Hunter Gross
Kyle Sutter
CHC-2DI
January 26, 2017
The Quebec Referendum 1995
` The Quebec Referendum was the second Referendum that has has happened in Canada deciding whether Quebec should proclaim national authority and become an independent country. The Referendum took place in Quebec on the 30th of october, 1995. With the failure of both Meech Lake and the Charlottetown Accord, the forces of nationalism in Quebec were once again given a boost. The Quebec government asked the nation's voters whether Quebec should proclaim national sovereignty and become separate from Canada, politically and economically. This essay will be discussing what the Quebec Referendum is, why it was an idea for Quebec, and how it affected Canada as a whole.
The Quebec Referendum was a political issue for Canada involving Quebec. Quebec wanted to leave Canada and start its own country mainly because of their heritage. This is the second Referendum for Quebec within 15 years for the same reason. They did i vote in Canada and ended up being a very close win for Quebec. There were 49.42 voters who said yes and 50.58 voters who said no. There was two men who set up the “no” committee and the “yes” committee. The premier of Quebec “jacques parizeau” started the yes committee and
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“daniel Johnson” started the no committee. Jacques made every household in the province vote and tried encouraging them to say “yes”. The results from the Referendum cause Pierre Trudeau to sign the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms. The main reason that Quebec wanted to start its own country is because the community in Quebec has a different national heritage from the rest of Canada.
The people of Quebec feel that being in Canada is endangering their heritage. Canada has run the country in ways that help itself and hurt Quebec and they can tell. They feel they want to be their own countries so they can keep their heritage and have a government that focuses on their interests more. A big reason is that Quebecers don't feel any relations with anyone outside of their province. The idea has been floating out there ever since the Battle of the plains of Abraham, which the British fought them for their french colony known as
Quebec. Ever since the 1995 Referendum, Canada has treated Quebec much better and actually made them feel like they belong in Canada. The premier of Quebec philippe couillard made a speech four years ago and spoke about how Quebec feels important. Canada didn't want to loose the french colony because they liked having two heritages in the country. Ever since the Charter of Rights and Freedoms law was put place in Canada, Quebec felt that they felt as equal as everyone because the law includes equality which means everyone as a citizen of Canada has all equal rights. This made Quebec feel much more comfortable to live in Canada. The Government of Canada was happy they could find a way for Quebec to feel loved as a country. The Quebec Referendum caused two scary moments for Canada because they liked having two different types of colonies on the country. Quebec really didn't feel like they belonged in Canada because they were a more sheltered colony at the time. The Charter of Rights and Freedoms law helped Quebec feel important in the country as the law was pretty much put in place for Quebec. The law was meant to make them feel equal with all citizens of the country. Quebec is now a tourism spot for citizens of the country to go skiing/snowboarding or sight seeing of their beautiful land.
The Meech Lake accord was a set of constitutional amendments that were designed to persuade Quebec Province to accept the Canadian Constitution Act of 1982 (Brooks 152). This accord derives its name from the Meech Lake, where these negotiations were held by Mulroney Brian, the Canadian Prime Minister, and the ten premiers of the ten Canadian Provinces (Brooks 211). By the time the Canadian constitution was being implemented, Quebec was the only province that had not consented to it. Somehow, the partition of the constitution in 1982 was carried out without Quebec’s agreement, but it was still bound by the same law. Attempts were made to persuade this province to sign the constitution, which it agreed to do but only after its five demands are fulfilled by the Canadian government. Unfortunately, these demands were not met and this accord failed in 1990, when two provincial premiers failed to approve it. This paper answers the question whether Quebec asked for too much during the Meech Lake Accord negotiations.
Although, Quebec’s population share many similar characteristics amongst one another it is not essential to decide “the people” (Heard, 2013). To be considered a state you must represent all the people in it. Quebec prefers independences for the reason of a commonality
...ereignty. As mentioned Quebec does not have complete sovereignty and it shares its powers with the federal government (Johnson). Strong words like Johnson's found in the mass media are very significant to issues such as this. As elected representatives the government will not act against the wishes of the majority of citizens. Therefore if the Canadian citizens claim that Native Sovereignty in Canada can not coexist with Canadian sovereignty than it will not.
CBC-Digital. "CBC Digital Archives - Separation Anxiety: The 1995 Quebec Referendum - Separation Anxiety: The 1995 Quebec Referendum." CBCnews. CBC/Radio Canada, 06 Mar. 2014. Web. 02 Apr. 2014
The Quebec referendum that was held in 1995 was a second round of vote that was meant to give the residents of the Quebec province in Canada the chance to determine whether they wanted to secede from Canada and thus establish Quebec as a sovereign state. Quebec has had a long history of wanting to secede from Canada, considering that it is the Canadian providence that is predominantly inhabited by the French-speaking people, whose political relationship with the rest of the Canadian provinces, mostly inhabited by the English-speaking people has been characterized by conflicting ideologies . Thus, the 1995 referendum was not the first political attempt to have Quebec gain its own independence. The discussion holds that the Quebec 1995 referendum would have had both positive and negative implications. Therefore, this discussion seeks to analyze the political consequences that would have f...
