Quebec sovereignty movement

The Quebec sovereignty movement (French: mouvement souverainiste du Québec) is a political movement whose objective is to achieve the independence of Quebec from Canada. Sovereignists suggest that the people of Quebec make use of their right to self-determination – a principle that includes the possibility of choosing between integration with a third state, political association with another state or independence – so that Québécois, collectively and by democratic means, give themselves a sovereign state with its own independent constitution.

A poster for Quebec sovereignty during the 1995 referendum: Oui, et ça devient possible (French for 'Yes, and it becomes possible').

Quebec sovereigntists believe that such a sovereign state, the Quebec nation, would be better equipped to promote its own economic, social, ecological, and cultural development. Quebec's sovereignist movement is based on Quebec nationalism.

Overview

The goal of Quebec's sovereignist movement is to make Quebec an independent state. In practice, the terms independentist, sovereignist, and separatist are used to describe people adhering to this movement, although the latter term is perceived as pejorative by those concerned as it de-emphasizes that the sovereignty project aims to achieve political independence without severing economic connections with Canada. Most of the prime ministers of Canada's speeches use the term sovereignist in French to moderate remarks made on the Quebec electorate. In English, the term separatist is often used to accentuate negative dimensions of the movement.

The idea of Quebec sovereignty is based on a nationalist vision and interpretation of historical facts and sociological realities in Quebec, which attest to the existence of a Québécois people and a Quebec nation. On November 27, 2006, the House of Commons of Canada adopted, by 266 votes to 16, a motion recognizing that “Québécois form a nation within a united Canada”. On November 30, the National Assembly of Quebec unanimously adopted a motion recognizing "the positive character" of the motion adopted by Ottawa and proclaiming that said motion did not diminish "the inalienable rights, the constitutional powers and the privileges of the “National Assembly and of the Quebec nation”.

Sovereignists believe that the natural final outcome of the Québécois people's collective adventure and development is the achievement of political independence, which is only possible if Quebec becomes a sovereign state and if its inhabitants not only govern themselves through independent democratic political institutions, but are also free to establish external relations and makes international treaties without the federal government of Canada being involved.

Through parliamentarism, Québécois currently possess a certain democratic control over the Quebec state. However, within the Canadian federation, Quebec does not have all the constitutional powers that would allow it to act as a true national government. Furthermore, the policies pursued by Quebec and those pursued by the federal government often come into conflict. Various attempts to reform the Canadian federal system have failed (most notably the defunct Meech Lake and Charlottetown Accords), due to conflicting interests between the sovereignist and federalist elites of Quebec, as well as with English Canada (see Constitutional Debate in Canada).

Although Quebec's independence movement is a political movement, cultural and social concerns that are much older than the sovereignist movement, as well as Quebecers' national identity, are also at the base for the desire to emancipate Quebec's population. One of the main cultural arguments sovereigntists cite is that if Quebec were independent, Québécois would have a national citizenship, which would solve the problem of Québécois cultural identity in the North American context (ex. who is a Québécois and who is not, what is uniquely Québécois, etc.). Another example is that by establishing an independent Quebec, sovereigntists believe that the culture of Québécois and their collective memory will be adequately protected, in particular against cultural appropriation by other nations, such as the incident with Canada's national anthem, originally a French Canadian patriotic song appropriated by the anglophone majority of Canada. An independent Quebec would also adequately and definitively resolve the issue of needing to protect the French language in Quebec; French is the language of the majority in Quebec, but since it is the language of a cultural minority in Canada – and since Quebec does not have the legislative powers of an independent state – French is still threatened.

History

Main article: History of the Quebec sovereignty movement

Before the 1960s

Sovereignty and sovereignism are terms derived from the modern independence movement, which started during the Quiet Revolution of the 1960s. However, the roots of Quebecers' desire for political autonomy are much older than that.

Francophone nationalism in North America dates back to 1534, the year Jacques Cartier landed in the Gespe'gewa'gi district of Miꞌkmaꞌki claiming Canada for France, and more particularly to 1608, the year of the founding of Québec by Samuel de Champlain, the first permanent settlement for French colonists and their descendants in New France (who were called Canadiens, Canayens or Habitants). Following the British conquest of New France, the Canadien movement, which lasted from 1760 to the late 18th century and sought to restore the traditional rights of French Canadians that had been abolished by the British with the Royal Proclamation of 1763, began. During this period, French Canadians began to express an indigenous form of nationalism which emphasized their longstanding residence in North America. To most French Canadians, the only Canadians were the descendants of the French settlers of New France, while the British colonists were viewed as an extension of Britain. The period was briefly interrupted by the Quebec Act of 1774, which granted certain rights to Canadiens but did not truly satisfy them, and was notably exacerbated by the Treaty of Paris (1783), which ceded parts of the Quebec to the United States, and the Constitutional Act of 1791, which established the Westminster system.

The Patriote movement was the period lasting from the beginning of the 19th century to the defeat of the Patriotes at the Battle of Saint-Eustache in 1837, the final battle in the Patriotes War. It began with the founding of the Parti Canadien by the Canadiens. It stands out for its notorious resistance to the influence of the Château Clique, a group of wealthy families in Lower Canada in the early 19th century who were the Lower Canadian equivalent of the Family Compact in Upper Canada.

