Counter forces against the independence of Quebec

Introduction

Quebec Question is one of the problems that Canada has been faced with long since. Quebec Question is the Quebec sovereignty movement which is a political movement aimed at attaining independent statehood. People who has promoted the Quebec sovereignty movement has tried to protect rights they saw as essential to survive as a French-speaking nation within Canada by separating Quebec from Canada. However, Quebec has been allowed to be different from the other provinces, and was given some perquisites. Quebec has had its own legal system, language law, and education system since the Quebec Act of 1774 when the British allowed the French to keep their Roman Catholic religion, civil law system, and language. Despite this, many Quebecois have believed that their culture is threatened by the dominant Anglophone culture in North America and have believed that they need to be independence of Canada to protect their culture and language. Thus the Quebec sovereignty movement was born and has gradually gotten up stream, but the independence of Quebec has not achieved yet because there have been some counter forces against the independence movement. Those counter forces can be divided between the inside and the outside of Quebec. The counter forces of the outside of Quebec are the federal government of Canada and the other provincial governments, and Canadian people who live in the outside of Quebec. The counter forces of inside of Quebec are minority groups and some French-speaking people in Quebec. In next section, I will write about the counter forces of outside of Quebec and the minority groups’ counter force with the history of Quebec. Although I also have to write about the some French-speaking people that is one of the counter forces of the inside of Quebec, I couldn’t get enough information so that I need to research about it. In last section, I will write about the research.

Literature Review:What is Quebec

This review of the Literature on what is Quebec? focuses on the history of Quebec and the counter forces of the independence movements of Quebec in Canada.

The History of Quebec from Birth to the Second Referendum

In 1608, Quebec was born in along the St. Lawrence River as the first French settlement. Then, Quebec was divided into Upper which was the English-speaking colony and Lower Canada which was the French-speaking colony by the British in 1791 through the fights between France and Britain over colonies in North America and also over the fur trade. The British government, however, reunited the two in 1841 so that Upper Canada became Canada West and Lower Canada became Canada East. At the time of Confederation in 1867, they finally became the provinces of Ontario and Quebec (Virginia L. Sauvé & Monique Sauvé, 1997). Quebec didn’t become a province until Confederation was held in 1867 it passed about 250 years since Quebec was born.

Although Quebec had gotten the position as one of the provinces of Canada in this way, then, Quebec came to have two big movements for independence from Canada. These are the first referendum of 1980 and the second referendum of 1995. In the 1976 election, the Parti Québécois which is a political party that advocates national sovereignty for Quebec from Canada won 71 seats which was a majority in the National Assembly. Then the Parti Québécois initiated the 1980 Quebec referendum to get a mandate to begin negotiation for independence. The first referendum resulted in the defeat of the Parti Québécois which got the votes of about 40 per cents of the Quebec electorate, but the Parti Québécois regained power in the 1981 election in which they won 80 seats. They didn’t, however, hold a referendum in their second term (Gilles Gougeon, 1994). Then, under the lading of Jacques Parizeau, the Parti Québécois returned to power in the 1994 election in which they got the support of about 44 per cents from the Quebec electorate because of the failure of the Meech Lake Accord in which the recognition of Quebec as a distinct society was proposed (Virginia L. Sauvé & Monique Sauvé, 1997). In 1995, Quebec held the second referendum which was different from the first one in 1980 in that the negotiation of an association with Canada was now optional. The result of the second referendum was 50.6 percent Non to 49.4 percent Oui and 60 percent of Francophobes voted for independence (Guy Lawson, 1996). Although they lost again, the Parti Québécois won re-election in the 1998 election as well as when they lost in 1980. However they didn’t hold a referendum in their second term again (Gilles Gougeon, 1994).

As just described, the history of Quebec is the history of fight for their rights and independence and sovereignty. Quebec has fought since it was born in 1608 and still is fighting. Although the two referendums for independence from Canada resulted in failure, the Quebec sovereignty movement hasn’t waned. On the contrary, the Quebec sovereignty movement has gradually gained the support of its citizens and has gradually gotten up steam. It has been about ten years since the second referendum which the "No" camp won only by a very small margin. If the third referendum should be held now, it would be difficult to expect its result because there is a sufficient possibility that the “Yes” exceeds the “No”.

The Counter forces of the Independence Movements of Quebec in Canada

There are some counterforces against the independence movements of Quebec inside and outside Quebec. Why are these counter forces inside and outside Quebec against the independence movements of Quebec? The reason for counter force outside Quebec, such as other provinces, to be against the movements is related to the geography and economy which Quebec has. On the other hands, the reason for counter force inside Quebec, such as English-speaking people who live in Quebec, to be against the movements is anxiety about their future.

One of the reasons for counter force outside Quebec to be against the independence of Quebec is the geography of Quebec. “Quebec has a total area of 1,540,680 km2, making it the largest of Canada’s ten provinces. The major cities, Montreal and Quebec City, lie along the St. Lawrence” (Virginia L. Sauvé & Monique Sauvé, 1997, pp 161). “The St. Lawrence River is important not only for Quebec, but also for the rest of Canada. It is a major route for shipping goods between the Atlantic Ocean and the Great Lakes” (Virginia L. Sauvé & Monique Sauvé, 1997, pp 162). That is to say, the independence of Quebec from Canada means that Canada loses large part of the national land and profit of trade on the St. Lawrence River.

