQ conducted over 160 violent incidents resulting in 8 deaths, and were considered a terrorist group by the Canadian government. While the FLQ had gradually gained support over the decade, the October Crisis
of 1970, in which a Quebec cabinet minister and a British diplomat were kidnapped, galvanized support against violence while increasing support for political means of attaining independence.

Early years of the PQ

Economist

Bill 63
.

In the 1970 provincial election, the PQ elected its first seven members of the National Assembly of Quebec. René Lévesque was defeated in the Laurier riding by Liberal André Marchand. In the 1973 election the PQ was reduced to six seats, though its share of the popular vote had significantly increased.

In the 1976 election, the PQ won 71 seats and formed a majority government, shocking Quebecers and other Canadians. With one of the highest voting turnouts in the province's history, 41.4 per cent of the electorate voted for the PQ.

On August 26, 1977, the PQ passed two important[why?] laws: one prohibited contributions by corporations and unions to political parties and set a limit on individual donations. The second was the Charter of the French Language which provided for fundamental French-language rights.[relevant?]

On May 17, 1979,

Robert Burns
resigned from the PQ. He had been unofficial leader of the PQ's left-wing faction and a key architect of electoral reforms. He later told the media that he was convinced the PQ would lose its upcoming sovereignty referendum and fail to be re-elected afterward.

Referendum of 1980

At its seventh national convention in June 1979, the sovereigntists adopted their strategy for the coming referendum. The PQ then began an aggressive effort to promote Sovereignty-Association by providing proposed details (which had yet to be negotiated) on how economic relations with the rest of Canada would include free trade between Canada and Quebec, common tariffs against imports, and a common currency. In addition, joint political institutions were proposed to administer these economic arrangements.

Sovereignty-Association was proposed to the population of Quebec in the 1980 Quebec referendum. The proposal was rejected by 60 per cent of the Quebec electorate.

In September, the PQ created a national committee of anglophones and a liaison committee with ethnic minorities.

Despite having lost the referendum, the PQ was returned to power in the 1981 election with a stronger majority, obtaining 49.2 per cent of the vote and winning 80 seats. However, they did not pursue sovereignty and concentrated on their stated goal of "good government".

Liberals
.

Constitutional reform attempts

Meech Lake Accord

The

Constitution Act of 1982, the accord was sent to the ten provincial legislatures for approval.[7] However, the accord collapsed due to the failure of the Manitoba and Newfoundland governments to ratify it before the three-year deadline in 1990.[8] The implications of the failed accord caused a greater divide between French Quebecers
and English Canada.

Several reasons have been attributed to the accord's downfall, including the indirect and elitist manner in which negotiations were handled, the lack of proper recognition concerning minorities' interests, vague discussion about key issues, weak promotion by the federal government, and deliberate manipulation of the media and public by politicians in support and in opposition.

Clyde Wells feared that Quebec would use the 'distinct society' clause to assert greater and special jurisdictional authority over what would otherwise be under federal jurisdiction. This was reflective of the commonly perceived notion, held by English-Canadians, that the Meech Lake Accord would bring unevenness and difference to rights and powers, where the intended effect was to introduce equality.[12]

Charlottetown Accord

The 1992

self-government as an existing legal body of government.[17]
Most of what was included in the Meech Lake Accord either remained intact or was expanded upon in the Charlottetown Accord.

On October 26, 1992, Canadians voted 'No' on the Charlottetown Accord in six provinces, including Quebec, by a margin of 54 percent to 45 percent.

Quebec separatists, the failure of a further attempt at constitution reform affirmed their position that there were only two choices available in Quebec: the status quo or Quebec sovereignty.[18] Lucien Bouchard, leader of the Bloc Québécois, declared, "There were two roads before the referendum – profoundly renewed federalism and sovereignty. These two options must now find a convergence,"[20] though outside of Quebec, many Canadians saw the 'No' vote as an assertion of the status quo, not sovereignty.[18] One of the major effects that resulted from the failure of multiple attempts at constitutional reform was the massive upheaval of the traditional political party structure in the federal government after the 1993 election. The Progressive Conservatives suffered the greatest loss of seats in modern history of industrialized democracies, only winning in two seats, and two new federal parties, Bloc Québécois and Reform party, finished with the second- and third-highest number of elected seats.[21]

Referendum of 1995

The PQ returned to power in the

Union Populaire had nominated candidates in the 1979 and 1980 federal elections, and the Parti nationaliste du Québec had nominated candidates in the 1984 federal election
. Neither of these parties had official support of the PQ or significant support among Quebec voters.

In the 1993 federal election following the collapse of the Progressive Conservative Party, the BQ won enough seats to become Her Majesty's Loyal Opposition in the House of Commons. Parizeau promptly called a new referendum. The 1995 referendum question differed from the 1980 question in that the negotiation of an association with Canada was now optional.

This time, the Yes camp lost in a very close vote, by less than one percent. As in the previous referendum, the

francophones
of all origins voted Yes (francophones are an 82 per cent majority of Quebecers).

Premier Jacques Parizeau attributed the defeat of the resolution to "money and the ethnic vote".