The perfidious plans of the British authorities have broken all ties of sympathy with a motherland which shows itself to be insensitive. A separation has begun between parties whose union it will never be possible to cement again, but which will continue with increasing vigor, until an unexpected and unforeseen event, as we are offered from time to time in the course of the present times, provides us with a favorable opportunity to take our place among the independent sovereignties of America. We missed two great opportunities: let's all be prepared for a third. – 1837 Address of the Sons of Liberty

La Survivance is the period beginning after the defeat of the Patriotes in the rebellions of 1837–1838 and lasting until the Quiet Revolution. It concerns the survival strategies employment by the French-Canadian nation and the ultramontane of the Catholic Church following the enactment of the Act of Union of 1840 which established a system whose goal was to force the cultural and linguistic assimilation of French Canadians into English-Canadian culture. In addition to la Revanche des berceaux, a phlegmatic character was adopted in response to the mass immigration of English-speaking immigrants. Some French Canadians left Quebec during this period in search of job security and protection of their culture. This phenomenon, known as the Grande Hémorragie (French for 'great bleeding'), is the origin of the Quebec diaspora in New England and Northeastern Ontario among other places. It led to the creation of permanent resistance movements in those new locations. Groups of nationalists outside Quebec have since then promoted Quebec's cultural identity, along with that of the Acadians in the Maritime provinces and in Louisiana, represented by the Société nationale de l'Acadie since 1881. Louis-Alexandre Taschereau coming to power in 1920 created an upheaval in French-Canadian society for most of the interwar period. The confrontations and divergence of political opinions led to the rise of a new form of nationalism, called clerico-nationalism, promoted by Maurice Duplessis and the Union Nationale party during the Grande Noirceur of 1944 to 1959.

During the Quiet Revolution of the 1960s to 1970s, the modern Québécois sovereignist movement took off, with René Lévesque as one of its most recognizable figures. Various strategies were implemented since its rise, and it constitutes a continuity in French-speaking nationalism in North America. Now the patriotism is Quebec-focused, and the identifier has been changed from French-Canadian nationalism or identity to Québécois nationalism or identity.

The Quiet Revolution (1960s-1970s)

The Quiet Revolution in Quebec brought widespread change in the 1960s. Among other changes, support for Quebec independence began to form and grow in some circles. The first organization dedicated to the independence of Quebec was the Alliance Laurentienne, founded by Raymond Barbeau on January 25, 1957.

On September 10, 1960, the Rassemblement pour l'indépendance nationale (RIN) was founded, with Pierre Bourgault quickly becoming its leader. On August 9 of the same year, the Action socialiste pour l'indépendance du Québec (ASIQ) was formed by Raoul Roy. The "independence + socialism" project of the ASIQ was a source of political ideas for the Front de libération du Québec (FLQ).

On October 31, 1962, the Comité de libération nationale and, in November of the same year, the Réseau de résistance were set up. These two groups were formed by RIN members to organize non-violent but illegal actions, such as vandalism and civil disobedience. The most extremist individuals of these groups left to form the FLQ, which, unlike all the other groups, had made the decision to resort to violence in order to reach its goal of independence for Quebec. Shortly after the November 14, 1962, Quebec general election, RIN member Marcel Chaput founded the short-lived Parti républicain du Québec.

In February 1963, the Front de libération du Québec (FLQ) was founded by three Rassemblement pour l'indépendance nationale members who had met each other as part of the Réseau de résistance. They were Georges Schoeters, Raymond Villeneuve, and Gabriel Hudon.

In 1964, the RIN became a provincial political party. In 1965, the more conservative Ralliement national (RN) also became a party.

During this period, the Estates General of French Canada are organized. The stated objective of these Estates General was to consult the French-Canadian people on their constitutional future.

The historical context of the time was a period when many former European colonies 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, and Karl Marx.

In June 1967, French president Charles de Gaulle, who had recently granted independence to Algeria, shouted "Vive le Québec libre!" during a speech from the balcony of Montreal's city hall during a state visit to Canada. In doing so, he deeply offended the federal government, and English Canadians felt he had demonstrated contempt for the sacrifice of Canadian soldiers who died on the battlefields of France in two world wars. The visit was cut short and de Gaulle left the country.

Finally, in October 1967, former Liberal cabinet minister René Lévesque left that party when it refused to discuss sovereignty at a party convention. Lévesque formed the Mouvement souveraineté-association and set about uniting pro-sovereignty forces.

He achieved that goal in October 1968 when the MSA held its only national congress in Quebec City. The RN and MSA agreed to merge to form the Parti Québécois (PQ), and later that month Pierre Bourgault, leader of the RIN, dissolved his party and invited its members to join the PQ.

Meanwhile, in 1969 the FLQ stepped up its campaign of violence, which would culminate in what would become known as the October Crisis. The group claimed responsibility for the bombing of the Montreal Stock Exchange, and in 1970 the FLQ kidnapped British Trade Commissioner James Cross and Quebec Labour Minister Pierre Laporte; Laporte was later found murdered.

Jacques Parizeau joined the Parti Québécois on September 19, 1969, and Jérôme Proulx of the Union Nationale joined on November 11 of the same year.

In the 1970 provincial election, the PQ won its first seven seats in the National Assembly. René Lévesque was defeated in Mont-Royal by the Liberal André Marchand.

The referendum of 1980

Main article: 1980 Quebec referendum

In the 1976 election, the PQ won 71 seats — a majority in the National Assembly. With voting turnouts high, 41.4 percent of the electorate voted for the PQ. Prior to the election, the PQ renounced its intention to implement sovereignty-association if it won power.

On August 26, 1977, the PQ passed two main laws: first, the law on the financing of political parties, which prohibits contributions by corporations and unions and set a limit on individual donations, and second, the Charter of the French Language.

On May 17 PQ Member of the National Assembly Robert Burns resigned, telling the press he was convinced that the PQ was going to lose its referendum and fail to be re-elected afterwards.

At its seventh national convention from June 1 to 3, 1979, the sovereignist adopted their strategy for the coming referendum. The PQ then began an aggressive effort to promote sovereignty-association by providing details of how the 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 would be established 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 percent of the Quebec electorate.

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

The PQ was returned to power in the 1981 election with a stronger majority than in 1976, obtaining 49.2 percent of the vote and winning 80 seats. However, they did not hold a referendum in their second term, and put sovereignty on hold, concentrating on their stated goal of "good government".

René Lévesque retired in 1985 (and died in 1987). In the 1985 election under his successor Pierre-Marc Johnson, the PQ was defeated by the Liberal Party.