The second reason for counter force outside Quebec to be against the independence of Quebec is the economy of Quebec. Quebec has one of the most diversified economies which is made up of its forestry, pharmaceutical, aerospace, agricultural, hydroelectric, metallurgy, tourism, information technology as well as multimedia industries (Steve Kokker, 2002). Both primary (natural resources) and secondary (manufacturing) industries are strong, and Quebec produces about one-quarter of all manufactured goods in Canada and supplied 20% of Canada’s timber, 31% of its pulp and paper, and accounts for 16.5% of all the manufacturing in Quebec (Virginia L. Sauvé & Monique Sauvé, 1997). As it is called the industrial heartland of Canada, the economy of Quebec is pretty strong and has a great influence on the economy of Canada. That is to say, the independence of Quebec from Canada means that Canada incurs a great financial loss.

In addition, Canada's identity is also one of the reason for counter force outside Quebec to be against the independence of Quebec. The independence of Quebec has much effect on Canada’s identity as a country with two dominant founding cultures. It was not easy for Canada which is a multinational state and people who live in Canada to define own self completely and to get stable, strong identity. Multiculturalism is one of a few identities which Canada and people who live in Canada found finally and the fact that Canada has two dominant founding cultures has symbolized it. However, if Quebec were ever to separate from Canada, it would be a great loss to Canada’s identity as a country with two dominant founding cultures and it means that Canada and people who live in Canada lose the identity as Multiculturalism. It is obvious that the loss of identity has much bad effect on Canada’s society and people who live in Canada because identity is the indispensable existence for Canada and people who live in Canada to be stable.

On the other hands, the reason for counter force inside Quebec to be against the movements is anxiety about their future. The part of the anxiety comes from the experiences in the referendum of 1995. “Madame Chu, the owner of a corner store in the east end, said that ‘sometimes French people get angry and yell at me when I serve a customer in English.’” “Sylvia Wilson said she doesn’t know what to do. She wants to leave, but she has a lease.” “The man who runs the delicatessen where I bought my newspapers every morning told me he has a degree in medicine from Lebanon, but that he’d never get a chance to practice in Montreal because he’s not a Quebecois.” (Guy Lawson, 1996, pp 70). As the identity as the Quebecois had been promoted, the Quebecois came to try to eliminate English from Quebec. Counter force inside Quebec worries that they might face such situation again.

Methodology

Research will be conducted to get information about the reason for some French-speaking people in Canada to be against the independence of Quebec. Research is taken in Quebec City by providing questionaire to 20's, 30's, 40's, 50's, 60's French-speaking people. 20 people each. Some repondents are chosen to collect information and data as people who experienced the first referendum, people who experienced the second referendum, people who have the right of vote now. The questionaire asks about perception towards the independence of Quebec. For example, "Do you agree or disagree with the independence of Quebec","Why do you agree or disagree with the independence of Quebec", "What advantage and disadvantage do you think does the independence of Quebec bring", "Why do you think did some French-speaking people disagree with the referendum of 1980 and 1995". Research will be submitted in the form of a report.

sources of information : Questionaire

location of a resarch : Quebec City

respondent to a resarch : 1OO French-speaking people (20's,30's,40's,50's,60's people.20 each.)

contents of a resarch : The questionaire asks about perception towards the independence of Quebec.

ex) "Do you agree or disagree with the independence of Quebec"
"Why do you agree or disagree with the independence of Quebec"
"What advantage and disadvantage do you think does the independence of Quebec bring"
"Why do you think did some French-speaking people disagree with the referendum of 1980 and 1995"

week by week time line
　　・1-2 weeks: Making questions about the independence of Quebec
　　・3-5 weeks: Doing resarch by questionaires
　　・6-8 weeks: Analyze all daters
　　・9-12 weeks: Writing the resarch paper

References

Gougeon, G. (1994). A History of Quebec Nationalism. James Lorimer & Company.

Kokker, S. (2002). Quebec. Lonely Planet.

Lawson, G. (1996, April). NO CANADA? HARPER’S MAGAZINE. HARPER’S, VOL. 292, NO. 1751, 67-78.

Sauvé, V. L. & Sauvé, M. (1997). GATEWAY TO CANADA. Oxford University Press.

Bibliography

Bernard, A. (1978). What Does Quebec Want? James Lorimer & Company.

Bourhis, R. Y. (1984). Conflict and Language Planning. Multilingual Matters.

Cook, R. (2005). Watching Quebec. McGill-Queen's Press – MQUP.

Griffin, A. (1984). Quebec. Fairleigh Dickinson Univ Press.

Hara, S. (2000, August). Montreal is a city which has two language. Sairyusya.

Nakamura, R. (2001, August). Letter from Montreal. Bungeisya.