Province Du Quebec: A Divided Province March 9, 2006 Aimee Justin Allison Shawn Anil Susannah

Presentation Outline Quiet Revolution October Crisis 1980 Referendum 1995 Referendum Current Position

Separatism Political separatism: May involve attempts to obtain sovereignty and to split a territory or a group of people (usually a people with a distinctive national consciousness) from one another, or one nation from another.

Quebec Sovereignty Movement Political movement aimed at attaining sovereignty for Quebec Jan. 25, 1957  Alliance Laurentienne –First organization dedicated to Quebec independence founded by Raymond Barbeau Parti Quebecois  sovereignty as the power for a state to levy all it’s taxes, vote on laws, and sign all its treaties 1960’s –The sovereigntist movement in Quebec is generally considered to have started with the Quiet Revolution

Quebec Sovereignty Movement –Separatists propose that Quebecois exercise their right to self determination in order to democratically give themselves their first constitutional state of law –Sovereignties are opposed to the present federal system of Canada and don’t believe it can be reformed in a way that would allow Quebecers to govern themselves freely –Cultural concerns are mainly at the heart of Quebec sovereignty movement since the majority of Quebecois see the government as 2 nations and not 10 equal provinces

Parti Quebecois Merging of two Sovereignty parties –Rene Levesque leads the Mouvement Souverainete- Association (MSA) –Gilles Gregoire leads the Ralliement National Both parties link to advocate national sovereignty of Quebec from Canada Primary goals: –Political –Economic –Social independence of Quebec

Parti Quebecois 1967 –PQ is elected to provincial government –Rene Levesque become premier First government to recognize aboriginal rights to self determination Charter of Freedom –Linguistic primacy of French language –French the common public language of Quebec

Bloc Quebecois Political party at the federal level Founded in 1990 –Lucien Bouchard Two principal mandates: 1.Sovereignty 2.Social democracy

Front de Liberation du Quebec Founded in the 1960’s –During the early Quebec independence movement –Committed over 200 violent political actions Bombings Bank holdups At least 3 deaths by FLQ bombs Two deaths by gunfire

The October Crisis Series of dramatic events triggered by the FLQ The FLQ was seeking reparation of the constitution so Quebec could have sovereignty

The October Crisis The events that ensued… Feb 13,1969 –Bombing of Montreal Stock Exchange Oct. 5, 1970 –British Trade Commissioner, James Cross, is kidnapped Oct. 10,1970 –Minister of Labour, and Vice-Premier of Quebec, Pierre Laporte, is kidnapped

The October Crisis The FLQ Demands: The safe release of James Cross would occur only if the list of these demands were fulfilled successfully 1.No involvement of police forces in the investigation and/or arrests of FLQ members 2.The FLQ Manifesto to be made public in the newspapers and live on the radio 3.Liberation of the 23 “political prisoners” 4.Jet ready after the exchange took place 5.Rehiring of the Laplame postal truck driver 6.$500,000 in gold 7.The names of the police informants to be publicized

The October Crisis The result… Newspapers publish, while radio stations broadcast the FLQ manifesto Justice Minister Jerome Choquette refuses to negotiate with FLQ terrorists Canadian Prime Minister, Pierre Trudeau sends army into Montreal Govnt’s urgency to find these terrorists lead to Trudeau reactivation the War Measures Act Pierre Laporte’s corpse is found in the trunk of a car beside St-Hubert Airport

The October Crisis The aftermath… 250 people were arrested, 400 by the end of October. Among the arrested were labor leaders Oct. 20, 1970 –Police report 1628 raids Nov. 6, 1970 – find wanted FLQ member Bernard Lortie Dec. 3, 1970 –Release of prisoners, in return safe flight to Cuba Dec. 4, 1970 –Justice Minister, John Turner, declared that those exiled to Cuba would be for life

What is a referendum? Process of referring a political question to the electorate for a direct decision by general vote

1980 Quebec Referendum May 20, 1980 First referendum in Quebec By the time of the first referendum, the separatists had formed a substantial minority within Quebec’s population

1980 Quebec Referendum Two distinct branches: Front de Liberation du Quebec (FLQ) Sought political change through revolutionary means (bombings, murder, kidnappings) Parti Quebecois Committed to a democratic solution by means of a referendum

1980 Quebec Referendum Purpose behind the referendum: –Vast majority of separatists sought change through democratic means –To discuss the role of Quebec within Canada –To discuss whether Quebec should become independent (Sovereignty)

1980 Referendum Question “The government of Quebec has made public it’s proposal to negotiate a new agreement with the rest of Canada, based on the equality of nations; this agreement would enable relations abroad-in other words, sovereignty-and at the same time to maintain with Canada an economic association including a common currency; any change in political status resulting from these negotiations will be affected with approval by the people through another referendum; on these terms; do you give the Government of Quebec the mandate to negotiate the proposed agreement between Quebec and Canada?”