Sovereignty-association

See also: Mouvement Souveraineté-Association

The history of the relations between French-Canadians and English-Canadians in Canada has been marked by periods of tension. After colonizing Canada from 1608 onward, France lost the colony to Great Britain at the conclusion of the Seven Years' War in 1763, in which France ceded control of New France (except for the two small islands of Saint Pierre and Miquelon) to Great Britain, which returned the French West Indian islands they had captured in the 1763 Treaty of Paris.

Under British rule, French Canadians were supplanted by waves of British immigrants, notably outside of Quebec (where they became a minority) but within the province as well, as much of the province's economy was dominated by English-Canadians. The cause of Québécois nationalism, which waxed and waned over two centuries, gained prominence from the 1960s onward. The use of the word "sovereignty" and many of the ideas of this movement originated in the 1967 Mouvement Souveraineté-Association of René Lévesque. This movement ultimately gave birth to the Parti Québécois in 1968.

Sovereignty-association (French: souveraineté-association) is the combination of two concepts:

1. The achievement of sovereignty for the Quebec state.
2. The creation of a political and economic association between this new independent state and Canada.

It was first presented in Lévesque's political manifesto, Option Québec.

The Parti Québécois defines sovereignty as the power for a state to levy all its taxes, vote on all its laws, and sign all its treaties (as mentioned in the 1980 referendum question).

The type of association between an independent Quebec and the rest of Canada was described as a monetary and customs union as well as joint political institutions to administer the relations between the two countries. The main inspiration for this project was the then-emerging European Community. In Option Québec Lévesque expressly identified the EC as his model for forming a new relationship between sovereign Quebec and the rest of Canada, one that would loosen the political ties while preserving the economic links. The analogy, however, is counterproductive, suggesting Lévesque did not understand the nature and purpose of the European Community nor the relationship between economics and politics that continue to underpin it. Advocates of European integration had, from the outset, seen political union as a desirable and natural consequence of economic integration.

The hyphen between the words "sovereignty" and "association" was often stressed by Lévesque and other PQ members, to make it clear that both were inseparable. The reason stated was that if Canada decided to boycott Quebec exports after voting for independence, the new country would have to go through difficult economic times, as the barriers to trade between Canada and the United States were then very high. Quebec would have been a nation of 7 million people stuck between two impenetrable protectionist countries. In the event of having to compete against Quebec, rather than support it, Canada could easily maintain its well-established links with the United States to prosper in foreign trade.

Sovereignty-association as originally proposed would have meant that Quebec would become a politically independent state, but would maintain a formal association with Canada — especially regarding economic affairs. It was part of the 1976 sovereignist platform which swept the Parti Québécois into power in that year's provincial elections – and included a promise to hold a referendum on sovereignty-association. René Lévesque developed the idea of sovereignty-association to reduce the fear that an independent Quebec would face tough economic times. In fact, this proposal did result in an increase in support for a sovereign Quebec: polls at the time showed that people were more likely to support independence if Quebec maintained an economic partnership with Canada. This line of politics led the outspoken Yvon Deschamps to proclaim that what Quebecers want is an independent Quebec inside a strong Canada, thereby comparing the sovereignist movement to a spoiled child that has everything it could desire and still wants more.

In 1979 the PQ began an aggressive effort to promote sovereignty-association by providing details of how the 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 would be established to administer these economic arrangements. But the sovereignist cause was hurt by the refusal of many politicians (most notably the premiers of several of the other provinces) to support the idea of negotiations with an independent Quebec, contributing to the Yes side losing by a vote of 60 percent to 40 percent.

This loss laid the groundwork for the 1995 referendum, which stated that Quebec should offer a new economic and political partnership to Canada before declaring independence. An English translation of part of the Sovereignty Bill reads, "We, the people of Quebec, declare it our own will to be in full possession of all the powers of a state; to levy all our taxes, to vote on all our laws, to sign all our treaties and to exercise the highest power of all, conceiving, and controlling, by ourselves, our fundamental law."

This time, the sovereignists lost in a very close vote: 50.6 percent to 49.4 percent, or only 53,498 votes out of more than 4,700,000 votes cast. However, after the vote many within the sovereignist camp were very upset that the vote broke down heavily along language lines. Approximately 90 percent of English speakers and allophones (mostly immigrants and first-generation Quebecers whose native language is neither French or English) Quebecers voted against the referendum, while almost 60 percent of Francophones voted Yes. Quebec premier Jacques Parizeau, whose government supported sovereignty, attributed the defeat of the resolution to "money and ethnic votes." His opinion caused an outcry among English-speaking Quebecers, and he resigned following the referendum.

An inquiry by the director-general of elections concluded in 2007 that at least $500,000 was spent by the federalist camp in violation of Quebec's election laws. This law imposes a limit on campaign spending by both option camps. Parizeau's statement was also an admission of failure by the Yes camp in getting the newly arrived Quebecers to adhere to their political option.

Accusations of an orchestrated effort of "election engineering" in several polling stations in areas with large numbers of non-francophone voters, which resulted in unusually large proportions of rejected ballots, were raised following the 1995 referendum. Afterward, testimony by PQ-appointed polling clerks indicated that they were ordered by PQ-appointed overseers to reject ballots in these polling stations for frivolous reasons that were not covered in the election laws.

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

The referendum of 1995

Main article: 1995 Quebec referendum

The PQ returned to power in the 1994 election under Jacques Parizeau, this time with 44.75% of the popular vote. In the intervening years, the failures of the Meech Lake Accord and Charlottetown Accord had revived support for sovereignty, which had been written off as a dead issue for much of the 1980s.

Another consequence of the failure of the Meech Lake Accord was the formation of the Bloc Québécois (BQ), a sovereignist federal political party, under the leadership of the charismatic former Progressive Conservative federal cabinet minister Lucien Bouchard. Several PC and Liberal members of the federal parliament left their parties to form the BQ. For the first time, the PQ supported pro-sovereigntist forces running in federal elections; during his lifetime Lévesque had always opposed such a move.

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 election, but neither of these parties enjoyed the official support of the PQ; nor did they enjoy significant public support among Quebecers.