Post-referendum

The PQ won re-election in the 1998 Quebec general election with little change in seats from the previous election. However, public support for sovereignty remained too low for the PQ to consider holding another referendum. Meanwhile, the federal government passed the Clarity Act to govern the wording of any future referendum questions and the conditions under which a vote for sovereignty would be recognized as legitimate. Federal Liberal politicians stated that the ambiguous wording of the 1995 referendum question was the primary impetus in the bill's drafting.

In the

Liberal Party sponsorship scandal contributed to a resurgence of the BQ. In the 2004 federal elections
, the Bloc Québécois won 54 of the 75 federal seats in Quebec (compared to 33 held previously).

While opponents of sovereignty were pleased with their referendum victories, most recognized that there were still deep divides within Quebec and problems with the relationship between Quebec and the rest of Canada.

Clarity Act

In 1999, Parliament passed the

Act respecting the exercise of the fundamental rights and prerogatives of the Québec people and the Québec State
was introduced in the National Assembly of Quebec only two days after the Clarity Act had been introduced in the House of Commons.

Former Prime Minister Chrétien, under whom the Clarity Act was passed, has remarked that the act is among his most significant accomplishments.

Redevelopments

"Sovereignty-Association" is nowadays more often referred to simply as "sovereignty". However, it remains a part of the PQ program and is tied to national independence in the minds of many Quebecers. It has always been controversial, since some Quebec federalists and Canadian politicians outside Quebec have argued that it is unlikely that the rest of Canada would make an association or partnership agreement with a sovereign or independent Quebec.[22] or that Canada would want to negotiate issues that the Quebec government would refuse to negotiate, such as a partition of Quebec.

In 2003, the PQ launched the Saison des idées (Season of ideas), a public consultation to gather the opinions of Quebecers on its sovereignty project, the new program and the revised sovereignty project adopted at the 2005 Congress.

Polls conducted by Leger and Mainstreet Research in Quebec indicated a rise in support for independence, reaching around 32% from 27% in December 2020. However, this uptick was tempered by the fact that younger voters were no longer the driving force behind the sovereignty movement. Almost half of voters aged 18 to 34 were against sovereignty, while those over 55 showed a statistical tie.[23]

See also

References

  1. ^ a b "The Emergence of the Sovereignty Movement". Musée québécois de culture populaire. 2012.
  2. ^ Andrea Bellemare (July 24, 2017). "Charles de Gaulle's infamous 'Vive le Québec libre' speech feted, 50 years on". CBC News.
  3. ^ Jonathan Lemco, Turmoil in the Peaceable Kingdom: The Quebec Sovereignty Movement and Its Implications for Canada and the United States (Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 1994), 19.
  4. ^ Richard Simeon, "Meech Lake and Shifting Conceptions of Canadian Federalism," Canadian Public Policy/ Analyse de Politiques 14:1, Supplement: The Meech Lake Accord / L'Accord du lac Meech (September 1988), S9.
  5. ^ Simeon, "Meech Lake," S9.
  6. ^ Lemco, Turmoil, 21.
  7. ^ Simeon, "Meech Lake," S9-S10.
  8. ^ a b Lemco, Turmoil, 20.
  9. ^ David R. Cameron and Jacqueline D. Krikorian, "Recognizing Quebec in the Constitution of Canada: Using the Bilateral Constitutional Amendment Process," University of Toronto Law Journal 58:4 (Fall 2008): 392.
  10. ^ Rhéal Séguin, "Bourassa sees a redefined role for his provincle," The Globe and Mail, June 23, 1990, A01.
  11. ^ Cameron and Krikorian, "Recognizing Quebec," 392.
  12. ^ Robert Vipond, "From Provincial Autonomy to Provincial Equality (Or, Clyde Wells and the Distinct Society)," in Is Quebec Nationalism Just? Perspectives from Anglophone Canada, ed. Joseph H. Carens (Montreal: McGill-Queen's University Press, 1995), 108.
  13. ^ Lemco, Turmoil, 48.
  14. ^ Robert C. Vipond, "Seeing Canada through the Referendum: Still a House Divided," Publius 23:3, The State of American Federalism, 1992-1993 (Summer 1993), 46.
  15. ^ a b c Lemco, Turmoil, 49.
  16. ^ Richard Johnston, "An Inverted Logroll: The Charlottetown Accord and the Referendum," PS: Political Science and Politics 26:1 (March 1993), 44.
  17. ^ a b Vipond, "Seeing Canada," 46.
  18. ^ a b c d Lemco, Turmoil, 53.
  19. ^ Vipond, "Seeing Canada," 49.
  20. ^ André Picard, "Bourassa accepts sovereignty fight," The Globe and Mail, October 27, 1992, A01.
  21. ^ Lemco, Turmoil, 55.
  22. ^ See "Reform to be vocal on referendum". The Globe and Mail. (July 31, 1995)
  23. ^ Fournier, Philippe J. (2023-03-10). "338Canada: Why Quebec sovereigntists are looking up". POLITICO. Retrieved 2023-08-15.
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