1980 Quebec Referendum Results: NON 59.56% OUI 40.44% Quebec sovereignty was not brought up again until the Mulroney government Federalist politicians attempted to find a solution to the Quebec question through the 1987 Meech lake accord and the 1992 Charlottetown Accord Both failed to gather support for Quebec

Half-time presentation Quebec Jeopardy

Question 1: Jeopardy This edible side dish is a must have when traveling in Quebec.

Answer: Poutine

Question 2: Jeopardy This mega company is thought to have started an uprising of Quebecois culture.

Answer: Hydro Quebec

Question 3: Double Jeopardy This band rocked the local Vancouver scene back in , and featured a distinguished member of this class

Stefan Bjarnason: Electric Guitar & Back up vocals (Middle as featured)

1995 Quebec Referendum In 1994, provincial election brought parti Quebecois into power. Led by Jacques Parizeau who promised to hold a referendum on sovereignty. 2 nd referendum which took place in Quebec to vote whether it should become an independent state. The Referendum took place October 30, 1995

1995 Quebec Referendum The Referendum Question “Do you agree that Quebec should become sovereign after having made a formal offer to Canada for a new economic and political partnership within the scope of the bill respecting the future of Quebec and the agreement signed June 12, 1995?”

1995 Quebec Referendum Sovereignists – YES In favour of Quebec secession and negotiating a limited relationship with the rest of Canada. Sovereignists included Premier of Quebec Jacques Parizeau (Parti Québécois) Federal Bloc Québécois leader Lucien Bouchard Mario Dumont (ADQ party)

1995 Quebec Referendum Federalists – NO!! Included Prime Minister Jean Chrétien (Liberal Party of Canada) Quebec Liberal leader Daniel Johnson Federal Progressive Conservative Party leader Jean Charest Chrétien mostly stayed out of the debate leaving Johnson to be the main federalist representative. Federalists argued Quebec separation would cause a loss of 1 million jobs. Chrétien promised a new deal for Quebecers who voted No to the referendum. Incentives such as 90% off on plane and train tickets were given out.

1995 Quebec Referendum The Results Extremely close... By less than 1 percent!! % - 2,308,360 Voting “YES” %-2,362,648 Voting “NON”

1995 Quebec Referendum

Rejected Ballots 93.52% of eligible voters turned out to vote. 86,501 Rejected ballots accounted for 1.82% of votes Controversy arose whether scrutineers of Chorneday, Marguerite-Bourgeois and Laurier- Dorion riding had been fixed, and not giving a valid reason for rejecting “No Ballots.” An Inquiry was taken and it was proven that there was a problem with some of the rejected ballots. 2 people were sued but were proven not guilty.

Where we stand today Post 1995 –Jacques Parizeau resigned as the leader of the PQ Accusations of being anti-anglophone and racist Defeat on “money and ethnic vote” –Lucien Bouchard become the new PQ leader –“Post-Referendum Syndrome” 1998 –PQ reelected but waiting for “winning conditions” to hold another referendum 2003 –Federalist Liberals lead by Jean Charest are elected and not the PQ

Where we stand today December 2003 –Poll suggests “NON” out number “OUI” Federal govn’t passes law that certain regions need approval to amend the constitution Clarity Act –“clear questions” –“clear majority” Once reelected PQ promises another referendum

Where we stand today Support today is: –OUI  little less than 50% –NON  little more than 50% Federal money each year is spent to promote nationalism in Quebec When in power the PQ spend money to promote sovereignty

Future Referendums Future referendums to be expected in 2007/2008. Polls in 2005 predict popular vote in favor for sovereignty

References The Regional Geography of Canada; third edition, Robert M. Bone; Oxford, New York; 2005 The Struggle For Quebec; Robert A. Young; McGill- Queen’s University Press, (Wikipedia) eignists

References: TheThe Regional Geography of Canada; third edition, Robert M. Bone; Oxford, New York; 2005 Politics of Direct Democracy referendums in global perspective; Laurence LeDuc; Toronto, Ontario; (Wikipedia) Struggle For Quebec; Robert A. Young; McGill- Queen’s University Press, 1999www.linksnorth.com/Canada-history/quebecsep.html Justin References Amy References Suzannah References