In the 1993 federal election, which featured the collapse of Progressive Conservative Party support, the BQ won enough seats in Parliament to become Her Majesty's Loyal Opposition in the House of Commons.

At the Royal Commission on the Future of Quebec (also known as the Outaouais Commission) in 1995, the Marxist-Leninist Party of Canada made a presentation in which the party leader, Hardial Bains, recommended to the committee that Quebec declare itself as an independent republic.

1995 referendum results by constituency

Parizeau promptly advised the Lieutenant Governor to call a new referendum. The 1995 referendum question differed from the 1980 question in that the negotiation of an association with Canada was now optional. The open-ended wording of the question resulted in significant confusion, particularly amongst the 'Yes' side, as to what exactly they were voting for. This was a primary motivator for the creation of the Clarity Act (see below).

The "No" campaign won, but only by a very small margin — 50.6% to 49.4%. As in the previous referendum, the English-speaking (anglophone) minority in Quebec overwhelmingly (about 90%) rejected sovereignty, support for sovereignty was also weak among allophones (native speakers of neither English nor French) in immigrant communities and first-generation descendants. The lowest support for the Yes side came from Mohawk, Cree, and Inuit voters in Quebec, some first Nations chiefs asserted their right to self-determination with the Cree being particularly vocal in their right to stay territories within Canada. More than 96% of the Inuit and Cree voted No in the referendum. However, The Innu, Attikamek, Algonquin and Abenaki nations did partially support Quebec sovereignty. In 1985, 59 percent of Quebec's Inuit population, 56 percent of the Attikamek population, and 49 percent of the Montagnais population voted in favour of the Sovereignist Parti Québécois party. That year, three out of every four native reservations gave a majority to the Parti Québécois party.

By contrast almost 60 percent of francophones of all origins voted "Yes". (82 percent of Quebecers are Francophone.) Later inquiries into irregularities determined that abuses had occurred on both sides: some argue that some "No" ballots had been rejected without valid reasons, and the October 27 "No" rally had evaded spending limitations because of out-of-province participation. An inquiry by "Le Directeur général des élections" concluded in 2007 that the "No" camp had exceeded the campaign spending limits by $500,000.

The 1998 Quebec general election

Expecting Bouchard to announce another referendum if his party won the 1998 Quebec general election, the leaders of all other provinces and territories gathered for the Calgary Declaration in September 1997 to discuss how to oppose the sovereignty movement. Saskatchewan's Roy Romanow warned "It's two or three minutes to midnight". Bouchard did not accept his invitation; organizers did not invite Chrétien. Experts debated whether Quebec was a "distinct society" or "unique culture".

The Parti Québécois won re-election despite losing the popular vote to Jean Charest and the Quebec Liberals. In the number of seats won by both sides, the election was almost a clone of the previous 1994 election. However, public support for sovereignty remained too low for the PQ to consider holding a second referendum during their second term. 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.

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

The Clarity Act

In 1999, the Parliament of Canada, at the urging of Prime Minister Jean Chrétien, passed the Clarity Act, a law that, amongst other things, set out the conditions under which the Crown-in-Council would recognize a vote by any province to leave Canada. It required a majority of eligible voters for a vote to trigger secession talks, not merely a plurality of votes. In addition, the act requires a clear question of secession to initiate secession talks. Controversially, the act gave the House of Commons the power to decide whether a proposed referendum question was considered clear, and allowed it to decide whether a clear majority has expressed itself in any referendum. It is widely considered by sovereignists as an illegitimate piece of legislation, who asserted that Quebec alone had the right to determine its terms of secession. Chrétien considered the legislation among his most significant accomplishments.

From 2000 to the present

"Sovereignty-Association" is nowadays more often referred to simply as "sovereignty". However, in the 1995 Quebec referendum, in which the sovereignty option was narrowly rejected, the notion of some form of economic association with the rest of Canada was still envisaged (continuing use of the Canadian dollar and military, for example) and was referred to as "Sovereignty-Partnership" (French: souveraineté-partenariat). It remains a part of the PQ program and is tied to national independence in the minds of most Quebecers. This part of the PQ program has always been controversial, especially since Canadian federal politicians usually refuse the concept.

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

In the 2003 election, the PQ lost power to the Liberal Party. However, in early 2004, the Liberal government of Paul Martin had proved to be unpopular, and that, combined with the federal Liberal Party sponsorship scandal, contributed to a resurgence of the BQ. In the 2004 federal elections, the Bloc Québécois won 54 of Quebec's 75 seats in the House of Commons, compared to 33 previously. However, in the 2006 federal elections the BQ lost three seats and in the 2008 federal elections lost two additional seats, bringing their total down to 49, but was still the most popular federal party in Quebec up until the 2011 Canadian federal election, when the BQ was devastated by the federalist NDP, with the Bloc at a total of four seats and the loss of official party status in the Commons (compared to the NDP's 59 seats, Conservatives' five seats, and the Liberals' seven seats in Quebec).

Polling data by Angus Reid in June 2009 showed the support for Quebec separation was weaker at the time and separatism unlikely to occur in the near future. Polling data showed that 32% of Quebecers believe that Quebec had enough sovereignty and should remain part of Canada, 28% thought they should separate, and 30% say they believe that Quebec does need greater sovereignty but should remain part of Canada. However the poll did reveal that a majority (79%) of Quebecers still desired to achieve more autonomy. The number one area of autonomy that those polled had hoped for was with regard to culture at 34%, the next highest areas of autonomy cherished were the economy at 32%, taxation at 26%, and immigration and the environment at 15% each.

The 2009 Angus Reid poll also revealed some effects of the Clarity Act in which they asked two questions, one a straightforward question for a separate nation, and the other a more muddled version on separation similar to the one posed in the 1995 referendum. The data on the questions revealed as follows to the first hard line question of "Do you believe that Quebec should become a country separate from Canada?" 34% replied yes, 54% said no, and 13% were unsure. To the less clear question of "Do you agree that Quebec should become sovereign after having made a formal offer to Canada for a new economic and political partnership within a scope of the bill respecting the future of Quebec?" support for separation increased to 40% yes, the no vote still led with 41%, and the unsure increased to 19%. The most startling revelation of the poll was in the fact that only 20% or 1 in 5 polled believed that Quebec would ever separate from Canada.