Many Francophones believed that they were being discriminated and treated unfairly due to the British North American Act which failed to recognize the unique nature of the province in its list of provisions. Trudeau, with the aid of several colleagues, fought the imminent wave of social chaos in Quebec with anti-clerical and communist visions he obtained while in his adolescent years. However, as the nationalist movement gained momentum against the Provincial government, Trudeau came to the startling realization that Provincial autonomy would not solidify Quebec's future in the country (he believed that separatism would soon follow) and unless Duplessis could successfully negotiate (on the issue of a constitution) with the rest of Canada, the prospect of self-sovereignty for Quebec would transpire. His first essay (Quebec and the Constitutional Problem) explores
The Trans Canada Highway became a visible nationalistic figure that set apart Canada from other countries. The highway was built to reinforce a newfound nationalism, however, there were oppositions in the building of the highway. In order for the highway to run from coast to coast, every province had to sign and agree to an Act that was enforced by the federal government. Every province agreed to the Act and the implementation of the highway except for Quebec, who at the time was governed under Premier Maurice Duplessis. Duplessis opposed the idea of the highway because under the Trans Canada Highway Act, the federal government would have complete control over road regulations when previously it was the responsibility of the provincial and municipal governments. This created a problem for the highway as the road needed to go through Quebec in order for it to be able to include the east coast provinces. The Quebec premier was challenging the unity and nationalism that the “new” Canada wanted to have. It wasn't until Duplessis passed away and a Liberal government c...
Should America have compulsory voting? In my opinion, compulsory voting is a good way to increase the voting turnout. People currently don't like to vote because they don't have the time, or are just too lazy. If the government gives them an incentive then they will be happy to take time off to vote. Also, a reason to fear not to vote should be installed, like an annoying fine. When only a few people vote, the voter satisfaction is low. But when everyone puts their idea in, the satisfaction rises because the actual majority will win.
Some Quebecers thought that separation was the only solution. They thought that as long as Quebec was associated with the rest of Canada, French-Canadians would never be treated equal. The FLQ (Front De Libération Du Québec) was founded in 1963. It was a smaller, more forceful group of separatists. They were a collection of groups of young people whose idea was to use terrorism to
The fall of Quebec was a turning point in Canadian history, changing it from a French colony to a British colony. Had this battle gone the other way, English might be the second language, not French. The battle of Quebec was one of many battles during the 'Seven Year War'. They called it the Maritime War. It was officially declared in May 1756. Britain and Prussia were on one side and France, Spain, and Austria on the other. The war moved across the Atlantic Ocean from Europe because the French and the British were fighting over furs and land. Britain, while subsidizing and aiding Prussia, its only European ally, sought victory in America and sent what was for that century an overwhelming number of regular troops in order to stiffen the military of the American colonies.
Quebec has considered and has gone as far to hold referendums over Separatism (Surette,2014). Separatism is when the province of Quebec separates from the rest of Canada to form its own country. Which would have immense effects on Quebec but also the rest of Canada (Martin, 2014). This report will focus on the root causes and origins of Quebec Separatism, the current state of Quebec Separatism and finally how we as a society can act towards Quebec Separatism. Root Causes and Origin
Regionalism is a growing concern for Canadians` as it affects economic stability, nationalism and western alienation. The economic stability is reliant on the regions having strong economic bases (Stilborn, 19). Nationalism with Quebec is a prime example of how distinct regional cultures hinder Canada’s unity, as they want to separate from Canada, while still having the federal Canadian government financially support them. Western Alienation is also a prime political culture that is regionally distinct.
The question of whether Quebec will secede from Canada to become an independent nation has been a hot topic in the country for several years now. It dates back to the abortive rebellions of 1837-38. In 1980, a referendum to secede was rejected by a 60-40 margin. Since then though, the numbers of Quebeckers that want to become sovereign has significantly increased. There is so many questions of what will happen if this does happen. In this paper I plan to take a deeper look at this situation and try to figure out what it would actually be like if Quebec was its own country.
government, t. p. (n.d.). Quebec Nationalism - Quebec History. Faculty.marianopolis.edu. Retrieved May 27, 2012, from http://faculty.marianopolis.edu/c.belanger/quebechistory/events/natpart4.htm
This is contained the most people and was later made into the provinces of Ontario and Quebec. The government of the Province of Canada did not seem to run very easily and fluently because the English-speaking and French talking shares had dissimilar ideas about how things should be run. Leaders from both parts of the province decided that joining the other colonies might help solve their political problems.