2011 was considered a watershed year for the sovereignist movement. In the aftermath of the 2011 federal election, Léger Marketing and pro-sovereignist newspaper Le Devoir conducted a poll on the question. When asked whether they would vote Yes or No in the event of a referendum, 41% of the respondents said they would vote Yes. In 2011, the sovereignist movement splintered, with several new parties being formed by disaffected politicians, with some politicians dissatisfied with slow progress towards independence, and others hoping to put the sovereignty question on the backburner. Leadership by PQ leader Pauline Marois was divisive.

In 2021, François Legault's Coalition Avenir Québec government in Quebec proposed to amend the Charter of the French Language and the provincial constitution to more strongly entrench French as the sole official language. In response to this, the Bloc Québécois initiated a motion in the House of Commons endorsing the constitutionality of Legault's initiatives. The Commons passed the motion 281–2. There were 36 abstentions.

Sovereignist and sympathetic organizations

Sovereignist political parties and parliamentary groups

• Bloc Québécois - federal political party
• Parti Québécois - provincial political party
• Québec solidaire - provincial political party
• Marxist–Leninist Party of Quebec - provincial political party

Sovereignist non-partisan organizations

Le Réseau Cap sur l'Indépendance (RCI) is a network composed of several member organisations, all of which are non-partisan. The RCI states that it seeks to promote and realize Quebec's independence. Its members are:

1. La Fondation Octobre 70
2. Les Aînés pour la souveraineté
3. Organisations unies pour l'indépendance du Québec (OUI Québec) - previously "Conseil de la souveraineté du Québec"
4. Jeunes Patriotes du Québec (JPQ)
5. Les Intellectuels pour la souveraineté (IPSO)
6. Mars 2011
7. Libre marcheur
8. Ligue d’action nationale
9. Mouvement des étudiants souverainistes de l’université de Montréal (MESUM)
10. Mouvement progressiste pour l’indépendance du Québec (MPIQ)
11. Rassemblement pour l’indépendance nationale (RIN)
12. Rassemblement pour un pays souverain (RPS)
13. Mouvement souverainiste du Québec (MSQ)
14. Réseau de Résistance du Québécois (RRQ)
15. Société nationales des Québécoises et Québécois des Laurentides
16. Société nationale Gaspésie—Îles-de-la-Madeleine
17. Saint-Jean-Baptiste Society of Montreal
18. Vigile (newspaper)
19. Comité indépendantiste du cégep du Vieux-Montréal
20. Comité souverainiste de l’UQÀM
21. Regroupement des mouvements indépendantistes collégiaux
22. Artistes volontaires
23. Nouveau Mouvement pour le Québec

Sympathetic organizations

• The labour unions of the:
  • Confédération des syndicats nationaux (Confederation of national labour unions)
  • Centrale des syndicats du Québec (Quebec labour unions congress)
  • Fédération des travailleurs et travailleuses du Québec (Federation of Quebec workers)
  • Union des artistes (Artists' Labour Union)

• The Mouvement national des Québécois et des Québécoises (MNQ) is a patriotic and non-partisan network of 19 societies. They have a stated mission of defending and promoting Quebecers' identity, as well as Quebec's language, history, culture and heritage. Its societies are:

1. SN de l’Est du Québec
2. SNQ du Saguenay—Lac-Saint-Jean
3. SNQ de la Capitale
4. SSJB de la Mauricie
5. SN de l’Estrie
6. SSJB de Montréal
7. SNQ de l’Outaouais
8. SNQ d’Abitibi-Témiscamingue et du Nord-du-Québec
9. SNQ de la Côte-Nord
10. SN Gaspésie-Îles-de-la-Madeleine
11. SNQ de Chaudière-Appalaches
12. SNQ de Laval
13. SNQ de Lanaudière
14. SNQ Région des Laurentides
15. SNQ des Hautes-Rivières
16. SNQ Richelieu—Saint-Laurent
17. SNQ du Suroît
18. SSJB Richelieu-Yamaska
19. SSJB du Centre-du-Québec
20. MNQ Headquarters

Sovereignist media

• Québecor
  • Journal de Montréal
  • Journal de Québec
  • Groupe TVA
• Le Devoir
• L'Action nationale
• L'aut'journal
• Le Couac
• Souverainete la solution
• La Gauche
• Le Mouton noir
• Le Québécois
• Québec-Radio
• Vigile

Past parties, organizations and media

• Rassemblement pour l'indépendance nationale (RIN) (1960-1968) - political movement
• Front de libération du Québec (FLQ) (1963-1972) - network of militant groups
• Parti nationaliste chrétien (PNC) (1967-1969) - religious provincial political party
• Le Jour (1974-1978) - newspaper
• Union Populaire (1979-1980) - federal political party
• Parti nationaliste du Québec (1983-1987) - federal political party
• Parti indépendantiste (1985-1990) - provincial political party
• Action démocratique du Québec (1994-2012) – this was a provincial political party that split off from the Quebec Liberal Party and ultimately merged into Coalition Avenir Québec. It was originally sovereigntist and later supported autonomy.
• Mouvement de libération nationale du Québec (1995-2000) - organisation which organized pro-independence protests and events
• SPQ Libre (2005-2010) - once a political club that operated from within the Parti Québécois
• Parti indépendantiste (2008-2018) - provincial political party
• Nouvelle Alliance Québec-Canada (2009-2011) - provincial political party
• Option nationale (2011-2018) - provincial political party which merged into Québec solidaire
• Québec debout (2018) - parliamentary group

Opinion polls

Graphical summary (2005–present)

Date(s) conducted	Polling organisation/client	Sample size	Should Quebec be an independent country?			Lead
			Yes	No	Undecided
23-25 August 2024	Léger Marketing	1,041	35%	56%	9%	21%
8 June 2024	Pallas	1,339	40%	52%	8%	12%
20-21 April 2024	Léger Marketing	1,026	36%	53%	11%	17%
16-18 March 2024	Léger Marketing	1,033	36%	53%	11%	17%
5-7 February 2024	Pallas	1,180	41%	48%	11%	7%
3-5 February 2024	Léger Marketing	1,040	35%	56%	9%	21%
4-6 December 2023	Léger Marketing	1,066	34%	55%	11%	21%
18-19 November 2023	Pallas	1,178	39%	48%	13%	9%
1 November 2023	Léger Marketing	1,066	35%	54%	11%	19%
27-28 September 2023	Pallas	1,095	37%	49%	14%	12%
20-21 August 2023	Léger Marketing	1,036	36%	53%	11%	17%
10-12 June 2023	Léger Marketing	1,042	37%	52%	11%	15%
24-26 February 2023	Léger Marketing/Le Devoir	1,000	38%	51%	10%	13%
The Coalition Avenir Québec (CAQ) is elected a 2nd term in the 2022 Quebec general election (October 3, 2022)
10 June 2022	Mainstreet Research	1,404	33%	67%	?	-
8–9 February 2021	Mainstreet Research	1,012	32%	56%	12%	24%
2–4 October 2020	Léger Marketing/Le Journal de Québec	1,013	36%	54%	10%	18%
The Coalition Avenir Québec (CAQ) is elected in the 2018 Quebec general election (October 1, 2018)
August 2018	Léger Marketing/Huffington Post	1,010	37%	63%	?	26%
29 April–2 May 2018	Ipsos	2,001	25%	55%	20%	30%
17–19 January 2017	Léger	1,005	35%	65%	?	30%
12–15 January 2017	CROP	1,000	33%	67%	?	34%
7–12 December 2016	CROP/	1,000	30%	70%	?	40%
7–10 November 2016	Léger Marketing	999	37%	63%	?	26%
12–15 May 2016	CROP/La Presse	1,000	35%	50%	15%	15%
11–15 February 2016	CROP/La Presse	1,005	37%	63%	?	26%
01–4 February 2016	Léger Marketing	1,005	32%	59%	9%	27%
November 2015	Léger Marketing	1,005	39%	61%	?	22%
17–20 September 2015	CROP	1,000	32%	57%	11%	25%
The Quebec Liberal Party is elected in the 2014 Quebec general election (April 7, 2014)
The Parti Québécois is elected in the 2012 Quebec general election (September 4, 2012)
9–11 May 2011	Léger Marketing/Le Devoir	1,000	32%	68%	?	36%
13–20 April 2011	CROP	1,000	36%	49%	14%	13%
23–25 May 2009	Léger Marketing	1,053	41%	59%	?	18%
The Quebec Liberal Party is elected in the 2008 Quebec general election (December 8, 2008)
4–5 December 2006	Léger Marketing	602	46%	54%	?	8%
20–24 April 2005	Le Devoir/The Globe and Mail	1,008	54%	46%	?	8%

Archive of polls from 1962 until January 2008

Arguments

Reasons for sovereignty

Justifications for Quebec's sovereignty are historically nationalistic in character, claiming the unique culture and French-speaking majority (78% of the provincial population) are threatened with assimilation by either the rest of Canada or, as in Metropolitan France, by Anglophone culture more generally, and that the best way to preserve language, identity and culture is via the creation of an independent political entity. Other distinguishing factors, such as religious differences (given the Catholic majority in Quebec), are also used to justify either separation or nationalist social policies advocated by the Parti Québécois.

The historical argument for Quebec independence stems from the region's history, as it was conquered by the British in 1760 and ceded to Great Britain in the 1763 Treaty of Paris; French Canadians in Canada were subsumed by waves of British immigrants. This argument makes the claim that Quebecers have the right of self-determination.

Eight of the other Canadian provinces are overwhelmingly (greater than 95%) English-speaking, while New Brunswick is officially bilingual and about one-third Francophone. Another rationale is based on resentment of anti-Quebec sentiment. With regard to the creation of the sovereignist movement, language issues were but a sub-stratum of larger cultural, social and political differences. Many scholars point to historical events as framing the cause for ongoing support for sovereignty in Quebec, while more contemporary politicians may point to the aftermath of more recent developments like the Canada Act of 1982, the Meech Lake Accord or the Charlottetown Accord.

Arguments against sovereignty

It has been argued by prominent Quebecers (sovereignists and ex-sovereignists, including former Quebec premier Lucien Bouchard) that sovereignty politics has distracted Quebecers from the real economic problems of Quebec, and that sovereignty by itself cannot solve those problems. In 2005 they published their position statement, "Pour un Québec lucide", ("For a lucid Quebec") which details the problems facing Quebec.

Some arguments against sovereignty claim that the movement is illegitimate because of its Eurocentrism which alienates many among Canada's First Nations, as well as the Inuit, and Métis peoples and their sympathizers. This sentiment is summed up by a quotation from a Mohawk from Akwsasne: "How can Quebec, with no economic base and no land base, ask to become sovereign? How can Quebec be a nation when they have no constitution? We have had a constitution since before the American revolution." Here the argument expresses the claim that the Mohawk nation has a greater case for self-determination due to already having a more legitimate claim to distinct nationhood that is based on traditional lands and a constitution predating confederation as well as the creation of Quebec and a Québécois identity.

Similarly, the Cree have also asserted for many years that they are a separate people with the right to self-determination recognized under international law. They argue that no annexation of them or their territory to an independent Quebec should take place without their consent, and that if Quebec has the right to leave Canada then the Cree people have the right to choose to keep their territory in Canada. Cree arguments generally do not claim the right to secede from Canada; rather, the Cree see themselves as a people bound to Canada by treaty (see the James Bay and Northern Quebec Agreement), and as citizens of Canada. The Cree have stated that a unilateral declaration of independence by Quebec would be a violation of fundamental principles of human rights, democracy and consent. If secession were to proceed, the Cree argue that they would seek protection through the Canadian courts as well as asserting Cree jurisdiction over its people and lands.

Professor Peter Russell has said of Aboriginal peoples in Canada: "(they) are not nations that can be yanked out of Canada against their will by a provincial majority.... With few exceptions (they) wish to enjoy their right to self-government within Canada, not within a sovereign Quebec." International human rights expert Erica-Irene Daes says the change "will leave the most marginalized and excluded of all the world's peoples without a legal, peaceful weapon to press for genuine democracy...." This concern is connected to the claim that if Quebec were to be considered its own autonomous nation-state then it need not honour the treaties and agreements that were signed between First Nations and the British and French Crowns and are now maintained by the Canadian federal government. Concern for this may stem from perception of neo-colonial or eurocentric attitudes in the leadership of former Quebec premiers, such as Robert Bourassa, the self-proclaimed "Conqueror of the North".

Opinions in Quebec

Québécois

The separatist movement draws from the left and right spectrum; a sizeable minority of more conservative Quebecers support the PQ because of the sovereignty issue, despite reservations about its social democratic political agenda.

Right and Left must be interpreted within the provincial context; Liberal Party politics generally coincide with those of other liberal parties, while PQ politics are more social democratic in orientation. There is no mass conservative movement in Quebec's political culture on the provincial level, due notably to strong government interventionism and Keynesianism shared by all parties since the 1960s (the so-called "Quebec Consensus" since the Quiet Revolution), and the province's Catholic heritage.

There are, of course, quite a few exceptions. Notable examples include:

• the conservative but nationalist Action Démocratique du Québec supporting the Yes side in the 1995 Quebec referendum. They now support Quebec Autonomism: a decentralized view of the Canadian Confederation, and accept the 1995 "No" verdict;
• the Progressive Conservative Party of Canada building links with the sovereignist in the 1980s;

Indigenous people of Quebec

Various Indigenous peoples in Quebec, such as Cree and Inuit have opposed the independence of Quebec.

Anglophones and immigrants in Quebec

Sovereignty has very little support among Quebec Anglophones or immigrant communities. About 60% of Francophones voted "Yes" in 1995, and with the exception of very weak "Yes" support from Haitian, Arab and Latin American communities, most non-Francophones massively voted "No" (see Demolinguistics of Quebec). The opponents of the sovereignty movement view the project as ethnically exclusive and as a rejection of non-Francophones as well as aspiring to suppress the English language and to deny the historical Anglophone contribution to Quebec. These concerns are dismissed by the PQ, which claims that its goal is all-embracing and essentially civic in nature. However, the movement has consistently failed to reassure non-Francophones.

Economic effect

One study found that Quebec's separatist governments did not have a large negative impact on Quebec's economy – as sometimes seen with other independence movements in other countries – possibly due to a lack of violence.

External positions

Rest of Canada

The other nine provinces of Canada have generally been opposed to Quebec sovereignty.

France

Quebec's independence movement has benefited from support and encouragement from France.

One of the best-known is General Charles de Gaulle, author of the declaration "Vive le Québec libre!". This declaration is consistent with the thinking of General de Gaulle, who was attached to the idea of the independence of nations and sensitive to the historical impact of France's loss of Canada.

In September 1965, General de Gaulle told Alain Peyrefitte: “The future of French Canada is independence. There will be a French Republic of Canada”. According to Alain Peyrefitte, “without prejudging the form that Quebec sovereignty was to take, de Gaulle, with that historic sense which earned France its salvation, went to Montreal in July 1967 to urge French Canadians to preserve their French identity, which, under Louis XV, the indifference of the French elites had made such light work of.

Similarly, when the French ambassador in Ottawa suggested associating France with Canada's centenary, De Gaulle replied with an apostille dated December 6, 1966: “There is no question of my sending a message to Canada to celebrate its ‘centenary’. We can have good relations with the whole of what is now Canada. We must have excellent relations with French Canada. But we should not congratulate Canadians or ourselves on the creation of a “state” based on our defeat in the past, and on the integration of part of the French people into a British entity. Incidentally, this whole has become quite precarious...”.

The French Foreign Office's current motto epitomizes the official position of the French State concerning Quebec's national question: "non-ingérence et non-indifférence" ("no interference and no indifference"). In other words, while Quebec stays within Canada, France will officially support the Canadian Confederation the way it is.

Former French President Nicolas Sarkozy has stated on the record that he opposes the separation of Quebec from Canada. This changed back to the view of the French Foreign Office under Sarkozy's successor, François Hollande.

United States

The United States has officially always maintained a neutral attitude towards Quebec independence. However, since the relationship between Canada and the United States is privileged at various levels, the status quo is desired. In the event of a victory for the independence option in the 1995 referendum, Washington would have stated that “since Canadians have yet to work out their future constitutional arrangements, it is premature to consider the question of recognizing Quebec ”. Thus, it is thought that, in the event of independence, the United States would be passive and wait for Canada itself to recognize the Quebec state.

The sovereigntists of the 1960s and 1970s, led by René Lévesque, believed they could easily win American sympathy for their cause, because they equated Quebec's independence with the United States' American Revolution against Great Britain in 1776. For 20th-century Americans, however, the idea of Quebec's separation was more akin to the most painful episode in their history, the American Civil War. What's more, the founding myth of the American melting pot made them resistant to any idea of intrastate nationalism.

“Melting pot, civil war. Two ideological walls that separate Quebec nationalists from American society, even left-wing, even intellectual.”

Jean-Francois Lisée

John F. Kennedy is said to be the only American politician open to this prospect. In the 1950s, Armand Morissette, the parish priest of Lowell, Massachusetts, informed him of the existence of an independence movement in Quebec. In order to gain access to the Senate, Kennedy wanted to win the votes of the large French-Canadian community in Massachusetts, so he had contact with Curé Morissette, who was also a convinced independentist. Kennedy drew parallels not with American independence, but with Irish independence, which was still quite recent (1922), as he himself was of Irish descent. The Kennedy family were Francophiles, and that the future president militated for the self-determination of peoples in general. During his short term as President (1960-1963), however, Kennedy never publicly addressed this issue.

In fiction

In Films and TV Shows

Richard Rohmer's novel Separation (1976) was turned into a TV-movie for CTV Television in 1977. In the movie, the Parti Québécois has formed the government of Quebec but Premier Gaston Bélisle has repeatedly put off its promise to hold a referendum. International politics forces Bélisle's hand. In the mid-1980s, a sequel to Seperation, Quebec-Canada 1995, depicts a meeting between the president of Quebec and the prime minister of Canada to discuss a crisis involving Quebec military occupations of parts of Ontario and New Brunswick. Canada's armed forces are stretched thin with peacekeepers in such varied places as the Falkland Islands (with "Lady Goosegreen" being Margaret Thatcher). In the film Die Hard, Hans Gruber, the terrorist leader, demands, as a ruse, the release of imprisoned members of the fictional group Liberté du Québec. (Presumably meant to be a fictional version of the FLQ.) In the Simpsons episode "Homer to the Max", Homer Simpson is invited to an exclusive garden party by Trent Steel, a successful businessman whom he meets as a result of changing his name to Max Power. President Bill Clinton, a guest at the garden party, is called away to deal with Quebec 'getting the bomb'. In The Critic episode "L.A. Jay", in a dream sequence, Jay Sherman, at his Oscar acceptance speech says he supports independence for Quebec, cutting to a room of Québécois saying "Viva Jay Sherman! Viva Quebec!" and unfurling a banner depicting Sherman as a beaver.

In Books and Comics

William Weintraub's satirical 1979 novel The Underdogs provoked controversy by imagining a future Quebec in which English-speakers were an oppressed minority, complete with a violent resistance movement. One planned stage version was cancelled before its premiere. Margaret Atwood's 1979 novel Life Before Man is set in Toronto in the late 1970s and several characters watch and sometimes comment upon the elections and sovereignist movement in Quebec. The sovereignist movement and its struggles are metaphorically linked to the difficulties the characters in the novel have with separating their own personal relationships. Clive Cussler's 1984 novel Night Probe! is set against a fictional attempt at secession in the late 1980s. Rights to newly discovered oil resources in Ungava Bay, discovered as Quebec moves to secede, clash with the ramifications of a rediscovered secret treaty negotiated between the U.K. and U.S. governments during World War I. In the 1999 novel Babylon Babies by the French-born Canadian cyberpunk writer Maurice Dantec, loosely adapted as the film Babylon A.D., Quebec is independent and referred to as the "Free Province of Quebec". In Peter Watts' science fiction series, starting with the 1999 Starfish, Quebec has attained sovereignty and is an energetic/economic superpower within North America. In the alternate history 1995 novel The Two Georges, co-authored by Richard Dreyfuss and Harry Turtledove, the American Revolution never occurs, resulting in the creation of the North American Union, a dominion of the British Empire. En route to the Six Nations, Thomas Bushell and Samuel Stanley of the Royal American Mounted Police discuss the nearby province of Quebec. Stanley muses that, being culturally French, the Québécois people would want to split off from the N.A.U. to become part of the Franco-Spanish Holy Alliance. However, the Francophobia of the Sons of Liberty prevents them from effectively joining forces with Québécois separatists. In the 2006 young adults' alternate history novel The Disunited States of America, by Harry Turtledove, the United States collapsed in the 1800s due to the retention of the Articles of Confederation, with states becoming sovereign nations by the 2090s. Quebec is an independent country in the 2090s, although it is not mentioned whether it remained an independent entity or seceded from a Canadian union. David Foster Wallace's 1996 novel Infinite Jest includes both real and fictional Québécois separatist movements as integral to the plot. In the story, the United States has merged with Canada and Mexico to form the Organization of North American Nations (ONAN). Wheelchair-using Quebec separatists use a video so entertaining it leads to death to accomplish their goals of both Quebec independence and the end of the ONAN. In the Southern Victory Series of alternate history novels by Harry Turtledove, Quebec becomes a separate nation during the First Great War (an alternative World War I). Since the United States organized this separation to weaken Anglophone Canada (and the UK by extension) and to aid in the post-war occupation of Canada, the Republic of Quebec operated as a client state of the United States, rather than being truly independent. In DC Comics, the villain (and sometimes hero) Plastique is initially a Québécois freedom fighter, who resorts to acts of terrorism. In Marvel Comics, the superhero Northstar was part of the Front de libération du Québec (FLQ) in his youth. In Axis Powers Hetalia, Canada's nightmare features an independent Quebec.

In Games

In the roleplaying game Trinity there are references made to a separatist Quebec nation who in return for independence helped the then formed 'Confederated States of America' take control of Canada. In the roleplaying game Shadowrun, Quebec exists as a sovereign nation alongside the United Canadian American States and the Confederated American States. Canadian Civil War is a board game from 1977. The game simulates a hypothetical political struggle between factions, some of them seeking to redefine the terms of the Canadian confederation, others seeking to maintain the status quo.

See also

• List of subjects related to the Quebec independence movement
• Autonomism in Quebec
• Quebec nationalism
• Politics of Quebec
• Canadian sovereignty
• Lists of active separatist movements
• Secessionist movements of Canada

Sources

Further reading (English)

• McCulloch, Tony. "A quiet revolution in diplomacy: Quebec–UK relations since 1960." American Review of Canadian Studies 46.2 (2016): 176–195. online
• Mendelsohn, Matthew. "Rational choice and socio-psychological explanation for opinion on Quebec sovereignty." Canadian Journal of Political Science/Revue canadienne de science politique (2003): 511–537 online.
• Yale, François, and Claire Durand. "What did Quebeckers want? Impact of question wording, constitutional proposal and context on support for sovereignty, 1976–2008." American Review of Canadian Studies 41.3 (2011): 242–258. online

External links

• UNESCO article on the evolution of Quebec nationalism (2002) (Archived)